Zero to Hero (Ch. 4)

It had been two weeks since Jessica and Darren had discovered that the magical phone box which had transformed them into caped crusaders of sorts had gone missing. Inexplicably moved from its spot and now disappeared without a trace, they both had spent day after day trying to hunt it down, yet to no avail.

"Where could it possibly be?" asked a still panicked Jessica.

"Maybe we're overthinking this," replied Darren. "Those boxes are old and defunct now, and cities around the world are removing them. What if it's all just a coincidence, and that one was innocently taken away?"

"That'd be too perfect," Jessica retorted, landing on a rooftop, with her partner quickly joining her side. They both stared out upon the city skyline with furrowed brows.

"Let's just hope that whoever has it doesn't know how to use it. We don't want them to end up like that crazy superwoman, Rachel."

Like the box, the aforementioned Rachel also hadn't been seen in the meantime. Not a sighting. Not a peep. That concerned them as well. However, they soon had a lead on the former. There was a gang of criminals that had apparently been asking around about them in the last while. They wanted to know where their powers had stemmed from. Understandably, the pair felt that it was suspicious that around the same time the means of their empowerment had gone AWOL the gang was also searching for it, so they decided to pay their headquarters a quick visit. Indeed, crashing through the roof and slamming onto the floor of their hideout sent the gang members scurrying, much like insects when a rock is lifted. They most certainly hadn't been empowered yet. Jessica and Darren quickly laid waste to their joint then, picking up various vehicles and crushing them between their hands in order to intimidate the crew.

"Hey, what are you doing with my car?" one of the crooks finally asked, with Jessica merely grabbing their collar and lifting him easily off the floor.

"Do you know who we are, eh?" she asked him then.

"Yeah, you're Boom. And the other guy is Pow. We all know you. The whole city does."

"Yeah," added Darren aka Pow, "I hear you guys in particular have taken great interest in us. More specifically, in our powers."

"Whoever told you that is a, eh, liar."

"Nice try," said Jessica aka Boom, "So where is it?"

"Where's what?" asked the man, still suspended in the air.

"The phone box," said Darren. "We have a hunch you guys got to it before us. We've decided that it needs to be destroyed."

"Phone box, eh?" said another voice, one directly behind the two superheroes. It was Jane Broad, the gang's leader in all of her grungy glory. She smiled then as she descended the short stairs that led to the main concourse of the hideout. When she had reached them, Jessica dropped the hoodlum who quickly ran away, leading behind only his boss to stare up at "Boom" and "Pow", showing apparently little fear of them.

"Truth is," she started, "We were wondering what charged you guys up, and we couldn't figure it out. We asked around. We searched and searched, but now you idiots have just revealed it to us. Nice orange and back super suits by the way. I could do with one of those myself..."

"A simple orange jumpsuit would suit you better," quipped Jessica. "Anyway, it makes no difference because you obviously don't have the box either."

"I'll get it yet," Broad snapped back.

"Unlikely," said Darren. "When we find it first we'll-."

"If you guys find it," she smiled. "I guess we're in a race now. All that's left to say is may the best man -or woman- win."

"If you even think of going near it..." warned Jessica.

"You'll do what?" asked a defiant Broad. "You're too much of a good guy to do anything rash. You won't hurt us. That's the difference between your type and mine."

"Come on, Jessica. They won't know how to use it even if they do find it."

"Oh, I'll figure it out, little man. I'm not sure you're prepared to deal with a souped-up version of me, though. No one will be."

Both Jessica and Darren stared down at the ballsy criminal before flying back through the roof, intentionally making another two holes as they went just to antagonize Broad even more.

"Lousy bums!" she cried before a smile crept up her right cheek. She turned to face the rest of her cowering fellow crooks then. "Come out, you losers. Because of the naivety of those two we now know what we're looking for. All that snooping around and asking questions worked out in a way we didn't expect...

"She's right, you know," said Darren. "We won't do anything to her."

"I know," replied Jessica. "I was thinking of just bringing her in, but what crimes has she actually committed? I have no evidence of anything specific myself. I just know she'll have done a lot of nasty stuff in her time. It'd be nothing compared to what she'd do, however, if she got hold of this power, too. Another reason why the box must be ripped apart."

"So, we're back at the beginning again: who took it?"

"Maybe we've just never asked the right question. Maybe what we should be trying to figure out is why was it even there to begin with, or better yet, who put it there? If we could find them, they might be able to track down the box for us."

"But who would have created such a device?"

"The old superhero, of course. The one people keep mentioning, from years ago."

"He went by different codenames I've heard. Regent being the most famous. You think this is how he powered himself up to fight?"

"Maybe. It makes a lot of sense. And if he constantly used it, it means he knew a way to depower himself. If that's true, we could go back to normal. More importantly, though, we could transform Rachel back before she does some real harm."

"Where do we find him, though?" asked a confused Darren. "Maybe he's not even alive anymore and that's why he disappeared to begin with?"

"I haven't a clue," Jessica responded. "You'd think if it was him behind the box that he would've resurfaced by now when he saw that someone else had clearly started using it."

She then landed on an old, worn billboard and peeled back layers of advertising until she revealed a faded image of the old hero in question.

"You see," she said, "He was a big deal here, once. A hero to the city. Like us."

"What about the cops?" asked Darren. "They might have had a relationship with the guy before he left? He was fighting crime for years alongside them. Surely one of them has to know something."

Thus, both Jessica and Darren approached a bewildered police force that, in truth, knew very little of the old hero either. His identity was never actually revealed. He'd kept that secret exceptionally well. Frustrated, they then asked them to check ordinance to see if the box had just been innocently moved. No such luck. The city was not in the process of removing phone boxes at that time. However, as they were about to float away from the station, they heard another voice call out to them. At first they could see no one. It was only when they searched across the carpark that they noticed a black limo with one of its tinted windows partially rolled down. The woman inside called to them again, and the two superheroes quickly approached and bent down to the car to talk to her.

"What do you want?" asked Jessica.

"You're looking for the device, aren't you?" the woman replied, pulling her shades down her nose. "I know where it is."

"You do? How?" asked Jessica.

"Because I have all kinds of connections. From the police to the mayor's office. I'm that kind of person. The machine in question that masquerades as a common street-variety phone box is currently in my possession. When you, Boom, first appeared I did some digging and realized that your clothes were found in rags on that street. They also found your phone there. Then, your friend here, whom you now call Pow, his clothes were later found on the exact same street. Both right by the phone box. Now, you don't need to be a genius to figure out what happened. You used the device to somehow change your bodies, causing you to rip out of your clothes, and, in a craze, you forgot about them and left them behind."

"So that led you to the box where you removed it?"

"Of course. Don't worry, though, I didn't tell the police. I haven't told anyone. But when it was heard that you were visiting this station, it caused quite a stir online, so I decided to hurry down in order to meet you guys."

"Why, what do you want of us?"

"Well, to bring you to the device, of course," she revealed.

"This is great news!" exclaimed Jessica, rubbing her brow as if there was actual sweat there. "You don't know how much of a relief this is. We've actually been searching for that thing. We want to destroy it, you see."

"Destroy it?!" the woman replied. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because you don't realize how dangerous these powers can really be."

"Fascinating," is all she replied initially. "Either way, tail the limo to my company's building and I'll bring you to it."

They followed her request and both Jessica and Darren gently glided over the long vehicle as it drove along the street, smiling to each other, happy in themselves that at least part of this trial was likely over now. Beneath, however, the business woman stared up through the equally tinted sunroof, and cast a cold stare on them both. When they'd finally arrived at the address, they were confronted by a huge skyscraper, and while the owner beckoned them to just fly upwards to the penthouse and meet her there, Jessica playfully grabbed the woman and cradled her up to the top via the outside of the building.

"I guess I don't need the elevator for once!" she laughed.

She was shocked but also secretly excited after the experience, and as they touched down on the long ledge that led into her office, she couldn't help but smile narcisstically.

"Incredible!" she cried. "Those powers are absolutely incredible. You're both so strong and almost unstoppable. You can fly. It's enviable."

"That's half the problem," said Darren. "It's great to become all big and mighty yet terrifying if it happens to the wrong type of person."

"Yeah," added Jessica. "Now, if we could depower ourselves-"

"But why would you even want to do that?" the woman interrupted.

Jessica said nothing in response at first, sizing up the stranger some more.

"Why did you really bring us here?" she asked then. "Are you even going to let us have this device?"

"Of course I am, dear," she said, sitting down behind her desk and leaning back in the chair. "Don't get me wrong. I understand your concerns, and I have no interest in taking these powers for myself. My interest in the device and your powers is more academic in nature. I just like knowing how things work, and I thought you might be able to enlighten me. In fact, I'd like to know everything about you two."

"But you haven't even told us your name," Darren chimed in from across the room while fidgeting with some of the assorted scientific devices.

"That's right, I haven't. That was rather remiss of me, wasn't it? My name is Singh. Dr. Riva Singh. I am a scientist and businesswoman who built up this company myself. Even this building is mine. Again, I like to know how things work. Not just devices, but people, too. Even the mind. I have a natural curiosity that comes across as a bit forward at times, and I apologize for that."

"That's great," said a pensive Jessica. "So, where is the phone box?"

"Right here, darling," said Singh, pressing a button on her desk. Suddenly, a shield was lifted and the box just appeared directly in the middle of the floor. It was always there apparently, somehow cloaked. They quickly realized that this Dr. Singh wasn't playing about. She had serious tech.

"Great, thanks," said Darren, "Now let's just smash it."

"The problem with that," said Singh, "Is if we destroy it now, how will we unlock its secrets? How can we find a way to turn those affected back into regular people like you said? I've made some progress in that regard, but what if my inventions fail? We made need to go back to the root technology again. We might still need the box."

"She's right," said Jessica. "Can you really help us with that, though?"

"Of course," replied Singh, "But it would really really aid me if you first reveal how the whole thing works. How did it transform you?"

Jessica paused for a second. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. It's not that I don't trust you, but I can't risk someone else that I don't know gaining this type of power."

"I see. Well, that makes our task a little more difficult. Luckily, I have been researching the device extensively these last few weeks so already know quite a bit about it. Just not the trigger. I feel it must be some combination of the keys or some such..."

As she said this she looked at Jessica and Darren's face for a telling reaction, but they both managed to keep their composure and gave nothing away...

"Anyway, the most exciting thing I've discovered is that whatever it is that powers you it doesn't come from the device itself. No, it comes from somewhere else. I believe when activated it sends a surge of energy from above, from space perhaps, into the box and transforms whomever is inside."

"It's just a conduit?" asked Jessica.

"Of sorts. I believe it is how the city's previous hero used to make himself strong. And I believe he could turn back into a regular man. That's how he kept his secret identity in tact for years."

"We thought all that, too. But do you know happened to him?" asked Darren.

"No. I'm not sure anyone does. But while you wont tell me how to activate the device I think I may know a way to deactivate your powers and dissipate the energy. In fact, I was in the process of testing the machine before bringing you here. There was one hitch, however."

"You didn't have a test subject?" asked Jessica.

"Precisely," replied Singh with a smirk.

"I wonder if that isn't part of the reason you really brought us here. For your own experiments?"

"Perhaps, Pow. But we need to know eventually if this thing works if we are to use it."

"Is it dangerous?" asked Jessica.

"Not on people like you, Boom, no. At worst, you'd just lose your superpowers, which is the whole point anyway, isn't it? If it doesn't work, you'd just stay the same."

"Maybe if we lure Rachel here?" Darren blurted out.

"Who's that?" asked Singh. "Another superwoman?"

"It doesn't matter," replied Jessica. "The truth is, one of us will have to test the device. I'm the one who inadvertently started this whole mess, so it should be me that goes through with this."

"Nah, it should be me," replied Darren. "You're using these powers longer than I, and you make a better hero than me. If something goes wrong..."

"I appreciate that," she replied, "But I've made my mind up, Darren."

Before they could squabble further, they noticed a large explosion from across the city. Both they and Singh made for the large window that provided a great view of the surrounding and distant buildings.

"What's that?" ask Singh.

"More like who is that?" replied Darren, watching a large figure dressed in purple fly up above the growing flames.

Jessica then turned to Singh and spoke again: "That there, I think, is our real test subject. If we can bring her in, will you have this all set up and ready to go in time?"

As is happened, Singh could be ready that quickly. In fact, it would take less than an hour or so to make the final adjustments until a newer, bigger box was brought forth in front of them. They would both come to realize then that Singh really had been working hard since uncovering the original box. It still gave them plenty of time to finally subdue the troublesome Rachel who had, indeed, licked her wounds and returned to face them.

"Ah, you two losers are still around?" she said mockingly as they approached.

"We're still around?" Jessica retorted. "You were the one that was scared away, or should I say humiliated. Nice to see you've fixed your suit, though, albeit you've chosen to keep the plunging neckline I see."

"When you've got - you flaunt it," she replied, cupping her massive breasts and flexing her large biceps. "Anyway, your male friend doesn't seem to mind."

"Alright, that's it," said an embarrassed Darren. "You're coming with us whether you like it or not."

While the two heroes tried to force the villain away from such a populated area, she wasn't so willing. Again, the three traded huge blows that blasted out nearby windows via the shockwaves and caused cracks to rise up from the foundations of buildings to the rooftop when they crashed against them. But there was still no budging Rachel.

"We're overthinking things again," said Jessica. "We just need to lure her to Singh's building, not knock her out. There we can force her into that power draining contraption of hers."

"Yeah, but how do we do that? We can't even lure her out of these streets?"

Jessica had a bold and nasty idea then. As Darren distracted Rachel, she flew up behind her and instead of punching her in the back of her head, decided to slap her on the ass. Shocked, Rachel slowly turned around to face her rival.

"Y-You dare?!" she said, somewhat aghast.

"I do. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

Both Darren and Jessica flew their way back to Singh's offices, with a furious Rachel in hot pursuit. It was working. And, as they flew inside, both hide themselves behind either side of the huge, open penthouse window, allowing them to jump the unsuspecting Rachel as she, too, entered the fray.

"What are you both doing?" she screeched. "Get your stupid hands off of me!"

"Quick, push her inside," said Singh, readying herself to flick the switch.

It wasn't easy, but both just about managed to force her into the large box long enough, and, as they did so, a huge flash was suddenly let out, consuming the villain. She screamed again. A cry that diminished as her body grew smaller and smaller until she was back to normal. When done, she fell into the huge arms of Jessica who then laid her out on the floor. Singh approached an offered her lab coat to cover her now naked body as even the purple super suit and cape had miraculously disappeared.

"It worked!" said Darren. "It actually worked."

"Thankfully," replied Singh. "Her power has been extracted and sent back it back into the sky."

"If that's the case," said Jessica, "I'll go next."

"The machine is running hot at the moment," said Singh. "I'm not sure it can depower two -or three- so quickly without breaking."

Jessica approached the machine even so, but didn't notice Darren coming up behind her and grabbing her arms. Throwing her harmlessly across the room, he smiled at his recovering partner as he stepped inside the machine instead. Before she could react and swap places again, the doors had closed and the machine began to hum louder than ever. When the reluctant Singh flipped the switch once more, the whole room became dark for a moment, and a huge surge of white energy soared through the top of the building and up into the atmosphere. The process lasted thirty seconds before light returned to the room again. When the doors sprung open, a deflated and naked Darren fell out onto the floor.

Jessica kneeled down and half picked him up.

"You stupid, brave fool, what have you done?" she asked him.

Darren opened his eyes then and looked upon the last remaining super person in the room and smiled. "Am I normal again?"

"About as normal as you'll ever get," she joked.

Sure enough, the experiment had worked again, and Darren was back to his original self with no damage done.

Singh brought him over another robe to cover himself as well, and he slipped down onto a nearby seat in order to fully recover right beside an unconscious Rachel whom Singh had quietly tied up amidst all the excitement.

"This really is a momentous occasion!" their host cried.

"Yes, I've got to give it to you, doctor," said Jessica. "I doubted you, but you found a way to at least turn people back to their regular old self. It will be an invaluable process going forward if something like this ever happens again"

"But you still won't tell me how someone gets empowered to begin with?" asked the scientist.

"I still can't, sorry," she replied, turning away.

"It's fine," said Singh. "I understand. By the way, your friend's power has, indeed, gone up into the heavens. I've tracked it, just like with Rachel's. That at least partly explains the origin of the old superhero's power. This is indeed how he transformed. There must be a hidden station in space that stores it, and he called upon it whenever he needed it; though I'm not sure how he would've been able to get back into such a tight phone box when empowered. Another mystery waiting to be solved, eh?"

"Now that the new box works, we don't need the old one, do we?" said an exhausted Darren. "There's no actual studying that needs done on it anymore. Destroy it, Jessica."

She turned to Singh then. "Is it ok now?"

Singh took an anxious breath before nodding to her. Jessica walked over to the device then and looked upon it. This machine that had given her such amazing powers, but also so much trouble. She wrapped her arms around it and began squeezing the corners of the phone box together. The pressure was so intense that she began crushing it in her mighty bearhug. Then, she grabbed what was left and tore it in half. She finished the act by taking special care to stomp the dialling mechanism to dust. There was no fixing it now. Not even the apparent genius of Singh could mend what was broken.

Jessica let out a deep breath of her own then. "It's done. Come on, now it's my turn to go back to normal."

But, as she was about to enter Singh's machine, the whole device shutdown.

"See!" said a frustrated Singh. "It's circuits have burnt out. This machine was still an unfinished work in progress. Two people was too many, and it won't take another until I fix it."

"How long will that take?" asked Jessica.

"A few days to replace everything. Come back and I'll complete the process for you, too. Don't worry, I will recreate everything just the way it was."

"I'll take Darren home then to rest," replied Jessica, "But what about her?"

"This Rachel woman is no threat now. I'll call the cops to the building and have her arrested for all the damage she caused today. She'll be their concern now. You both go home."

With that, Jessica scooped up the much lighter, smaller frame of Darren and flew out through the window and across the sky.

"This is more like it!" he joked. "Back to the way it was before."

"Don't get too comfortable," she laughed. "I'll be like you in a few days again. Back to a 9-5 job. Back to the tills in my uncle's toy store. Back to being pegwarmers."

"But, can you ever really go back, Jessica?" he wondered aloud. "We've gotten involved with some weird and even dangerous people."

"Don't say that," she replied, touching down on his balcony. They both went inside and searched for the light switch. But, when they finally turned it on, another figure was waiting for them sitting comfortably down in one of Darren's living room chairs."

"Who the hell are you?" Jessica asked before picking him off the ground by his throat. "Are you a thief?"

"No, you are," he replied. "As you took my powers."

"Wait, y-you're Regent?!" cried Darren. "Or whatever you called yourself back in the day."

"Yes. I've been stalking both of your residencies for a while now, waiting for someone to show up as I needed to talk to you, but neither was ever around."

"Well, we are now," said Jessica. "So, what did you want to tell us?"

"Not to use my powers for one thing. But I also wanted to show you how to turn back to normal, though it seems you've already figured that part out."

"We didn't, Dr. Singh did."

"Singh?!" he exclaimed. "You've met her? Interacted with her?"

"Sure," said Darren. "She turned me back, and another person."

"You have to listen to me very carefully now. This Dr. Singh is an incredibly dangerous woman. Back in the day she desperately wanted to know the source of my powers, but I managed to always hide it from her."

"If that's the case then why did she let me destroy the phone box?"

"Because," he sighed, "She probably realizes there is more than one..."

As he said this, across the city Singh pulled back a black curtain in her lab and revealed, indeed, a second phone box. She placed her hands on her hips then and smirked.

"What's going on?!" cried Rachel, finally coming around. "Why am I tied up like this, and why am I back to normal?!"

"Are you upset about it, darling? Do you want to be strong again?" asked Singh.

"Of course! Of course!" Rachel replied.

"Then all you have to do is tell me how this device turns someone into a hero?"

"It's simple," replied the naive, impatient Rachel. "By just pressing the zero."

Singh closed her eyes then and a devilish smile appeared on her face.

"Wonderful. Just wonderful."

(To be continued...)