Moth Lad, protector of the night and the City streets, fluttered from building to building. His special powers allowed him to cling to walls and the smallest of ledges- and if his ‘flight’ was more of a combination of a great cape and falling with style, he’d never admit that to the papers.
The biggest issue of being a superhero these days was that the standard superhero uniforms itched. The design team had used a Red Admiral moth as inspiration for his design, but they’d also cut costs by using nylon thread for the seams, and it made him want to rip his skin off.
The Owl and the Shadow never had problems like this back in the Golden Age. No, they’d sewn their costumes themselves – but due to the proliferation of heroes, the City had required them to register with the Guild and the Guild had made an agreement with a vendor to provide suits ‘at a discount’.
Not everyone was a billionaire playboy who could easily afford the cost of super suits, especially when you had to have duplicates in case of embarrassing rips and tears. He looked like a hobo in tights half the time after a shift. Someone like BatCat, who made her own suits, always ended up looking like Apocalypse Barbie after a fight.
He sighed, remembering that he had to do a livestream for his Patreon once he finished his rounds for the evening.
He half-hoped that Dr. Maniacal would come up with some kind of evil scheme- he quickly flipped open his Moth-phone (ok, technically, it was an Iphone with a Redbubble case he’d designed to match his suit) and checked out their Discord server.
Crap.
Dr. Maniacal and Dead Fred were both out of town this week – which meant he wouldn’t be able to take more than a day off since his arch-nemeses would be out of PTO – or he’d have to ask someone to cover, which would make still more work at the end of the day.
The Hero / Villain PTO system should have worked in theory – but in practice? Not so much.
Maybe he could do a video instead of a livestream? Then he could enjoy his ramen noodles and crap television without trying to come up with a “Heroes Guild approved ™” social media post.
He found a ledge with decent lighting and clicked the video button.
“Greetings Patrons! Have you ever wanted to feel the wind on your wings from the 53rd story? I’m going to give you a tour of exactly how we patrol the city –“ And with that he made a magnificent leap from the ledge to the wall of another building – spiraling a little to make sure his fans felt it from the their computer screens.
He grinned, showing off his perfect teeth (the result of ten painful years of braces). “Tonight, you can be my sidekick as we patrol the city to keep our community safe from the likes of-“
A bat flew in his face and he cut off the video, sputtering.
There was only one person who could control bats in the whole City. BatCat.
She was technically a villain because she had super abilities and hadn’t registered with the Superhero Guild and didn’t pay fees, but all the heroes knew she was on their side.
She lounged on a ledge like the cat that was her namesake.
“Moth Lad – were you doing your social media obligations during patrol hours?” She grinned, red lipstick the only color on her face. “What a naughty hero you are.”
He leaned on the side of the building confidently, leaving the entire ledge for her like a gentleman. “What can I say, I’m a rebel.”
She threw back her masked head and laughed. He wondered what color her hair was in real life. “You really are NOT. But that’s ok. I saw that both your nemeses are out of town?”
“Dr. Maniacal took his zeppelin to Munich to present some of his work – he’s still trying to get funding I think.”
She dangled her feet from the ledge, looking out over the city lights. “Uranium is pricey.”
“And the budget request paperwork at the villains league is even worse than the Hero’s Guild.”
She stood up, stretching. “And Dead Fred?”
Moth Lad waffled, then decided to tell her the truth. “Well, I know it’s against regulations, but he went out of the country to see his daughter get married.”
She laughed. “And you just let him? You do know that if the guild finds proof you knew he was going they’ll roast you and toss you out in your skivvies.”
Moth Lad put an awkward hand on his neck. “You know how he is. Dead Fred is only a bad guy when someone threatens his family. It’s not his fault he was raised from the dead by The Necromancer. Honestly, getting him through customs was the real headache.”
“How’d you manage?”
Moth Lad blushed under his mask. “Well he’s technically dead, so we flew him out in an airtight coffin to get around the regulations requiring the body be embalmed….”
“You are a good egg Moth Lad.”
He gave her a little grin. “So what brings you to my humble ledge this time of night? Are you planning mischief?”
Red lipstick flashed. “Of course. The Mob Boss and his goon squad are planning to dump chemical waste in the harbor tomorrow night so they can lower M Corp’s shares and buy their stock cheap.”
Moth Lad sighed. “The Mob Boss is assigned to The Accountant and her sidekick. I’ll let them know.”
BatCat smiled. “I’m counting on you. M Corp makes my favorite super-suit material and if they go down, I might take out the Mob Boss myself.”
Moth Lad tried not to itch the nylon thread around his neck. “Tell me more about this super suit material…”
She looked at him with half-lidded eyes. “Buying a non-guild uniform? You are quite the rebel.” She put one black clad finger under his chin. “Tell you what. You let the Accountant know to take out the Mob Boss, and I’ll make you a new suit myself. One guaranteed not to itch.”
She laughed and dropped fifty-three stories, landing lightly on her feet.
Moth Lad dialed Heroes Inc to report that he had a lead on the Mob Boss – and that he wouldn’t be posting to social media until tomorrow.
Don’t Forget to go see the rest of the stories on the Hop!!!
Spam or Not Spam, That is the Question! by Katharina Gerlach
Two Feet by Chris Makowski
Thief by Barbara Lund
Trampler of Dreams by Gina Fabio
Good Dog by Angelica Medlin
She Stood by Lyn McCarty
Not all Heros Wear Capes by Vanessa Wells <<<You are Here
Morning Monsters by Jon Cloud
Some Imagination by James Husum