The sun was about to set. It always took so long at flying speed to get to the truck stops. And it was uncomfortable too. Mirage didn’t want to be invisible during the flight because it would consume energy, but she was always nervous that the people on the highway below could see her.
She touched down on top of a billboard outside this particular truck stop. This was her thirteenth stakeout over three weeks, and she was starting to feel like they were a waste of time. It was summer. Summer nights were for cookouts and stargazing, not this nonsense.
“And I can’t split my focus between stopping Daybreak and watching for Shadow Pirate,” she mumbled. “Daybreak is just more pressing.”
She’d gone back to another one of their clandestine meetings, this time with a camera. Mirage had stayed in the shadows and filmed as much as she could hear. Now she was waiting for an appointment with the mayor to show him what was going on.
It got dark before long, and Mirage had to fly closer. She touched down next to the tree line, sticking to the shadows. Mirage folded her arms and leaned up against the tree. This was pointless.
“Can’t fall asleep,” she mumbled as the night stretched on.
Her eyelids were heavy. Maybe she could close them for a few minutes. What were the odds that anything was even going to—
That’s when she saw it. Shadows moving near one of the trucks. As Mirage watched, the shadows seemed to stretch and form themselves into a human-like structure. The shape detached itself from the shadows and walked up to one of the trucks. It moved like a regular human would, walking toward the back doors, then climbed up awkwardly and phased through them to get into the truck.
Mirage, fully awake now, turned invisible and started running. She positioned herself right outside the trailer’s doors. Splaying her legs, she raised her fists and tensed up.
It was a few minutes before Shadow Pirate emerged. They walked out of the truck’s doors and dropped to the ground, completely empty-handed. Mirage’s heart started to race. She dropped her invisibility, and Shadow Pirate stopped dead in their tracks.
“Shadow Pirate,” Mirage said, shaking slightly. “I’m performing a citizen’s arrest. You’re going to wait here while I contact the authorities, and they’ll take you in for—”
The shadow figure charged, and Mirage instinctively took a step back. Shadow Pirate collided with her and knocked her down. Mirage tried to roll away, but her enemy was on top of her. Shadow Pirate pushed Mirage down by the shoulders and rammed a fist into her face.
Mirage cried out in pain. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Another punch to the face, then another. Each blow left her stunned and unable to focus.
She felt Shadow Pirate’s weight shift and started flailing. The other fighter was thrown off of her and Mirage scrambled to her feet. She was breathing heavily. Was her nose bleeding?
The two circled each other for a little bit, then Shadow Pirate charged again. Mirage ducked the first swing but another hit her in the gut. She swiped, hitting Shadow Pirate in the head and knocking them back with a grunt.
Shadow Pirate responded with a flailing kick. It hit Mirage in the leg and she grit her teeth in pain. Shadow Pirate wasn’t a trained fighter. That much was obvious. But they were desperate and not afraid to hurt Mirage. And Mirage didn’t have any combat training, either.
“I-I don’t w-want to fi-fight you,” Mirage insisted, shaking too much to form a proper sentence. “Please s-stop this!”
Shadow Pirate glanced away, then took off running. It took Mirage a moment to realize what was happening. They were running for the shadows of the building. If they reached it, they’d probably be able to disappear for good.
Mirage didn’t have time to think of a good plan. She reached out and created an illusion: a lasso in her hands tied around Shadow Pirate. Shadow Pirate was jerked to a halt and ended up stumbling to the ground. Mirage was pulled forward and almost lost her footing.
Shadow Pirate phased through the rope and got back on her feet, but Mirage had already closed the distance. She grabbed onto the inky black substance they were made of and pulled. To her surprise, Shadow Pirate was yanked back and fell to the ground.
“You can’t stop me,” a distinctly feminine voice hissed. “I can phase through anything. You won’t be able to hold me for long enough. Just let me go.”
“I can’t do that,” Mirage insisted, planting a foot on Shadow Pirate’s chest.
She expected her foot to phase through, but it didn’t. Shadow Pirate started to struggle, and Mirage had to put more weight on her foot to avoid being thrown off. Her heart was still pounding, but she reached into her pocket for her burner phone. She just needed a moment to call the police and they’d at least be on their way.
“It’ll take the police too long to get here,” Shadow Pirate insisted. “You can’t hold me that long. You’re not a crime fighter, Mirage. You’re a gimmick hero, nothing more.”
“She’s not alone!”
Mirage jumped, and beneath her Shadow Pirate’s head swiveled to look at who had just arrived. Daybreak, in his bright and gaudy costume, was floating down a short distance away. When he landed, Daybreak strutted over and placed his hands on his hips in a classic superhero pose.
“What are you doing?” Mirage hissed, pressing down a little harder on her leg to stop Shadow Pirate’s squirming. “Get out of here!”
“I’m here to fight alongside you,” Daybreak insisted, coming over and placing a foot on Shadow Pirate’s shoulder. “We’re partners, aren’t we?”
Mirage took a few steps back.
“We’re not partners,” she insisted.
“Look,” Daybreak said, taking a step toward her. “I know we had a little spat, but we’re destined to be partners. And we need to talk anyway, about our relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship,” Mirage hissed.
“Not yet, but I think I can convince you—”
“Shit!” Mirage cried, “She’s getting away.”
Without one of them pinning her down, Shadow Pirate had managed to get onto her feet and had taken off for the shadows of the building.
“I’ve got this,” Daybreak insisted, jumping up into the air.
He raised his hands and a bright yellow light began emitting from them. Shadow Pirate slowed to a stop at the realization that all the shadows to hide in were gone. She turned and faced the two heroes, and Mirage could see that her shadowy form was starting to bubble and hiss in the bright light.
Before Mirage could act on the opportunity, Daybreak flew right into Shadow Pirate, slamming her into the ground before rolling off of her. They both jumped to their feet, but Daybreak was faster. He kneed Shadow Pirate in the gut, causing her to double over before he brought his elbow down on the back of her head.
Penny started to shrink down. This was ugly. What was she doing here? Why had she gotten herself into this mess? She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t even want to be a crime fighter.
Before her, Daybreak and Shadow Pirate kept swinging at each other. Daybreak was faster on his feet, avoiding blows with ease. He kicked Shadow Pirate in the back of the knee, sending her sprawling to the ground. Then in his hand he generated a glowing yellow knife and slashed at her back.
Shadow Pirate cried out in pain and started crawling forward. Daybreak kicked at her, sending her sprawling to the ground. He dismissed the knife and generated a glowing yellow bat instead, swinging it down and hitting Shadow Pirate in the back. Shadow Pirate grunted, but didn’t stop crawling.
“Stay still, you bitch!” Daybreak cried, kicking her again.
“Fuck… you,” Shadow Pirate wheezed.
“Fine, then,” Daybreak replied, and a sword appeared in his hand.
Mirage was frozen. He was going to kill her! She had to do something, but her arms wouldn’t move. Her breathing was shallow and erratic. What was she supposed to do?!
Daybreak rose the sword over his head and Mirage reacted. A lasso appeared in her hands wrapped around the sword and she yanked. The sword was torn from Daybreak’s hands and disappeared. Mirage dispelled the lasso and raised her fists.
“You n-need to sto-stop,” she said, “before y-you seriously hu-hurt her.”
“I’m going to finish this job,” Daybreak told her, opening his hands and creating small flames in his palms. “I’m going to show everyone how a real hero takes care of threats to his hometown. You’re not going to get in my way.”
“I’ll s-s-stop you,” Mirage warned.
He snorted and turned away from her. Mirage took a deep breath and started running. Daybreak noticed her out of the corner of his eye and turned, tossing a small ball of flame in her direction. Mirage ducked out of the way, falling to the ground.
“Why are you protecting her?!” Daybreak cried. “She’s our enemy!”
“You’re my enemy,” Mirage told him, getting back up on her feet. “I saw you with that little group of yours, planning to recruit more followers. I’m not going to let you and those fascists threaten my hometown, Michael!”
After a moment, Daybreak’s expression darkened.
“I’m getting real fed up with you,” he said, stepping away from Shadow Pirate. “I’ve been nothing but a gentleman this entire time and all you’ve done is spit in my face.”
Mirage looked between Daybreak and Shadow Pirate. The latter was slowly climbing to her feet. Daybreak was focused entirely on Mirage. Shadow Pirate would be able to escape if Mirage could distract Daybreak for long enough.
“You should have stayed away from me,” she said, stepping forward. “I’m done putting up with your crap.”
Daybreak held up his hand and a golden baseball bat appeared. Mirage held up her arm and created a small shield with her powers. The two started to circle each other. Every muscle in Mirage’s body was tense, but Daybreak looked completely at ease.
“I’m going to give you one chance to fly away, little girl.”
Mirage glanced behind Daybreak. Shadow Pirate was limping toward the shadows of the building. As she reached it and began to dissolve away, Mirage saw her turn her head and look at her for a moment.
She focused her attention back on Daybreak.
“Heroes don’t run away from villains,” she declared.
Daybreak started running. Mirage braced herself and held up her shield as Daybreak swung his bat. It collided with a thud and Mirage felt a sharp pain run up her arm. Daybreak took another swing but Mirage stepped back out of range. Her breathing was heavy. She needed to come up with a way to restrain him.
Daybreak continued to swing wildly at Mirage, who kept walking back and raising her shield in response. She could see people out of the corner of her eye. They’d created enough of a racket to get people’s attention. Hopefully one of them was calling the police.
“We were supposed to be partners,” Daybreak snarled.
The bat in his hand disappeared, replaced by a golden medieval mace. Mirage’s breath caught in her throat as she stumbled backward. He was going to kill her! That was it. Mirage had seen enough. She let the shield dissipate and turned around, breaking into a sprint.
“No you don’t!” Daybreak cried.
Mirage cried out as something rammed into her back and knocked her forward to the ground. She rolled on her back and saw Daybreak holding onto a golden ball and chain which he was twirling around for another attack. She had to do something.
Turning herself invisible again, Mirage climbed to her feet and started circling Daybreak. He turned to follow her, probably listening to her footsteps. But as long as he couldn’t see her, she had a slight advantage. Still, her lungs burned with every step. She wasn’t a fighter and her powers were draining her energy.
Thinking fast, Mirage created a large dog with her powers. It started barking and charging at Daybreak. There was panic in his eyes as he let the ball and chain disappear and pointed his hand at the dog. A bright flash of light erupted from his palm and the dog vanished.
“Oh?” Daybreak asked. “That’s right. Daylight would nullify nighttime illusions, wouldn’t it?”
“Shit,” Mirage mumbled, and Daybreak turned to look directly at her.
Before she could react, Daybreak held up both his hands and bright light erupted from both. Mirage held up her arms to shield her eyes, but she could feel her invisibility ebb away. And then her heart sank, because her other illusion was fading, too.
“Oh, fuck,” she muttered, looking down and seeing her regular boy body in regular boy clothes.
Penny, shaking, looked up at Daybreak. He was staring at her, slack-jawed, like he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. Then Daybreak curled his hands into fists and flared his nostrils.
“Tobias?!” he asked. “It was you the whole time?!”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he was already charging at her. Daybreak knocked her down and landed on top of her. He started striking her in the face, hard. Daybreak was screaming something, but Penny couldn’t hear. There was a ringing in her ears. Why wasn’t someone stopping him?!
Daybreak placed a hand on Penny’s throat, then leaned in and whispered into her ear, “I know what to do with you.”
He placed both his hands on her chest and Penny started screaming. There was an overwhelming pain as he started tearing something from her. She could feel something leaving her. She had to stop it or she’d die. But it hurt too much to do anything but scream.
Then it was all over. Daybreak fell off of Penny, and then she was being dragged somewhere. Before she could get her bearings, darkness enveloped her entirely. She’d been swallowed up by nothingness.
Penny didn’t know how much time passed before she opened her eyes. She was lying on her back. There were trees around her and the full moon was beaming down on her from above. Next to her sat a shadowy figure.
“It’s true, then,” Shadow Pirate said. “Heroes like you do heal faster in the moonlight. Your injuries are almost completely gone.”
“What happened?” Penny croaked.
“He started pulling some kind of silvery substance from your chest. While he was distracted, I hit him with a pipe. Twice. Hard. He was stunned for long enough that I was able to pull you into the shadows with me. Lucky you, too. The police would not have been happy.” She paused. “Although, I’m sure that everyone will know about this soon enough. A lot of people were watching, and some of them had to have filmed what they saw.”
“Wonderful,” Penny mumbled.
“Can you fly?” Shadow Pirate asked.
Penny sat up and, after a moment, nodded.
“I think so,” she said. “Why did you save me?”
“I’m a thief, not a monster, kid.”
“Well, thank you.”
Shadow Pirate nodded and stood up. Penny tried to stand up as well, but was stiff and slow. Before she could say anything else, Shadow Pirate had reached the shadows of the trees and vanished.
Penny was alone.
wait, will removing the moon power orb kill her, or just take her powers away?
From what was mentioned in a previous chapter I think it just takes her powers away.
Awesome storyline, Penny’s nice customer from her place of work is the thief I hope they become great friends or more
Penny is not a smart person. Going into battle without any training or even practice? Refusing to run when she had a chance? Wow.
love shadow pirate
Mysterious silvery stuff, hmm.
I hope she's ok.
God damnit.
Awesome chapter.
Hopefully she hasn't lost her powers or anything like that. On the other hand, if her powers could be stolen, then Daybreak's vulnerable to the same maneuver.