Chapter Thirty-Six - Challenges

Chapter Thirty-Six

Challenges

         All three looked startled at the unexpected noise and television disruption.

         "Girls, stay put. I am going to go see what grandpa and Uncle Joe are up to."

         "Uncle Joe is here? Grandpas back? Why are they down there?"

         "They will be up shortly. Finish your breakfast so you will have time to see them."

         As Misty walked into the downstairs room, the first thing she saw was her father back to his super-sized self-laying on a smashed recliner, laughing.

         When Joe saw her, he stated, "We figured it out. It was so easy; I am surprised we didn't see it earlier."

         As Matthew was getting up, he momentarily forgot where he was and bumped his head into the ceiling. "Sorry about that. Oh, and your chair. Wasn't thinking when we were trying to get me back to normal." At this time, he noticed his clothes were not all the way on as his pants had fallen off while in his smaller state.

         "Dad! You are almost naked. Pull on your pants before the girls see you!"

         By this time, Cindy and Becca came running down to see their grandpa rushing to pull his pants up. They both shrieked with laughter.

         "Grandpa is nakey." stated Becca.

         "Is he taking off his clothes because he is going to take a bath down here? Shouldn't he be in the bathroom? I don't think he is going to fit. Maybe he needs to sit in our swimming pool." Cindy offered.

         "Girls, cover your eyes! Grandpa was changing his pants and you walked in on him. Girls shouldn't see boys changing their clothes."

         "You too, mom. Close you eyes." Becca stated.

         "Why don't you three just go back upstairs and I will be up when I get done. I promise to hurry." Matthew declared.

         "Good idea. Let's go, girls, back upstairs. Grandpa and Uncle Joe will not make any more noise and clean up this mess."

         Within thirty minutes, Joe and Matthew were back upstairs and in the living room with the girls and Misty. While Cindy and Becca are playing a game, Matthew and Joe filled Misty in on details of what had occurred with his reverting to his older self and returning to his alter ego. They believe, now, with effort, Matthew can change back and forth from human to superhuman self at will. When human, he has access to his third eye, even though it was in the form of eyes on stalk-like antennae.          

         Matthew stated, while he could use his human guise, the infirmity he felt, along with the helplessness he experiences, is a great deterrent.          With that, he would use it in a pinch if there were no other options.

         Around eleven that morning, a knock on Misty's front door is heard. Misty looked at her dad, and then at Joe mouthed the words, "What should I do?" Joe answered softly, "Go answer. Matt, go invisible. Girls, you don't know where grandpa went, just be quiet and keep playing your game."

         When Misty went to answer the door, she was met by an unassuming gentleman approximately 45 to 50 years old. He was dressed casually, dress shirt, slacks and suspenders, slightly balding hair, and a two-day stubble. Misty couldn't remember ever seeing him before and wondered what he wanted. She had the chain bolt on the door, so she opened the door the full three inches the chain allowed it to be opened.

         "Hello, may I help you?" Inquired Misty?

         "Yes, Hello, ma'am. I would like to speak with you regarding a possible superhero."

         "This is a private residence. The people who live here are myself and my two underage daughters. I am pretty certain we have never met and I have no idea what you are talking about."

         "Oh, I am very positive you and I have never met. Nor have I met your daughters."

         "I am confused. Who are you here to see then"?

         "I am here to speak with The Defender. Now, before you say he is not here, I know he is. I just know."

         "Are you with the police or something? I don't see a badge. What makes you think he is here? Do you have proof? You are frightening my daughters with your accusations a dangerous man could be here."

         "Yes, I am with the police, but not here on official police duty. I have been working through hunches about his home base for months and this is the most likely spot. I apologize if your daughters are frightened by me. I, too, have daughters, rather granddaughters get scared of strange men. I don't mean to frighten anyone"

         "Why are you looking for him? If you are looking for him, can't you contact him?"

         "No."

         After a brief pause and whispered conversation with Joe, Misty allows the officer to enter.

         "I appreciate your time," began the police officer, "if he doesn't stay here, but you know how to contact him, please let him know we have been getting many quiet inquiries about him from the Federal Government and United Nations. It appears they want to meet with him. They wouldn't go into detail. My advice is that if he does have family or friends, don't make it known. I will make sure I forget this address when I leave. I have taken the liberty of removing all of Sergeant Urad's notes regarding this address within his notes about his botched capture attempt."

         From where the Defender was standing, he heard the reference of Sergeant Urad. Wasn't he a Lieutenant? Was he demoted?

         With this, the Defender appeared right behind the Police Officer.

         "Thank You for your information, Captain Ventz."

         Everyone was startled by the sudden appearance of the Defender.

         "How long have you been listening? I could have gone into much more detail if I knew you were here," stated Captain Ventz.

         "What were you leaving out?"

         "I believe they want to experiment with you. Test your abilities. Your speed, strength, stamina, what powers you have, things like that. They say they just want to meet with you."

         "With your tone, it sounds like you don't believe them."

         "I believe they want to use you, or at the very least, abuse your gifts for their own use."

         "I won't do anything I feel is wrong."

         "You have a family and friends. You would be surprised what they can get you to do. Look, you appear to have served in the Military, didn't you? I assume at some point you were human. Remember how young some of the enemies seemed to be? They weren't there because it was fun. Threats were made against their families to produce fighters 'or else'. Even then, the 'or else' happened."

         "Speaking of families, how did you find this location?"

         "Here? That was luck, nothing more. I have been canvasing neighborhoods for weeks asking the same questions. I have been punched, doors slammed in my face, people called the police on me, ignored, beset by dogs, spent four hours talking to a cat-lady about all of her cats, and a myriad of other scenarios.

         "Getting back to the Government's offer, if I help them, what is their payment, or will I be doing this for free?"

         "According to them, you would be doing this on a case-by-case basis. The bigger the bang, the bigger the buck. Whatever it is, I would ask for the payment prior to the task because they could easily not pay you."

         "How do I contact them, if I want to do this? Call the White House. Knock on the Senate's door? Drop in on a session at the United Nations?"

         They didn't say. Do something that gets their attention. Something big. Make it really special. Any ideas come to mind?"

         "Well, yes. I have wanted to try something. It is big, super, crazy big. As you know, I have an incredible healing power. I want to use it to its full potential. I want to heal children who are terribly ill or have no hope. I know there is a children's hospital in a southern state that is the largest in the country. I am going to go there and heal all of the kids. At once. That will demonstrate a huge power and catch the eye of a lot of people. What do you think?"

         "That would certainly attract a lot of attention. What will that do to you? Won't that drain you completely? Is there a possibility that might be too much of a drain of your power?"

         "I don't think so. I figured if I do the healing on a floor-by-floor basis and do it methodically and slowly, also knowing not all rooms will be taken, I should be able to revive myself as I work.

         "How would you take the credit? Would you do this in plain sight or hidden?"

         "I thought about just walking in, standing by the elevator on each floor, and sending out the healing aura. People would see the green aura was coming from me and, hopefully, attribute the healing was coming from me as well."

         "Now for a reality check. What do you do about the guards who will be trying to stop you? Or even police who will be called. They will see a seven-foot tall man dressed in green and black, emitting a green aura who is not listening to their commands to desist. they will either attempt to taser, physically assault, or shoot you. Or all three. Are you immune to these?"

         "Yes, especially while I am producing the healing aura."

         "If you decide to do this, how soon would you carry this out?

         "I am not sure of that. It is best you don't know. For your protection.

         "I have another question. A different scenario, if you will. What do you think about doing something along the line of a military show? I am not talking about going into action. Just show off what you can do, I guess. Like it takes the fastest jet approximately 22 hours to go around the earth. How fast can you run?"

         "Well, we timed me once. I just ran for two hours at full speed. I think it worked out to be approximately 13,000 miles, or 6,500 miles an hour. When I do short bursts like I was using with the bomber, I can go much faster. I haven't had the opportunity to see how fast I can fly. I would like to race some jets, I hear they can fly up to 1,900 miles per hour, with a Soviet MIG-25 Foxbat fly as fast as 2,400 miles per hour. That would be an interesting and fun race.

         "I have seen you take an explosive device and hold it against you like it was a pillow and shrug off the explosion. I bet you could do the same with a shell from a M1 Abrams tank and stop it in its tracks."

         Captain Ventz thought for a moment then asked, "How fast can you recover from something really draining?"

         "Don't know. I haven't really been drained to the point of exhaustion before."

         "I have an idea. Just tell me if this sounds too much for you".

         "We want their attention. We want them to know you have super powers. That you are peaceful. That you could be beneficial. and that you are definitely something that doesn't want to be messed with. So do everything. Each day, do one of the things we talked about. Start with the hospital, then race a jet, find a tank to beat, and then wait and see what the fall out is. What do you think?"

         "That would certainly tax my powers. Which is something I have been wanting to do. Because I can disguise where I am coming from, no one will know my origin, and I can rest anyplace. And this would be fun. Let's give it a go. I will start first thing tomorrow."

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