"Technolocity & The Void League in… So Close, Yet So Far"

Chapter 9

Created by The Spectacular SpiderDom

Back in Seattle…

Mason and Sydney returned to their apartment in the Cabano Hotel, relieved to be back home.

"Phew," the former said, as he closed the door and locked it tight. "Man, that movie was pretty good. As much as I love superhero films and action movies, it's nice to take a break from them and watch something mellow."

"Yeah, but in my opinion," his girlfriend yawned, stroking her purple hair. "The trailers were better."

"You didn't like it?" he inquired.

"Eh, it was okay. It started off really good, but it became predictable and the end. Also, some of the plot points didn't make any sense. Why did the main character need to fall in love with her best friend? That didn't do anything for the story. Also, the principal being revealed as a secret villain is so cliché."

"Sadly, that last part happened in real life," Mason chuckled, picturing a certain nemesis of his. "Oh, and let's not forget the ending… the part where her future self comes out and says the Earth will be covered in a worldwide snowstorm. What the hell was that all about?"

"It's their way of starting a franchise, I guess," Sydney rolled her eyes and laughed, as she sat on the couch and laid down on her back.

Mason moved her legs to the side and sat down beside her, to which she placed her legs on top of his lap. Smiling at him, she laid against her pillow and watched him turn on the TV.

"As much as I hate watching the news sometimes, let's see what's going on in the world," Mason said, as he turned on News Blues.

An African American man with silver hair and a purple suit with grey pants turned around and adjusted his red tie. His hazel-colored eyes looked into the camera and he smiled.

"Good evening, America, this is Jettison Jabari filling in for Eartha Withers as we enter a brand new episode of News Blues. Tonight, we have two shocking stories from both Seattle and Long Island. Many hours ago, the supermax prison known as Sector Nine was somehow attacked, causing multiple supervillains and convicts to escape. A few of these escapees include Edwin Alonzo, Nagini the Viper, Ketchup King, Mustard Queen, The Titanium Rabbit, and lastly: Technolocity and The Void League."

Mason's eyes widened once he heard his villains' names. "Are you f*cking kidding me?"

Dunnere facepalmed and shook his head.

Jettison scrolled through his script and found the next story. "Speaking of The Void League, they were last seen at Islip Speedway in Long Island, New York, where they unintentionally hijacked the vehicle of the popular demolition racer, SpiderDom. To make things stranger, they won the actual competition and took home the trophy, leaving the car to be investigated by the police."

"Hmm.. sounds like something he would do," Sydney nodded.

"The Seattle Police Department and The Long Island Police Department have issued a warning to all civilians to watch out for The Void League or any supervillains roaming around. Their instructions are to call them immediately upon seeing any signs of the villains… and that's all there is to report, my friends. Stay safe and call any of these two police forces in case you see the criminals. Have a good night, everyone! This has been Jettison Jabari with News Blues. That's all folks!... am I allowed to say that?... Legally?"

Mason turned off the TV and he snarled. "How the hell is that even possible? They were locked up inside a powerful prison for a few days, how did they escape!? God damn it! Just when I thought I can have a normal life!"

He jumped up with a worried Dunnere on his shoulder. "I gotta do something!"

"Wait!" Sydney quickly leaped up and grabbed his arm.

Gazing into his aggravated hazel eyes, she took a deep breath and wrapped him in a tight hug.

He was about to push her off and grab his suit, but he stopped for a quick moment and closed his eyes. With a low sigh, he hugged her tight and rested his neck on her shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Sydney."

"What are you sorry for?" she asked.

"I thought they would have been locked up longer than expected. That way, I can actually make it to your comedy shows and spend more time with you," he sighed. "Basically, I was hoping Night Shadow would get a break."

"Mason, as much as I want you there with me when I do my comedy routine, I know how much being Night Shadow is to you. The whole reason you became him is so you can honor your mother's legacy. While I cannot fully grasp how hard it must be for you to balance a double life as an artist and a superhero, I knew what I was signing up for when we came a couple, and I want to be there for you every step of the way," she paused for a small moment and smiled. "But no one says you have to take care of those guys right now, use the time you have now to make a plan, so tomorrow you can jump straight into the action."

Mason nodded, as he released her and touched her shoulders. "I appreciate the support you've given me, but… have you and I discussed our future together?"

She stroked her chin. "Hmm, briefly… why?"

"Do you remember how you and I talked about getting married and moving out of Seattle when we're older? We were going to buy a small house in New Zealand, explore our careers, and raise a small family?"

"Yes," she smiled.

"Well… I spoke with Dunnere not too long ago about how I'm planning to give up being Night Shadow when the time comes. He's cool with it, thankfully," he turned to his demon who gave a nod and thumbs up. "And I'll still keep him around, but… I want to get rid of my enemies so you and I can live our lives in peace."

He paused for a quick moment, holding his girlfriend's hands. "You're someone that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I don't want Night Shadow's world to ruin the future of our relationship."

She registered that in her head, and she smiled deeply. "Well, Night Shadow's world is chaotic… but it's kinda fun. It's not every day you fight a bunch of snakes or get chased by tanks that shoot condiments."

Mason chuckled.

"That's really sweet of you and I love you too, so very much," Sydney replied, as they sat on the couch. She rested her head on his shoulder and held his hand tightly. "But you don't need to lock them up as soon as possible. You're twenty-three and I'm twenty-two, so that means we have our whole lives ahead of us. Even if it takes a decade, I can wait as long as it takes. Do you want to know why?"

"Because patience is a virtue?" he joked.

"That… but," she said, hugging him tightly. "Because my heart belongs to you, and you only, Mason Moonstone."

Both of them closed their eyes, as they hugged each other tight and laid against the couch.

As Mason kissed her forehead, Sydney began to speak in her thoughts.

And if I ever continue those self-defense classes with Gaige… I'll be strong enough to not only help you in your battles but to protect myself from harm.

Meanwhile at a small red house in Mercer Island, Seattle…

Sitting beside a gorgeous waterfront property, The Void League settled inside of a brand new home that definitely needed some remodeling. The furniture looked like it came out of the nineteen-seventies, as both of the couches were white and were covered in red flower details. The coffee table in front of it sat on top of a white carpet with dark red and green details. The outer rim of the table was brown while the rest of it was glass.

The kitchen sat right behind the living room and the utensils, while they were well-crafted, had an old-style to them. The refrigerator was the only modern piece in the kitchen, and it was filled with nothing but white trays. Mojo opened up the freezer to discover nothing inside, which made her roll her eyes and slam it shut; she was in the mode for an ice cream sundae.

But luckily, she had the chance to dine with her friends.

In a dining area not too far from the kitchen, the rest of her team settled inside a room with brown paneling on the walls and a greyish-yellow ceiling. The table around them was almost shaped like an oval, but it had little carvings on the edges that made it look rectangular. The chairs were dark brown and had beige cushions with red and green flower details just like the couch.

The supervillains sat down and prepared to dig into their Chinese food.

Technolocity sat at the end of the table with his helmet off and his mask covering the entire top part of his face. The only exposed part was his mouth, which consumed a forkful of General Tso's chicken with some yellow rice stuck to the side.

Madelyn and Leo, who had their masks off, split a large platter of sweet and sour chicken with Lo Mein noodles. Tender Soul had the same thing, but he kept it to himself and had some potstickers, fried dumplings, and Char Siu; a popular way to flavor barbequed pork. He consumed forkfuls and forkfuls of food, feeling hungry after all of the chaos that happened at the Islip Speedway.

Mojo finally sat across from her teammates and grabbed a package of Lo Mein noodles and some cheese-filled crab puffs. Allowing her teammates to take some, she poured the rest on her plate before she began to chow down.

Technolocity, after swallowing a mouthful of chicken, placed his helmet back on and burped. Covering his mouth, he chuckled and said, "Oof, better out than in, am I right?"

Tender Soul and Mojo chuckled while Leo and Madelyn rolled their eyes. Though, they did have a slight smile.

"This is a nice place you picked here, Harry," Leo said, looking around the room. "Who owned this house again?"

"My grandma did," Tender Soul replied. "She wanted my family to move out here for a while, but they wanted to stay in Paris. Fun little fact, my grandma had a speech issue where she couldn't say ladder, she always said looter. She'd always be like 'Harry, go fetch me that looter!' She's in jail now, she stole a looter," he laughed. "No, I'm kidding, she robbed a bank, go on."

After an awkward silence, Mojo placed her fork down and looked around the room. "Not to criticize your grandma, Speedy, but we're not keeping the house like this, are we? It smells like… old people."

"Actually, that's lavender," Tender Soul replied. "God knows how long it's been here."

"We'll fix it up during our break," Technolocity replied, but he leaned forward and cracked his fingers. "By the way, now that I've got you all here, I gotta ask you all a question… I made a huge mistake a few days ago and I've made many mistakes before that. When I neglected to save you all from the fire, I assumed you all would walk off on your own, but no, you decided to stay with me… why?"

The Void League shared a glance before they replied.

"Well, all five of us have similar goals," Leo replied. "And the only way we can achieve them is if we work together."

"Plus, you're the only way we're gonna find Felix," Madelyn replied. "I really want to see him again."

"I think you've made that clear," Mojo chuckled, slurping a streak of noodles.

"You're also a really cool dude, Techy," Tender Soul answered with a nod. "You were a superhero before your partner went batshit and we sympathize with your pain. All of us were horrified by the incident, which caused our hatred for superheroes, so we want to do what it takes to take them down."

"Well, I don't have a hatred for them as much as you do, but yeah, I can relate to ya," the pink gorilla shrugged.

"Why, thank you, everyone," Technolocity said, as he picked up his glass of wine and stood up. "It may take us a long time to get what we really want, but if we strive hard enough, we might just succeed. Now, let's do a celebratory cheer before we got to bed with all of these carbs and calories coursing through our stomachs. To The Void League!"

Everyone stood up and clapped their wine glasses together.

"To The Void League!" they shouted at the same time.

Technolocity removed his helmet again and drank from his glass, so did everyone else.

But as Madelyn placed her drink down, she looked at the living room and saw a certain someone sitting on the couch.

It was Felix Harbor: Lupin.

She assumed he wanted to talk, but all he did was shake his head in disappointment.

In the blink of an eye, he snapped his fingers and disappeared from sight.

Madelyn released a low sigh when that happened before Leo gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"Are you okay, Madelyn?" he asked.

She was silent at first before she smiled. "Yeah… I'm fine… I'm fine."

With another sigh, she continued eating.

Outside The Void League's new home, there was a masked figure sitting on top of the tallest tree. With a pair of binoculars, he watched the supervillains eat and laugh at a joke Tender Soul just made. The figure grumbled as he lowered his tool, revealing himself to be…

Gavroche: Grim Assassin.

He closed his orange eyes and shook his head, as he leaped off the tree and landed on the ground.

But as he walked into the forest, he stopped for a moment and turned around, staring at The Void League's new home.

Thinking to himself, he slowly approached the top of the hill he stood on and paused, soaking in the cool, Spring wind and the atmosphere around him. He took his binoculars back out and saw the villains cleaning up their dinner and throwing their stuff out in the garbage. Melody came outside to put the trash in a silver can, and she went back inside, unaware of the person that watched her.

Shaking his head, Gavroche lowered his head in shame before he placed his binoculars in his pouch.

And from that moment, he pulled back his hood and took off his mask.

He was a Hungarian man at the age of twenty-four, with dark skin and violet-colored eyes. He closed them and thought about who he used to be.

Suddenly, he heard a voice.

"Are you okay, Felix?"

Felix Harbor turned around and saw a Polish woman with skin lighter than his emerge from the shadows. She had a light blue shirt with a purple hoodie and black jeans. Stepping over some flowers with her brown combat boots, she had a red rose in her hair and circular glasses that were dark green. She approached her best friend and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Polina," the former supervillain replied. "Just thought I'd come to see them."

Polina nodded before she rested her head on his arm. "Have you spoken to them?"

"Why bother?... They're not my family anymore."

"But Orion, Ace, Kate, and Bridget are… and you also have me," she smiled.

He returned the gesture before he placed his mask and hood back on. Both of them turned around and walked into the forest, where they eventually came across a black jeep.

"So, what are we going to do about The Goldsmith and The Illusionary Legion?" she asked. "They're loaded with weapons from Huffleklaw Industries, and they have an army of bionic soldiers. Seeing as how Orion, Ace, Kate, and Bridget… aren't on good terms with each other and Sparrow's unavailable at the moment, there's no way we can stop them by ourselves."

"We won't need to," Gavroche replied, as he opened the door and hopped in the front seat. Polina sat in the driver's spot and started the car. "I know the perfect person that can help us out."

Making a three-point turn, Polina drove down the grassy road and both vigilantes disappeared into the night, hoping this certain someone could assist them in their mission.

END OF STORY

Tune In Next Time For…

The Sensational Night Shadow – Issue #10: Adara's Deception

Special thanks to my close friends and hugest Night Shadow fans, StarShine89 and ApipiphobicDalmatianLass for letting me make fun of their characters, Silver Lightning & Bloodhound, for the scene with Alyssa and Steven. Gold Thunder is a reference to Silver Lightning and Dark Poodle is a reference to Bloodhound. I would also like to thank TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3 for helping me come up with the episode's title. See you all for Night Shadow #10! Thanks to all of you for helping me get this far!