< Part Three

Colorado Potato Beetle Man had been in some sticky situations before. One time he narrowly avoided being shot in the face trying to stop a mugging. Another time he was chasing a bank robber down the street and almost fell down an open manhole. And just a few weeks ago he accidentally washed his costume along with his lab coat and it turned orange. But his current situation was the worst he'd ever seen.
He was tied to a chair in an old supply closet along with that police officer who he'd crossed paths with several times before. Two tough guys were standing watch as his old boss leered at him, reveling in the hero's capture.
"I suppose you're wondering why I brought you here, Lester. Well, truth be told, I was after your friend. The 'police' officer, as she tries to present herself."
Megan looked down at the floor, trying to hide her fear. Colorado Potato Beetle Man kept his gaze locked on the villain, but beneath his mask he was filled with dread.
"I've seen many like her over the years. Not all of them look like law enforcement, some look more military, or maybe just a random passerby on the street. But they're all the same inside. Liars. Thieves. Murderers. Your people have been trying to catch me for years. Put me in a little box, make sure I can't scare the normal folks out there. And every time they try, people wind up dead. And I'm still here."
The orange hero looked over at his co-captive in confusion, wondering if she was part of the reason he hadn't seen many other super-powered people.
"So here's the deal. Normally, I would get as much information out of you as I could, then kill you. But today is a special day. I just received this new toy, and I've been in the market for a good test subject."
He reached into his jacket and took out a heavily modified pistol, with a red casing and bundles of wires sticking out.
"You've spent your life hurting people you don't understand."
He withdrew a pill bottle, took off the lid, and screwed it onto the gun where the ammunition clip should have gone.
"Tell me, do you think your friends would still allow you to work with them if you were one of the freaks?"
Megan didn't know the answer. The UIU had a few anomalous employees, but none of them were particularly powerful or dangerous.
Colorado Potato Beetle Man had his own answer ready to fire.
"The freaks are the people who can stop monsters like you!"
He lurched forwards, picking his chair up off the ground and falling over, landing right on Ferol's foot.
The villain jumped back, more in surprise than anything, and then put the gun away and kicked the masked head. The guards grabbed the orange man and propped him up for meet Ferol's gaze.
"Just what did you think that would accomplish?"
"I don't know, maybe distracting you long enough for my accomplice to escape?"
Ferol jerked his head around to see Megan was… sitting dejectedly in the chair she was still very much tied to.
He looked back at the hero who had just wriggled out of his bonds, and received a swift punch in the jaw. The guard on the left raised their fists for attack, but the vigilante was too quick. He ducked and bashed their leg, knocking them off balance and leaving their face open for a swift punch, and he forgot to take account for the other guard who had already pressed his gun against Megan's face and didn't look like he was bluffing.
"Back off bug man, or your friend here gets a new hole in her head."
He put his hands in the air without hesitation. Ferol stood up and rubbed the bruise that was forming on his chin.
"You're certainly daring, I'll give you that. But daring is a slippery slope to foolhardy."
Colorado Potato Beetle Man's mind was racing. He needed to save his friend so they could both escape, but they had guns and all he could do was walk on walls and eat potatoes. But the guns were mostly pointed at Megan, using her as a hostage.
Hostage…
He drove his fist into Ferol's face again and quickly spun to hold the villain in front of him as a shield. He glared at the guard under his mask, silently daring him to hurt the hero's friend while his arm was around the boss' neck.
Said boss didn't look too happy about the situation, but he didn't give any orders to the hired muscle. Colorado Potato Beetle Man made his way to the door, making sure not to break eye contact with the guard. He wanted to go back and save Megan, but there was nothing he could do.
Ferol had other plans however. He reached into his jacket and drew his weapon, aiming straight at Megan. Colorado Potato Beetle Man pushed the villain to the ground and dared a look at the police officer, expecting the worst. She was perfectly fine, because in the heat of the moment Ferol had missed the shot and hit his goon, leaving Megan unscathed.
But the second shot didn't miss. The withered old businessman may have been knocked down, but he still had a gun. As Megan crumpled to the ground with blood seeping from her neck, Ferol took aim at the insectoid hero. Colorado Potato Beetle Man ducked under the bullet, and gave one last glance to the broken form of his companion. Then he turned and ran. Alarms sounded throughout the building, and he heard more guards headed his way. He knocked down one of the less sturdy looking doors and ran into an empty office. Without a second thought he threw a chair out the window and climbed out, crawling down the side of the building to the ground bellow. It wasn't until the tower was out of sight that he finally crumpled to the ground in between a few trash bags in a back alley. He tore his mask off in frustration, screaming into the uncaring void. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be the hero, the hero that could save people from evil. He wasn't supposed to run away.
His friends weren't supposed to die.
He looked down at the orange and black mask, sitting in a puddle of whatever filth was in dark dingy alleyways. The face of a Colorado Potato Beetle, the creature that had given him power.
Lester picked up the mask and stood. He knew what he needed to do. He would avenge his friend. He would put a stop to that mad man. He still had a chance to be a hero.

Ferol sat in his oversized chair behind an oversized desk, holding an icepack to his forehead. That rotten bug man had escaped him for the second time, but it wouldn't happen again. He watched his screens, waiting to catch a glimpse of Colorado Potato Beetle Man on any of the cameras he'd set up across the city.
A knock came at his door, and he buzzed them in without looking away from the monitors.
"The test subject is awake Sir. What should we do with her?"
"Figure out what she can do, then either dump her on the street or offer her a job. It doesn't matter which one, the plan is too close to completion for her to be of any consequence."
"Of course Sir."
The door closed, and Ferol kept watching the cameras, knowing it was only a matter of weeks before he wouldn't need them anymore.

< Part Three