They spent the rest of their time out vaulting across rooftops and keeping an eye and ear out for any suspicious activity. After several hours had passed, they decided to call it a night.
“Not bad for our second night on the job,” said Adam as they rode back in Lance's truck. “Foiled a bank robbery, stopped a mugging, helped a pizza guy find his delivery address…”
“Not to mention the free pizza out of that one,” added Lance before taking a bite from a slice of a hot pepperoni pizza. “And it’s a good thing too, because I was starving!”
“I agree!” said Adam as he took another slice for himself. “They say a good deed is its own reward, but I think my stomach prefers something tangible!”
Lance pulled up to the building Adam lived in, which was also the location of the Cafe and parked on the side of the street. They both sat quietly for a few minutes, eating pizza and processing the whirlwind of events so far.
“Something I just thought of,” started Adam, breaking the silence. “We need code names or something.”
“We do,” said Lance. “No need to make it easy for the bad guys to figure out who we are... or anyone for that matter…”
“Too bad the comic book names are already used…” said Adam with feigned disappointment.
“You aren't billionaire orphan material anyway,” joked Lance.
“Well, yours could be easy enough to pick out with that shield you're carrying now,” stated Adam. “If you want to be called 'Shield’ that is.”
“Shield works for now,” agreed Lance. “At least until we get official aliases.”
Adam snapped his fingers, almost throwing his pizza down.
“Alias!” he said. “It's rather redundant, but it could work, like you said, for now at least.”
Lance nodded with a smirk.
“If we were up-and-coming comic book heroes, the readers would call us out on the cheesiness and redundancy, that's for sure!” he said.
“Well, we figured that one out easily enough!” said Adam with a yawn. “I think it’s time to call in for the night… see you tomorrow, Shield!” he said as he held out a fist.
“See you, Alias,” said Lance as they fist-bumped.
------
Lance slowed his breath as he steadied the tools in his hands. He gingerly soldered several components to the motherboard in front of him. He compared his work to the schematic on the screen next to him one last time, then pressed the large “DONE” button on the screen. The instructor walked by with a slim black digital tablet in hand.
“Impressive as always, Lance,” he said as he quickly examined the motherboard. “It seems that both you and Anthony finished at the same time,” he said after glancing at his tablet.
Lance looked over his shoulder at Anthony, who was sitting at his workstation with his arms crossed impatiently. They briefly made eye contact, Anthony giving Lance a glare of disdain as if dissatisfied with Lance. Lance turned back to his screen, shaking his head, then looked over some of the technical notes.
“When everyone finishes the given steps we will proceed,” informed the instructor aloud to the students. “This particular prototype motherboard can be both delicate and complex, so one should take care not to rush the process of recovering it.”
------
Adam was studying the labels on the six flasks of liquid at his station when the professor called him back to reality. “Mr. Chase, what application of the scientific method is being demonstrated right now?”
"Constructing a hypothesis to determine which one of these liquids will dissolve the candy cane the fastest, Professor.”
“That’s correct. You have cold water, hot water, salt water, vinegar, isopropyl alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide. I want each of you to formulate your own individual hypothesis, consult with your partner, and detail your findings. As relatively easy as this experiment may be, this is an exercise for all of you to be constantly applying the scientific method in everything you do. Also, I thought it would be nice to throw a little holiday flair into it all. Okay class, you have an hour to conduct your experiments and present your findings to me. Happy Hypothesizing!”
Adam turned to his lab partner, “Caleb, man, I’m not sure about you, but wouldn’t they classify this as cruelty to candy?”
Caleb laughed, “I would say so, I mean six candy canes are sacrificing their lives for the sake of science!”
“Speaking of which, let’s get down to business,” smiled Adam. “Which compound do you think will dissolve the fastest? I presume it is the hydrogen peroxide as it is a bleaching agent.”
“That’s a good theory. Though I believe the hot water will dissolve it the fastest, essentially melting the candy.”
“With that said, may the odds be ever in our flavor!” exclaimed Adam. They both dropped the individual candies into their respective flasks and watched the reactions.
------
Lance checked the time on his watch, then pulled out his phone to text Adam.
“I’ll be parked out front.” he typed, then hit send.
He turned the corner to the entry hall and bumped directly into Melody. She stumbled back, off balance, and would have fallen had Lance not caught her.
“Oh! Excuse me!” said a slightly startled Melody. “Hi, Lance!”
“Hi! No, it was my fault!” Lance returned. “What brings you to venture into this section of campus?”
“Oh, there was a class of mine here about some new veterinary tech,” she replied. “You?”
“Most of my courses are in this wing,” said Lance.
“Parked out front for sure!” stated Adam from across the hall.
Lance and Melody turned to see Adam coming from the other side of the foyer with a broad grin on his face.
“Hilarious, you are,” stated Lance with a roll of his eyes.
“Know that I do!” agreed Adam.
“How's it going, Melody?”
“Good, and you?”
“Super!” said Adam. “You'll be at the Christmas party next weekend, right?”
“Of course!” said Melody with glee. “I wouldn't miss it!” she added with a quick look to Lance.
Lance took a glance at his watch again, noting the time.
“Ready to work on that project?” Lance asked Adam.
“Oh, right! The project!” he said with a little too much emphasis.
“What are you two up to?” asked Melody, catching on to the exaggeration.
“It’s super top secret… it’s… a surprise for later,” said Adam, struggling to come up with an excuse not to say.
“Something like that,” shrugged Lance.
“Well…” said Melody with a pause. “Don’t get into too much trouble!”
Lance and Adam exchanged knowing glances at the comment. They were likely to find themselves in more than just trouble eventually.
------
“Now you sit here and think about what you did!” Adam commanded the thug he had just cuffed to a light post.
“Who are you guys!?” asked the criminal.
“People you don't want to mess with,” stated Lance. “Let's go.”
They took off with their grapples to the rooftops.
“I love these voice changers!” laughed Adam as they stood watch over the street as police pulled up.
“I honestly should've put them in sooner,” said Lance. “One for the disguised voice and two for the menacing factor.”
“I AM YOUR FATHER!” said Adam with the modulator active.
Lance laughed and shook his head. He pressed a button on his gauntlet.
“The shadows betray you, for they belong to me!” he said, his modulator altered.
Adam chuckled. “That's a good one too!”
Lance removed his helmet and took a deep breath of the chilly night air.
“One thing is for sure, I can't wait to be able to get an air system built in,” he said. “It gets rather stuffy in these things, especially in the middle of a fight.”
“No kidding,” agreed Adam as he took his off as well.
They turned around and walked towards the other end of the rooftop, a view of the city's center now before them. They stopped to take in the view in silence for a few moments.
“One day…” started Lance. “I know we're just getting started, but one day this will be worth it…”
Adam glanced at his friend, then back to the scene of lights, a light snowfall just beginning to come down.
“Even just for protecting those we care for,” he added. “That's worth it if you ask me.”
Lance nodded silently in agreement and looked up at the snow.
Suddenly a scream echoed through the night air. Both men turned in the general direction of the sound.
“Definitely sounds like trouble,” stated Adam as the two put their helmets back on.
“L.A.S.S.I., did you get a location on that scream?” asked Lance.
“Affirmative,” replied the A.I. “Five blocks northeast, Central Street.”
Without another word, and not a moment spared, the vigilantes dashed across the rooftop in the indicated direction. They heard another scream, which made them pick up the pace.
“That scream sounds familiar…” noted Lance.
“It does…” agreed Adam.
They leaped across the last alleyway between them and stopped at the edge to look for the source of the screams. A deep, beastly growl caught their attention. They looked down into the alley next to them where a large, black-furred creature had a young woman cornered. It growled and barked like a huge dog, but there seemed to be more echoes than what would be from just one animal.
“GET AWAY FROM ME!” shouted the woman as she pulled herself tighter into the corner she was hiding.
“That sounds like Noel!” exclaimed Adam with a slight panic.
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