Superfreaks/ACRA: Superfreaks #4

Martin Phipps martinphipps2 at yahoo.com
Sat Sep 23 04:02:56 PDT 2006


Apologies!  I thought I had expunged references to Pepperton but I
reread this issue and found that I hadn't.  So I'm reposting with
corrections.

--

Michael King and Mary Jones: crime scene
investigators.  Mark Johnston and Thomas Jackson:
police officers.  Jack Greenspan and Edward Bailey:
medical examiners.  Alan Russell and Cliff Murdock:
prosecuters.  These are the men and women who are
truly our last line of defense.  But what about the
capes whose cases they have to investigate?  Should
they be considered a help or a hindrance?

                   SUPERFREAKS #4

                      DEJA VU

                       PART 1


12:55 am

  "Mr. Austin?  Could you tell us what happened here?"
  Kevin Austin looked at Detectives Michael King and
Mary Jones.
  "It all happened so fast."
  "Take your time," Mary Jones suggested.
  "I was out with my girlfriend..."
  "The victim?" Michael King asked.  "Linda Carver?"
  "That's right.  We were coming home from a party.
This guy: he pulled out a gun."
  "So this was a mugging?" Mary asked.
  "Yeah.  He wanted my wallet."
  "Did you give him your wallet?" Michael asked.
  "Yeah."
  "So why did he shoot your girlfriend?"
  "While I was handing him the wallet, Linda tried to
grab the gun from him.  It went off.  Then he ran off
with my wallet."
  "I'm sorry," Mary Jones said.

9:05 am

  "Alan, good news."
  "What's that?" District Attorney Alan Russell asked
his assistant, Cliff Murdock.
  "A new witness has come forward in the Desanto
case."
  "Really?  So he saw the shooting?"
  "Not exactly."
  "He saw the suspect leaving the scene?"
  "No."
  "Then what?"
  "He's a psychic."
  "A psychic?"
  "Yeah.  He claims he had a vision of the murder the
night before it happened.  He says he would have said
something sooner but he says he didn't know what the
vision meant until he saw a report about it on the
news.  He says he can positively identify the killer."
  "You've got to be kidding me."
  "You don't believe in psychic powers?"
  Alan laughed.  "Even if I did, it would be
inadmissable in court."
  "What if we could prove to a jury that he had
psychic powers."
  "Have you ever heard of 'reasonable doubt'?"
  "Come on.  It's not as though it isn't the only
evidence we have on this guy."
  "Exactly.  We're trying to convince a jury with
cold, hard evidence and then you want me to distract
them with this sideshow?"
  Cliff nodded.  "Okay, so we can't use him in court,
but couldn't we at least talk to him?  Maybe he can
lead us to some hard evidence that we actually can
use."

11:50 am

  "Hey!  Do you want to go get lunch?"
  Mary Jones thought for a moment.  "I was planning to
go have lunch.  Why?"
  "I mean with me."
  "Edward Bailey... are you asking me out?"
  "It's only lunch."
  "What did you have in mind?"
  "I don't know.  McDonalds?"
  "McDonalds?"
  "Or an Italian place."
  "I usually just grab a sandwich from the local
deli."
  "Okay."
  "And then I bring it back here."
  "Oh.  Okay.  Never mind then."
  Mary smiled.  "You give up too easy."
  "Really?"  Edward thought for a moment.  "How about
dinner then?  Italian?"
  "What time?"
  "Eight o'clock?"
  "Better make it seven."
  "Okay.  Seven."
  "Where?"
  "I thought we'd meet here at 6:30."
  "I mean where will we eat dinner?"
  "How about Guido's?"
  "Guido's is right across town."
  "We can take a taxi."
  "Really?"
  "Sure."
  "Okay.  I'll be back here at 6:30 and we can take a
taxi to Guido's."
  "Great!"

3:40

  "Mr. Das?"
  Cliff Murdock had brought his boss to Suri Das'
apartment to check out his story.
  "Yes?"
  "Mr. Das, you claim to have psychic powers."
  "There is no claim.  I really do have psychic
powers."
  "Can you prove it?"
  "You want me to demonstrate my powers?"
  "Please.  Tell us what happens tomorrow."
  "Alright.  I need to concentrate."  Suri Das closed
his eyes.  His face turned pale.  Given that he was
from India, that's saying a lot.  "Oh my."
  "What's wrong?"
  "There is no tomorrow.  The world will come to an
end in just a few minutes."
  "This is ridiculous!" Alan scoffed.

3:45

  "Mr. Austin?"
  "Doctor?"
  "I'm sorry.  She didn't make it.  We did all we
could."
  "Doctor.  I need to be alone for a moment."
  "Of course."
  The Doctor left Kevin Austin alone in the waiting
room.  He concentrated.  His eyes rolled back in his
head.  His body began to shake.

  The whole world went white.

                          PART 2

12:55 am

    "Mr. Austin?  Could you tell us what happened
here?"
  "It all happened so fast."
  "Take your time," Mary Jones suggested.
  "I was out with my girlfriend..."
  "The victim?" Michael King asked.  "Linda Carver?"
  "That's right.  We were coming home from a party.
This guy: he pulled out a gun."
  "So this was a mugging?" Mary asked.
  "Yeah.  He wanted my wallet."
  "Did you give him your wallet?" Michael asked.
  "No."
  "No?"
  "He was going to shoot my girlfriend."
  "How do you know that?" Mary asked.
  "I just do."
  Michael shook his head.  "If you had done as he
asked he might have just taken your wallet and left."
  "No.  She was going to grab the gun from him."
  "She told you this?" Mary asked.
  "No."
  "Then why do you say that is what she was going to
do?"
  "I just do.  I know."
  "We understand how you feel," Michael assured him.
  "No you don't."
  "Excuse me?"
  "I've been through this before."
  "This has happened to you before?"
  "It's hard to explain."
  Mary pursed her lips.  "Mr. Austin, we're not
blaming you for what happened."
  "He was going to shoot her."
  "Mr. Austin, he did shoot her.  We're just trying to
figure out why.  Did you try to get the gun away from
him?"
  "He was going to shoot her.  I had to get the gun
away from him.  But I wasn't fast enough.  I just
wasn't fast enough."
  Michael King sighed.  "Alright, Mr. Austin.  You'll
need to go down to the station first thing tomorrow
morning and provide a sketch artist with a description
so our officers can know what the mugger looked like."

10:25 am

  "Hey, what's up, Doc?"
  "Very funny."
  "And people say I don't have a sense of humour."
  Jack Greenspan was tempted to say that they were
right, that Dectective Michael King did not have a
sense of humour, but he decided to let it go.
  "Seriously though, what do we have here."
  "Irwin Stevens.  Male.  Caucasion.  35," Jack said,
refering to the body on the slab in front of him.
"Occupation: alligator hunter."
  "As in the Alligator Hunter TV show taped in
Florida?"
  "The same."
  "My nephew watches that show."
  "I think it's safe to say it will be in reruns for a
while."
  "Cause of death?"
  "He was scuba diving in the Atlantic and he was
stung by a stingray in the heart.  Death would have
been instantaneous.  He then floated ashore here in
Pepperton."
  "So nothing suspicious.  Why call me down here?"
  Jack grimaced.  "It just seems wrong somehow.  You
would have thought he'd have been done in by an
alligator, a snake or a shark, but not a stingray."
  "You don't think this was an accident?"
  "It wouldn't hurt to try to find out if anybody
could have had a grudge against him."
  "Alright.  I'll look into it."

2:45 pm

  "Hey, Tom, guess what?"
  "What?"
  "I've got a date with Mary tonight."  Edward Bailey
was beaming.
  "Mary?  No way!"
  "Seriously.  I asked her out for lunch and she
suggested dinner instead."
  "_She_ suggested dinner?"
  "Well, sure, because she usually has lunch here."
  "Okay.  So where are you going?"
  "Guido's."
  "Guido's?  Isn't that expensive."
  "Tom, this is a date.  What would you suggest?  McDonalds?"
  "Do they pay you enough here to go to Guido's?"
  "It's not that expensive.  Besides, yeah, lab work
pays really well.  I probably make a lot more than you
do."
  "Really?"
  "Really."
  "But I'm a cop.  I put my life on the line."
  "I'm a cop too, Tom.  You can't make an arrest
without the evidence to back it up."
  "Okay.  Anyway, good luck with Mary."
  "Thanks."

3:45 pm

  "Mr. Austin?"
  "Doctor?"
  "I'm sorry.  She didn't make it.  We did all we
could."
  "Doctor.  I need to be alone for a moment."
  "Of course."
  The Doctor left Kevin Austin alone in the waiting
room.  He concentrated.  His eyes rolled back in his
head.  His body began to shake.

  The whole world went white once more.

                        PART 3

9:35 am

  "Mr. Austin?"
  Kevin Austin woke up.  He was in a hospital bed.
Standing next to his bed were detectives Michael King
and Mary Jones.
  "Mr. Austin, are you able to talk about what
happened?"
  "There was a man with a gun.  He shot me."
  "Why did he shoot you?"
  "He was going to rob me.  I dived in front of my
girlfriend."
  "Why did you dive in front of your girlfriend?"
  "He was going to shoot her."  Kevin looked around.
"Where is she?"
  "Mr. Austin, the bullet passed through you."
  "Where's Linda?"
  "Mr. Austin, you're going to be okay."
  "Where is she?"
  "After the bullet passed through you, it hit Linda."
  "No."  He closed his eyes.
  "She's in critical condition.  That's why we need to
speak to you."
  "Alright."
  "We have a Mr. Lopez here.  He's a sketch artist.
Frank, could you come over here please?"
  Frank Lopez sat down and held a sketch pad in front
of him.  "Mr. Austin, the man who shot you.  Did he
have a round shaped head or an oval shaped head?"
  "Oval."
  "Like this?"  Frank showed him his sketch of the
man's head.
  "Yeah."
  "And the eyes?"
  "Ovals."
  "Like this?"
  "Bigger."
  "We'd better be going," Michael King said.
  "Don't worry, Mr. Austin," Mary said, "we'll find
this guy."

11:40

  >>What we have here is a shark we captured
underwater and placed in a cage.  Notice how angry it
gets when we prod it.<<
  Michael paused the tape and turned to Mary.  "What
do you think?"
  "I imagine this would have angered a few people at
the ASPCA," she said.
  "I'm sure," Michael said, "but not enough to commit
murder."
  "So what's your theory?"
  "Remember how Waterlord was able to command sea
creatures?"
  "You think Waterlord did this?"
  "Not necessarily.  We don't know if that was
Waterlord's own unique ability or if any Atlantean
could command sea creatures.  In any case, we don't
have any physical evidence to tie any Atlantean to
this death."
  "For that matter, I doubt if they even get TV in
Atlantis," Mary said with a smile.
  "No, probably not," Michael said with a straight
face, "but if Waterlord should ever return to Pepperton
then I would want to ask him about this."
  "So that's it then?"
  Michael took a look at the clock on the wall.
"Sure.  It's almost time for lunch anyway."

3:05

  "Did you hear about Edward and Mary?" Tom asked his
partner.
  "Hear what?" Mark Johnston asked.
  "They're going on a date."
  "Good for them."
  "Aren't you surprised?"
  "Not at all.  He's been pining after her for a
while.  Everybody knew that."
  "Including her?"
  "Probably."
  "Well if she knew he was interested and she was
willing to go out with him then why didn't she say
something?"
  Mark smiled.  "You don't know anything about women,
do you?  Women want you to ask you out.  They aren't
going to ask you out themselves even if they are
interested."
  Detective John Phelps walked up to them.  "If you
two ladies are done gossiping, I've got an assignment
for you."  He showed them the sketch Frank Lopez had
drawn.  "This is a sketch of the guy who shot Kevin
Austin and Linda Carver last night.  I want you two to
go down to the scene of the shooting and ask around
and see if anybody can recognize the perp from the
sketch."
  "Yes, Sir!" Tom said.
  "Now, gentlemen!"
  "Right away, Sir!" Mark said.  They both left.

3:45

  "Mr. Austin."
  Oh no.
  "Mr. Austin, it's about your wife."
  Not again.
  "She didn't make it."
  "I understand.  Doctor?"
  "Yes?"
  "I need to be alone."
  "Of course."  The doctor left.
  Kevin Austin concentrated.  The drugs they had given
him for the pain made concentration difficult but
Kevin's reality changing powers could only take back
one day and in a few hours time it would be too late.

  Once again, the whole world went white.

                          PART 4

12:55

  "Miss Carver?"
  Tears rolled down Linda Carver's eyes.
  "Miss Carver, are you going to be okay?" Mary asked.
  "I'm sorry.  Who are you people?"
  "I'm Detective Michael King and this is Detective
Mary Jones from the Pepperton police department.  We'd
like to know what happened here."
  "It all happened so fast."
  "Take your time," Mary said.
  "There was a man.  He had a gun.  No wait.  I didn't
see a gun.  But when Kevin jumped him he pulled out a
gun."
  "Your boyfriend jumped him _before_ he pulled out
the gun?"
  "Yeah.  He must have known he had a gun."
  "Go on," Michael said.
  "Anyway, Kevin jumped him, he pulled out his gun, he
shot David and then he ran off.  He didn't even take
David's wallet.  He was freaked."
  "Thank you, Miss Carver," Michael said.  "You'll
need to go down to the station first thing tomorrow
morning and provide a sketch artist with a description
so our officers can know what the mugger looked like."
 Michael and Mary walked off.
  "Well, Mike, what do you think?"
  "Somehow he knew the perp was carrying a weapon."
  "I know.  He could just tell.  We could have used
somebody like that on the force."
  "I know," Michael said.  "What a waste."
  The paramedics covered Kevin's face with a sheet
before they loaded his body onto the ambulance.

3:40

  "Mr. Das?"
  Cliff Murdock had brought his boss to Suri Das'
apartment to check out his story.
  "Yes?"
  "Mr. Das, you claim to have psychic powers."
  "There is no claim.  I really do have psychic
powers."
  "Can you prove it?"
  "You want me to demonstrate my powers?"
  "Please.  Tell us what happens tomorrow."
  "Alright.  I need to concentrate."  Suri Das closed
his eyes.  After a few minutes, he just shrugged his
shoulders.
  "What's wrong?"
  "I'm sorry, Mr. Murdock, but there's nothing special
happening tomorrow."
  "This is ridiculous!" Alan scoffed.  "Let's go."

3:55

  "Alan, I'm sorry."
  "You should be."
  "I thought that guy was for real."
  "You just want to believe in the supernatural."
  "Is it so hard to believe that people can see into
the future?  We live in a world where men can fly,
bend steal and deflect bullets!"
  Alan smiled.  "There may be people with psychic
powers but he's not one of them.  The guy is just a
fraud."

7:05 pm

  "So, what will you have?" Edward asked Mary.
  "I'll have spaghetti."
  "Okay.  I'll have spaghetti too."
  "You don't have to have what I'm having."
  "If I order a pizza then it will be too much for
me."
  "If you like, you can order a pizza for both of us."
  "Is that what you want.  Pizza?"
  "No.  Actually I want spaghetti."
  "Then we'll have spaghetti."
  Mary laughed.

8:25 pm

  "Have you ever seen this guy before?" Mark asked a
passerby.
  "Yeah," the guy said.  "That's Chris.  Chris Favre."
  "Can you tell us where he lives?"
  "Yeah.  Sure.  He lives in that building over there.
 Third floor.  Apartment A."
  "Thanks."

8:30 pm

  "I'm full," Edward said.
  "So what now?" Mary asked.
  "We could go back to my place."
  Mary laughed.  "I don't think so."
  "Seriously.  I've got something you might be
interested in."
  "I'm sure."
  "I've installed a new security system."
  "A security system?"
  "Yeah.  Cameras and stuff.  I thought you could come
by and take a look at it.  Maybe give your expert
opinion."
  "Okay."

8:35 pm

  "Are you Chris Favre?" Mark asked.
  "What's it to you?"
  "Mr. Favre, you're under arrest for the murder of
Kevin Austin.  You have the right to remain silent.
Should you give up the right to remain silent,
everything you say can and will be held against you.
You have the right to an attorney.  If you can't
afford an attorney, an attorney will be provided by
the court to act in your defense.  Do you understand
these right?"
  "It was in self defense!  The guy came right at me!"
  "I said, do you understand these rights?"
  "Yeah."
  "Then shut up.  Save it for when we get downtown."

8:55

  "See?  There's a camera right there!"
  "Oh yeah."
  Edward used his key to open his apartment door and
led Mary in.  "There are other cameras inside.  Check
this out."  He picked up a remote control, turned on
the TV and switched to the auxiliary function.  "I can
monitor all the cameras using the TV.  And it is all
being recorded."
  "You have cameras inside too?"
  "Yeah."
  "Why?"
  "In case somebody broke in."
  "You've got a camera pointing to your bed."
  "In case somebody broke in and attacked me in my
bed."
  "Uh huh.  You wish."
  "What are you implying?"
  "Maybe you wanted to lure me here, have your way
with me and then post the video on the internet."
  "No," Edward said.  "I wouldn't do that.  And, hey,
besides, if that was what i was planning then why
would I tell you about the cameras?"
  "As if I wouldn't notice them.  Maybe you thought
the cameras would be a turn on."
  Edward shook his head.  "Look.  I wouldn't be
posting anything on the internet."
  "Excuse me?"
  "I mean, IF anything happened."
  "That's a big if, Edward."
  "Look, I swear, that's not what I was thinking."
  "Uh huh."
  "I just wanted to show you my system and ask you
what you think.  So?"
  "Well, it is certainly very thorough."
  Edward laughed.  "Look, we have to go to work
tomorrow.  I don't want to do the wrong thing and make
things weird."
  "Okay."
  "And, besides, you're a detective.  If I get out of
hand then you can arrest me."
  "Don't you forget it!"
  "Alright then.  Do you want to go then?"
  "Do you want me to go?"
  "No.  Not unless you want to."
  "I can stay for a few minutes.  Do you have anything
to drink?"
  "Just some soda."
  "Alright.  I'll have some soda.  Then I've got to
get going."
  "Fair enough.  I'll get the soda."

                  THE END (of issue 4) 

Martin




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