Ghost of a Hero

Blackmail gone wrong

Hello everyone-

Major editing going on and I decided I needed a short chapter between Red Chrysan and Ahsper. It helps to explain his actions in the next chapter or two since those chapters are already up and I'm adding this as a filler.

Toodles!

The iPhone Marcus gave me was filled with many phone numbers. It was pre-programmed with a list of all protocol government contacts.

Luckily for me, it also had the numbers of all the heroes and villains working for them too.

I scanned over the list of names, my thumb above the one labeled Red Chrysan.

I hesitated, a text already thought out in my mind.

Hey flower boy
----- Sent

Apprentice girl?
----- Received 2:05

You bet your ass it's me.
----- Sent

How did you get this number?
----- Received 2:06

Government-issued phone.
Brand new.
----- Sent

Buried the last one in
a bed of roses
----- Sent

Don't know why they
upgraded me, but they did
----- Sent

???
----- Received 2:10

How does this concern me?
----- Received 2:12

I wanted to talk.
I need answers.
----- Sent

Can I call you?
----- Received 2:20

Only if you'll answer
my questions
----- Sent

I grinned to myself as the phone started to buzz in my hands.

"Hey Red. What's hot?" I greeted him.

I could hear him sigh from the other end of the phone. "Hey, brat. Do you have questions? Ask away."

I nodded my head, knowing he couldn't see me. "You're working for the government, right?"

"Yes?" He replied. I could hear the hesitance in his voice. "If you could even call it working. I'm threatened Ahsper."

I nodded again. "Right. The whole blackmail thing." I paused, pacing. "Why did you try to make me your apprentice? You knew this is a world of blackmail."

Silence followed on the other end of the line. "Ahsper, Nemesis approached me. Marcus wasn't doing a good enough job. I needed to force you into the system somehow. I knew it would be easier if I built up your trust first. Then you could become the villain they were so intent on making you into."

"So our friendship was fake? The super suit was a lie?" I felt my voice hitch.

Another long pause followed. "No. Not completely." Another pause followed. "I may work for the same boss as Marcus, but I'm in a different compartment than him. It wasn't all work for me."

"Oh, and what department do you work for?"

"Ahsper, I'm a hero. Forced or not, that's what I am. I save people." He sounded tired.

I felt a tear slipping out of an eye. "It's all staged. I know it is. If the good guys and the bag guys are all working for the government, it's all staged for the public."

"Ahsper- I- look, you need to get out of the system as quickly as you can. Who's your blackmail?"

"Cooper." I automatically replied.

Another long pause followed. "Well, then, we have a problem." He said quietly on the other side of the line."

I waited for him to continue.

"Cooper is my blackmail too." His voice was so faint I almost couldn't hear it. "Motherfucking bastards... Breach of contract... Bastards will pay..."

The phone clicked, and the call ended.