literature

The Cudgel #12 Ray's Outing

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As Ray was slipping on the Cudgel uniform, it finally sunk in at what he had agreed to. He never learned parkour. He never took a fighting class. The most athletic thing he did was use tools to build technology. Which isn't much help when fighting crime.
"How am I supposed to fight crime when I can barely fight a spider Mark?" Ray asked as he struggled to put the mask on.
"Just use the incapacitate stick to fight tonight. Load it up with a couple darts, extra smoke, and extra spray. If guns get brought out, spray smoke at the ground, it will cover you as you run away. If they get too close, spray them in the eyes then smack them in the back of head and the will get knocked out. If they are unarmed and charging at you, shoot the dart, they will fall straight to the ground," Mark said watching his friend put on his costume.
"Thanks for the tips. How do I look?" Ray asked with a final snap on of the goggles.
Mark couldn't help but give out a laugh. "Sorry dude. I never saw how ridiculous the goggles look on the costume. Other than that it looks good."
"Yeah I know. I've been trying to figure out how to fix that, but as a vigilante you need to go in the dark a lot and this helps big time," Ray said tapping the goggles.
"I'm sure you'll come up with something smarty pants. You always know how to improve technology," Mark said grabbing his football bag. "It's time we get to work. I'll head to the game. Nate is working as announcer tonight and will drum up the crowd's focus on me. I'll have my Bluetooth in the whole time so the three of us can stay in contact the entire night. Now get out there and make Arrayton proud!" Mark said giving Ray a push on the shoulder.
Ray picked up the two sticks and started heading for the front door. But then Mark put his hand out to stop him.
"Um nuh-uh. Where do you think you're going?" Mark asked puzzled.
"To fight crime for justice," Ray said in his best Christian Bale Batman voice.
"Wrong exit," he said pointing towards the window Mark leaves through every night.
Ray sighed and went over to the window. He opened it up and looked down. He started to back away.
"How do I get down there? It's too high," Ray said looking at Mark.
Mark slapped his forehead. "Are you freaking kidding me? We are only on the second floor. I jump off 20 story buildings every night. I'm starting to lose faith in you dude. That cable will be your best friend tonight. Outside the window you will notice a pipe running down the building. Grab onto that and either climb up, or slide down."
Ray walked back over to the window and saw the pipe. He grabbed onto it and held tight. Very slowly he slid down the pipe till his feet touched the ground. Ray started to run down the grassy path till he reached a sidewalk that was lit up by an overhead head street light. People were starting to walk closer, recognizing the suit. Ray quickly fumbles the stick around till it pointed upwards at a taller building. As he pressed the button, the two cables shot out and he was lifted off the ground. The cable had barely connected to the rim of the roof. When he reached the top he slammed into the side of the building.
"Ow. I need to get this hero persona going quick before I'm the one who kills me. I have to treat this like a video game tutorial. I know what I'm capable of. I just have to jump into it till I get the full hang of it," Ray said to himself as he grabbed ahold of the ledge to pull himself up and on top.
He rolled over and stood up. Then he started to run towards the edge of the roof on the other side. The only problem was that the other edge was an extended part of the roof slanting downwards. But he leaped before he noticed it. He slid down, rolling, tumbling. Just trying to focus on an exact point to shoot the cable at to stop this before he fell off the edge and down to the ground. He calmed his mind and aimed the stick towards an adjacent rooftop's stairwell entrance. He clicked the button and launched off. He started to coast through the air as his head was spinning. Before the cable slammed him into the box he let go of the button and came to a running stop.
"How do you do this every night?" Ray said tapping onto his earpiece.
"I... just... keep... going... and... make... it... up... as... I... go..." Mark said as if he was running.
"Sorry to bother you," Ray said clicking it again. "Make it up as I go? Have I been over analyzing the whole situation? Why am I talking to myself? Probably comes with the superhero gig."
Ray took another running start. This time he only shot the cable out of one end and connected it to the corner of a building. He swung his way around the other side into an open area. Downtown. He kept swinging around until he felt he heard "is that the Cudgel" enough times. At one point he swung low enough to run on top of a semi truck, before launching himself back into the air.
"Ok Mark, you can have your fighting Nightwing. I'll stick with my scientific bro Spiderman," Ray said landing himself on top of a three floor building.
"Impressive pet. It looks like you changed your tactics since you and your pointy friend blew up my home," Ray heard a voice from behind him say.
Ray quickly spun around and shot a dart at the figure. The dart landed directly in the center on the man's chest. But nothing happened. He shot the ground with smoke and tried to leap away but the man had grabbed onto the back of his shirt. Ray slammed back down and shot pepper spray in freak's eyes and then swung at the back of his head. The man stumbled and grabbed Ray's leg and flipped him on his back. When the smoke settled, Ray saw the face of his attacker. It was blue and had a terrifying smile.
"Hello pet. I don't think we finished our discussion from last..." Juggler paused. "You're not Cudgel. Who are you?"
"I'm Cudgel. Arrayton's savior," Ray struggled to get up but Juggler stepped on Ray's chest.
"No you are not. I've fought Cudgel a couple of times. I like to think of us as BFFs. But for some reason he won't add me on MySpace," Juggler sighed.
"I am Cudgel. And I will bring you down Juggler," Ray grunted.
"No you are not. Cudgel is white. You are black," Juggler sneered.
"That's racist. Not funny," Ray said whacking at Juggler's foot with the sticks, but not making him budge.
"No it is not. You're black, I'm blue. Together we make up the skin tone of the person I met for lunch today at Applebee's," Juggler laughed.
"Let me go psycho," Ray demanded.
"Nice rhyme. But would it Kill you to laugh at my jokes? It Hurts my feelings when people don't get my humor," he said freeing Ray, but just to kick him in the ribs. "Hey. It's been fun and all, but next time you see your superhero friend, can you let him know that the next time I see his bow buddy, I'm going to kill him."
Juggler said skipping away and jumping off the building landing on what sounded like a fire escape followed by a hiss of a cat and Juggler pretending to scream and laugh as he ran down the alley. Ray rolled over holding his side and tapping his earpiece.
"Hey guys. I just ran into your friend. He's not that happy," Ray said leaning up against an air duct groaning.
"Juggler?" Nate asked.
"Yeah. I guess he is the initiation for superheroes," Ray said.
"Ok Gary. Just slip me the ball and I will slide around the defense and then between Paul. It should leave an opening wide enough for me to blast through. Ok. BREAK!" Mark said focusing in on the game. "Ok now, what were you saying Ray?"
"Juggler attacked me thinking that I was you,"
"Damn. Sorry about that man. I was kinda hoping the explosion killed him. But I guess not even that could kill him," Mark said running.
"Yeah and word of advice. None of the incapacitation tools work on him," Ray said.
"Thanks for the heads up. One second, have to score this touchdown," Mark breaks away abruptly.
"And another touchdown for the Arrayton Lions as Mark Dime does a flip over number 39 and lands into  the ENDZONE!" Nate yells into the intercom of the arena. "The Lions are on fire tonight and it is thanks to Dime!"
"And my Met-A infused teammates," Mark whispered to the earpiece.
"They still got it?" Ray asked now trying to stand up.
"Yeah. I guess they either bought it from some dealers who had it before the explosion, or they got it prior to the explosion," Mark sighed.
"We need to get it out of this city as fast as possible," Nate said.
"Oh yeah. Nate? Next time Juggler sees you. Run. Get out there. He is not happy with you and wants to kill you," Ray said pacing back and forth.
"I figured as much. Let him come. He might be able to catch an arrow with each hand. But next time I'll shoot three at once. All different types. That will surely stop him," Nate laughed.
"I wouldn't count on it. Juggler is a tough one to beat. Hey Ray. Did you complete the necessary task?" Mark asked.
"Yeah, I swung over downtown and I think everyone saw me," Ray smiled to himself.
"Ok cool. You can go home now if you want," Mark suggested.
"Hell no. I may suck at this. But I am at least going to do one good deed before I turn in," said Ray as he looked over the edge of the building.
"Be careful then dude," Mark and Nate warned him.
"Don't worry. I will," Ray said clicking the earpiece.
As he watched over for a couple minutes waiting to figure out what to do, it actually came to him. He noticed a very shady character standing next to a car holding a crowbar and looking around nervously. The man wound up his arm with the crowbar in hand towards the car window. Ray quickly shot the cable down at the crowbar. As soon as it attached he sent an electric charge through the crowbar and the guy stumbled backwards from the zap. Ray then changed the position of the cable from crowbar to wall adjacent. Ray zipped downwards and held his leg out kicking the guy in the face as he came down.
"Why would you damage the car you are going to steal? That's dumb. You would have to take it into a shop to get it fixed and when you did you would have to explain what happened. Why don't you go a mechanic technology trade school for a couple of years and learn how to get into a car without having to damage it. But then why would you have to because now you have a degree and can get a real job which could eventually pay for your car," Ray rambled on.
The guy then charged at Ray with the crowbar aimed upwards. Without even being phased Ray shot a dart in the guy's neck. The guy fell over before he fully made his was to Ray. Ray turned around just in time to hear a scream come from a women. Next thing he knows, a masked man is running past him with a purse tucked under his arm. Ray laughed to himself, baffled by how the guy didn't even notice him. He shot the cable and grabbed the purse out of his arms. The man turns around and looks at Ray. Ray just points down at the guy with the dart in his neck.
"Want a matching set?" Ray asked the guy.
The man started to pull out a knife. Ray shot him also in the neck with a dart.
"I'll take that as a yes," Ray said as he watched the body fall on top of the other guy.
Ray walked back over to the women who the purse belonged to and he gave it back, then launched himself into the air.
"Well that was fast. I'm done now. Time to head home," Ray said as he zipped his way across town and back to the apartment.
When he made it back to the apartment, he quickly took the costume off. He then took out his contacts and put his glasses back on. He turned on the news to see if any of his deeds were noticed to see if he did he job correctly.
"The Cudgel stopped two crimes at once tonight. A car being broken into and a purse snatching. I guess he is taking a break from is normal dangerous missions. In other news, Univeristy of Arrayton has won the championship and it is all due to their star player, number 52, Mark Dime. Mark scored more touchdowns single handedly than any other college championship game to date," the reporter went on to say.
"WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! NO TIME FLR LOSERS CAUSE WE," Mark slammed through the front door singing holding a football as Nate followed behind him.
"Did it work?" Nate asked as he and Mark sat on the couch.
"Yeah. They covered both stories back to back so they won't suspect anything," Ray said leaning backwards in his chair.
"Fun night?" Nate asked warily.
"After I met up with Juggler, I took down to different crimes simultaneously. Purse snatching and car robbery," Ray responded.
"Good job. We can't all take down huge drug cartels on our first night. Some of us have to work up to that," Mark said spinning the ball on his fingers.
"About that. You guys seem to love to be out in the field. But this was a one time game for me. I can't handle this like you guys. I'm sticking with being Wiz and going to research ways I can help from home," Ray said tossing the sticks to Mark.
"Fine. We could really use the two best superhero supports there are. Weapons technician and hacker," Mark smiled.
Ray takes the Cudgel reigns for a night and gets the superhero initiation.
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