~The Watchdog: Battle of Mind and Fire~
Eddy didn't get home until the sun was beginning to fall behind the large buildings of the city. He had left school shortly after lunch had finished and had walked home through the city streets, taking his time to let himself just try to think clearly. He could not calm himself, but finally came to terms that something was deathly wrong, and that he needed to take a break. He couldn't just run out into the night as The Watchdog if he couldn't clearly explain what he was doing and why.
The door to his house felt heavy to his emotionally weak body, and the empty house echoed his steps as if a taunt. He welcomed the darkness his walls granted him, not even bothering turning on any light to guide him into the kitchen. A red blinking 2 caught his eye, and he pressed the number, hearing the click of his phone as the squealing of the message tape rewound before the voice of his principal filled the empty room.
'This is a message for Edward Holmgren, or the parent and/or guardian of Edward. My name is Principal Gordan, and I regret to inform you that Edward was witnessed by no less than 10 students involved in a large fight on school grounds which left 3 students injured. I would like to have a talk with Edward and discuss possible misunderstandings or repercussions of his actions. Again, my name is principal Gordan, you can reach me at my extension..." The message went on a while longer, but Eddy had stopped listening.
He opened his fridge and sighed, pulling out a meal replacement shake, feeling no need or urge to spend time making something better. The label claimed a rich chocolate flavor, but to Eddy it tasted like a liquid chalk that thickly stuck to his throat as he swallowed. He dismissed the sickening drink as he climbed the stairs to his room, letting his feet drag down the hall.
As he entered his room, Eddy didn't notice the origami star on his pillow, going about kicking a small pile of clothes into his closet. He had left his Watchdog mask on the desk, and as he sat down he stared at it as if looking at an aspect of himself that he loathed. He stared at the mask until he felt himself fall back onto the bed, sighing in frustration. His head hit paper, annoying him further until he reached back and looked at the star, one he could not have made. Turning the star over, his eyes widened. 'To The Watchdog' was written in red across the back of the paper, making Eddy's heart skip.
'How,' he thought, 'How did this get here? Why is it here? Does someone know my secret?' He looked to his window, but it was closed and locked as it had been when he left that morning. All of his doors and windows were locked, he had been checking almost religiously since dawning the mask.
With hands shaking in fear and anticipation, Eddy unfolded the star. The note inside was written in large cursive red ink. 'Watchdog, I know your secret. As weak and stupid as you are, you've become more and more a thorn in my side. I will be waiting for you at your school's gym at midnight to show you how pathetic you really are. If you don't show up, I'll burn the building down. If you try to call the cops, I'll burn the building down. If you show up with anyone else, I'll burn the building down. Don't disappoint me further. ~Oracle.'
Eddy's thoughts and emotions battled. His feeling of fear struggled against his anger for being so insulted, and his sense of justice was shaken by his insecure confusions. No matter how he felt, however, he knew his hand was being forced. He gripped his mask in a white knuckled fist, walking to his closet to collect his utility belt. This Oracle wanted to fight? He would answer her call and put her to justice.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Oracle paced slowly in the center of the large school gym, her paws clicking on the hard wood with each step. She was quickly growing impatient, feeling her long thin whip dragging behind her as she waited for The Watchdog to arrive. She had no qualms about burning the building down, but wanted more to cut that Watchdog down and make him beg. It didn't matter to her if he joined their team or just left them alone with his tail between his legs, as long as he stopped interfering both with the villainous trio and with Captain Doom's personal life.
The tan and cream feline released another button from her white shirt, letting her neck breath easier as she swung the whip from side to side to stretch her wrist and arm more out of boredom than of necessity. She spun the whip around twice before pulling it harshly the other direction, cracking the end of the whip like a gunshot. She cracked the whip a time or two more before swinging the whip down, letting it slap the ground before twirling around her shoulder into rest.
She hissed as she turned to continue her pace and had to bite her tongue in order not to scream as The Watchdog stood before her, only halfway down the large court. For a moment, she thought he might have been preparing to strike, but she calmed down into a hiss as she saw him just simply watching.
"How long have you been there?" She spat the words out, slowly side stepping into a slow walk around the hero.
"Long enough to know you're right handed, proficient with a whip, and very impatient." Watchdog glared from behind his mask, letting his eyes follow the masked girl as she slowly began to circle him, keeping a good distance.
"Pft, you sound like you want a pat on the back, but I know much much more about you, as I'm sure you've read." Oracle smiled as her prey growled very softly. "I know you're just dying to find out why I, or better yet how many others know your little secret, but you'll have to capture me if you ever want to know."
"Why did you call me out here? Is this Captain Doom's doing?" Watchdog spoke softly, his voice barely filling the large hall. "What is he planning?"
"Uh uh uh... You don't get any freebies. I'm here to show you what a joke you are, and if you want to prove me wrong, you'd better be ready to fight for your good name." Oracle hissed as her ears folded back, and without another warning the feline jumped at her prey, swinging the whip from around her shoulder towards The Watchdog!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Private Destruction yawned as she watched the fight between Oracle and The Watchdog on the tiny monitor, swinging her legs from the stool where she sat in the security room. It was getting boring to her, Oracle swinging her little whip everywhere, Watchdog throwing smoke bombs and flying disks left and right, neither one doing any real damage to anything but the poor gym. The little girl almost felt like taking a nap, but the static voice of her captain in her ear-piece made her little wings flutter with joy.
"Private Destruction, report. How is Oracle handling the situation?" Captain Doom sounded worried, and he should be since the fight was supposed to be a last effort. As much as Destruction didn't like it, she was convinced that the fight was the best course of action, and that Doom needed to think it was unavoidable.
"Um, everything is fine, Cap'in! Except The Watchdog didn't take Oracle's warnings very well and they're fighting. I think He's got a couple of cuts on his legs and she hasn't taken a hit at all, nothing to worry about. Hehe." She giggled awkwardly, not liking to lie to her own personal hero.
Captain Doom sighed. "Very well. I hope she doesn't push him too far. I warned her The Watchdog is not to be underestimated."
"I'm sure she didn't listen that well, Cap. I mean, she hasn't gotten hit or nothin, but she's just dancing around him like a ballerina with no style."
"I see. Destruction, set up for Oracle's escape. Give her thirty minutes to finish up, let her know."
"Yessir Cap'in! Are you going to come down?"
"No, I'm going to get ready for bed. I have school in the morning. I'm beginning radio silence, so if he succumbs you will deliver the message to me as soon as you can. If either of you are captured, use your emergency s.o.s. switch to contact me and I'll do what I can. Captain Doom, out."
"Yessir Mr. Doom!" After she heard the click of radio silence beginning, Private Destruction gave a small dramatic sigh. "What a guy. Tee hee!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Watchdog panted as he ran away from the mad cat with a whip, skidding to a halt before reloading his wrist mounted launcher with his last disk. Oracle was indeed very formidable, but he was just starting to be able to predict where her whip would land by how she swung her arm, and more and more he was able to dodge just in time. So far Oracle had been going on and on about how weak he was and how he would never accomplish anything on his own if he couldn't even defeat her in a fair fight, but Watchdog paid it little mind, being used to ridicule ever since he began standing up for himself to the bullies when he was little.
Oracle hissed again, barring her teeth as she took a few steps back swinging her whip over her head. Nothing was getting through to this guy, not that he was weak and stupid, not that he wasn't accomplishing anything... what would it take to get it through his thick skull? As she continued to think, the school intercom buzzed, and a high pitched little voice cleared its throat and spoke.
"Hiii everyone! Hey Oracle, CD told me to tell you that you have only thirty minutes until you have to quit."
"What!?" Oracle screamed up at the intercom. "You can't, he doesn't stand a chance, I can take him easy!"
"Weeeeeell then prove it, little miss sore bottom. But orders are orders, and you have thirty minutes. Buh bysies!"
For a moment, Oracle looked like she was just going to simply scream at the unfairness of it all, but after a few deep breaths she glared sickeningly but calmly at The Watchdog. "Fine. Fine, we'll finish this, Watchdog." Oracle cracked her whip down, once again sweeping the floor with it before it curled around her shoulder.
The Watchdog took a step forward to mark his offensive, but stopped as his opponent drew a shorter but thicker whip, slowly letting the thick leather cord spin slowly over her head with a frightening whooshing sound.
The Watchdog clenched and relaxed his left fist, knowing he only had one more disk and that he would have to make it count. So far his smoke bombs seemed thoroughly useless even with the laced catnip, and his dog whistle device obviously wouldn't have any affect on the cat. "So what now? You just hit me with a bigger whip? Is that your plan, because I thought someone like you would have come up with something much better."
Oracle grinned and flipped her hair out of her eyes as she began walking slowly around Watchdog again, still swinging the whip in a slow deadly fashion. "Go on, Watchdog. Run that big mouth of yours. Just know that in the end, your only way to win is to join forces with me and Captain Doom."
"So, it was Captain Doom who sent you."
"No, it's Captain Doom's orders that have kept you alive to this point. I came myself to put some sense into you, though that has to this point proven difficult." Unseen by the hero, Oracle had pushed a switch on her whip, the end hissing out a very fine almost invisible mist to lightly coat the floor as she walked. "It's Captain Doom that would rather see you join our ranks instead of lying dead in an alley."
"I'm flattered, to be sure." Watchdog watched closely as Oracle circle him once, twice, again and again as she spoke.
"I have said before, Watchdog, that I now your secret. I've watched you closely, and know that it's your friends whom you fight for. Jared the mouse, Carrot the small wolf... anyone you know who gets into any trouble, and you are there to step in front to take the bullet. But what of when you're not around?"
"You can't fool me with this old argument, Oracle. I can't be everywhere, but I'll save anyone I can whenever I can."
"No, that's not what I mean, you gullible fool. What do you think they say about you when you're not around? Do you think they praise your friendship and your strength for saving them? No. Jared himself is scared to step out of his house without his father or older brothers right next to him, in fear that your rash actions have put him in danger. And Carrot? You've spent so much time clinging to him like a leech, you'd think you'd realize that he really..."
"Shut up!" Watchdog's lips pulled back into a snarl. "Don't you talk about Carrot like that!"
"Like what? Like he might have emotions and feelings that aren't known to you? Do you really think you know him?" Oracle grinned as she found his weak spot after so long.
"I know him better than you ever will!" Angered by her taunts, The Watchdog stepped threateningly towards Oracle.
"Not so fast, pup!" Oracle's whip flew fast, sparking as it dragged across the ground. In a mere moment, the floor around the hero leaped into flames, forcing his arm over his eyes to shield from the bright light. The heat pushed him back, but then met him all around his body, banishing any thoughts of escape.
The Watchdog looked around quickly, squinting his eyes through the bright flames. Even if he could see past the fire, a thick smoke and waves of heat obscured his vision, making Oracle impossible to find. Her voice was clear, but echoed in the large gymnasium, seemingly coming from everywhere.
"The more I learn about you, Watchdog, the more I know how right I am. You don't fight for justice at all, do you? You fight for recognition. You fight so your friends will say how cool you are, to make you feel accepted and praised."
"That's not true! I never tell anyone what I do!" The hero continued to try and locate his enemy, but began to feel a panic as she remained hidden, and the flames seemed to grow around him. "I never tell anyone I'm The Watchdog!"
"Then why start a fight in the middle of the school? Why show off your power to a crowd? Why, unless you want them to know? You want them to know your strength, to wow at your physique, to envy you. You want that, and crave it."
"No! I'm...I'm not trying to show off... I was trying to help..."
"Trying to help who? Jared was safe, and you put him in danger to scare off big bad Mark! Your selfish actions have put everyone weaker than you at risk!" Eddy's ears twitched as he began to hear a steady swish and crack over and over again getting louder over Oracle's voice. "Your real mask is that sick sense of justice! Letting yourself strut around your power while making those weaker than you suffer! Putting yourself in danger just long enough to make you look like a hero when all you do is cause those around you the most pain and fear of all!" Just as the last words began to sink into the hero's head, Oracle stepped from the flames, her whip spinning around her feet. She moved quickly in from behind Watchdog, making her strike just as he caught sight of her and began to defend himself. Before he could raise his arms, the whip slashed at his side, and as he tried to step away she followed and slammed an elbow into his diaphragm! The Watchdog stumbled back with a weak cough as his eyes teared up, misting the image of the cat slipping back into the fire, her whip cracking the floor in front of her feet to tame the fire as she passed.
The Watchdog quickly moved away from where he fell, feeling the flames closer and closer. He crawled to the middle of the ring of fire, panting as he tried to catch his breath, but stayed silent. He wanted to yell out that Oracle was wrong, that he wasn't selfish, that he wouldn't put anyone in danger, but he couldn't play into her game. He had to just know she was trying to fool him. She's using him, he couldn't listen to her.
Oracle licked her lips as she grinned, knowing this was working. "Carrot... the poor fool." The name made Watchdog's ears perk up without him thinking. "I've been watching him. Seeing how you've been getting so close to him while leaving him every night to go fight your 'justice'. You don't even see it, do you? He's supposed to be your best friend, yet you play with his emotions like they're toys. You taunt him with tantalizing thoughts of spending time with him and being his friend in return, and then you leave him to face the nights alone as you play your own games."
The sound of the steady whip started again, but Watchdog barely heard it as his ears rang with anger, his teeth and fists clenched. This all HAD to be lies. He wouldn't and couldn't hurt Carrot. Could he?
"You let his grades fall with yours, even though you know what that means to him. You keep him from happiness by lying through your teeth that you can bring it to him, offering empty promises shattered by your struggle to become a mighty worshiped super hero!" Again, the feline villain jumped from the flames and attacked quickly! Her thin whip sliced through the air like a sword, but this time its victim could not flee from its edge. The mutt didn't raise his arms in defense, nor did he step away from the weapon as it came to him. Through his fear, he felt the slice barely cut his arm and dance past his cheek leaving a line of blood, but what he mostly felt was her second whip. The thicker chord slapped across his stomach, seeming to grate as it dragged across his skin, and where it left its mark burned, leaving a trail of fire across his torso. The pain and fear forced Watchdog to bend forward and catch his stomach, trying to pat out the flames quickly, but this exposed his back to a second heavy strike before the villain escaped once again into the wall of fire.
Watchdog shook in pain as he quickly rolled back and forth, snuffing the flames on his shirt against the floor of the gym, but nearly found himself in the large flames that surrounded him. Tears flowed freely from under his mask, dripping down his cheeks. These weren't tears of pain and discomfort, nor were they caused by the heat and smoke surrounding him. He knew they were tears of fear. They were pitiful, scared puppy tears, begging for this nightmare to end. His mind screamed, telling him to flee, telling him to beg for mercy, he didn't want to die, and he didn't want to suffer any more.
"So selfish..."
Oracle's words came again. Her words fell to Watchdog's ears, weighing the hero down with such a sickening feeling. What if she was right?
"If anyone had any sense, they'd hate you for what you were doing."
They'd hate the hero because standing up against a wave of evil brings only more pain. Is that what he has been doing this whole time? Has he been letting the pain wash down to those he was trying to protect?
"You wear the mask of a hero, but you do nothing to help those weaker than you. You allow them to be beaten down and spit on by the bullies of the world while you live your high life above the streets. You think you're fighting the villains. If you could ever see yourself without your distorted vision, you'd see you were the real villain."
The Watchdog fell to his knees. His own truth fell from under him as if his world crumbled under his feet as this new realization set in, crushing him, forcing his breath out of his body. He didn't feel the flames around him anymore, nor did he hear the roar of the fire. Oracle's words echoed again and again through his head, and he couldn't tell where he was anymore, why he was there, what he was doing.
Oracle sneered as she rolled her fire whip into a tight ring, clipping it to her side. "Destruction, I'm done here. Rinse him off after he's had some time to think. No use letting him burn up completely." She watched through the thick fire wall as her prey wept. He was taking off that ridiculous wrist launcher and his utility belt. It looked like he was through, giving up, tossing away the useless gadgets. Watchdog had begun pulling out contents of his belt, tossing them aside weakly as the Oracle watched on. As he pulled out a large canteen, she had had enough, turning to begin walking towards the exit.
The intercom came back on with Private Destruction. "Um, Oracle?"
"I know, I know, time's up. I just said I'm finished."
"N, no! Look behind you."
Oracle sighed in impatience as she turned, but gripped her whip tighter as she saw Watchdog standing, pouring the water from his canteen onto his head. He was glaring ahead towards her as the water soaked into his clothes and fur. As the canteen emptied, he tossed it aside and took a slow step into the flames, walking towards the one who had taken his life and meaning from him.
The feline cracked her whip in anger, hissing at the Watchdog as he stepped closer. "You... I thought maybe you had finally came to some sense! I guess I was wrong. Destruction! Prepare to evacuate."
Watchdog walked through the fire, the water only holding the fire from singeing his fur and clothes, the heat still burning the boy's skin slowly. As he walked out of the fire his body steamed and smoked, his eyes red from his tears as he glared down at the girl in front of him. "If I'm the villain...then it doesn't matter if you're my enemy or not. I knew what I was doing when I came here tonight. I was fighting you. I intend to finish what we started."
Oracle hissed, her ears folding back as she stepped forward to lash out with her whip once more! Her eyes widened as Watchdog dashed through the strike, not flinching as the leather sliced the side of his face, cutting through his mask as he thrust his arm in a wide punch. Oracle was trained enough to throw up a defensive hand, but was barely able to deflect the strong heavy fist away from her face and to her shoulder. The punch sent her sprawling back, and before she recovered The Watchdog was on her again, his knee sinking into her abdomen forcing the air out of her lungs.
Oracle crumbled to the ground trying desperately to pull air into her starving lungs, but before she was able to gulp in a fresh breath of air she felt a large strong hand grip around her neck and another her leg. She coughed and breathed against the hand on her throat as she was lifted off the ground, hearing a deep angry growl growing louder as she was brought higher into the air. Struggling hard, Oracle scratched and clawed at the arms holding her, but they didn't loosen their grip as The Watchdog began to run. As the pain began to sink into Oracle's body, she began to feel a surge of panic. She was finally released, thrown against a luckily padded wall of the gymnasium.
Only a moment passed, and Oracle coughed heavily, trying desperately to catch her breath as she stood from where she lay crumbled on the ground after being thrown. She glared angrily up at the beast who dared to toss her around, but what she saw made her shrink back to the wall. The Watchdog's mask had fallen, blood dripping down one side of his face to cover his eye. His teeth were bared, a white and red streaked foam of saliva dripping from his fangs. The deep growl that now echoed through the halls seemed to shake the foundations of sanity as his eyes, now freed from his mask, were dulled and misted over by sheer anger.
Oracle knew that The Watchdog was going to attack, and he wasn't going to be showing any mercy. His strikes weren't calculated and predictable, they were like he had lost his mind. She had to escape, to just get away.
Watchdog reared back, about to dash at the girl before him, but something heavy hit him in the side of the head, making him turn and growl. Over by the exit was a little girl in a mask holding what looked like a lacrosse stick. Watchdog's eyes burned, but he looked down at what she threw, seeing the last embers of a sparkling wick sinking into a large colorful ball.
Before he could react, The Watchdog got an eye full of the exploding ball! Smoke and colored lights flew everywhere, small firecrackers popping all around and bits of magnesium burned brighter then he could handle, the mutt grabbing his face to cover his eyes from the flying debris! As soon as it had all started, the noise and lights had stopped and been replaced with a heavy downpour from the gym sprinkler system. As The Watchdog looked around, he barely saw the Oracle and that little girl run out of the exit and into the school halls.
Watchdog ran after the two masked villains, sprinting full speed at the door. He knew from his gut instinct that the door was going to be barred shut, but he rushed it anyways and threw his full weight into it. He heard the snap as he slammed the door open and barely saw half of a lacrosse stick fall to the ground before he was running down the hall again at full speed. He could just hear the girls footsteps, and followed them down the hall, quickly turning to the right before skidding to a halt.
"Haaai!" The little girl was less than thirty yards down the hall, standing next to a large trashcan that was completely taped over and on a stand so it was facing him like a gun barrel. Watchdog only hesitated for a second from the large strange display and the big grinning girl, but then stepped forward.
"Where is she hiding?" His voice was a deep growl as he walked closer, not having time to play around. He needed to find and take down Oracle before he could escape.
"She's coming home with me now. Bye bye!" The girl pulled out a small lighter and flicked it on, holding it to the trash can. There was no time to move as the sparks flew only a second before the explosion shook the hall. The explosives in the can broke through the taped end, sending countless rubber bouncy balls out like a shotgun! The balls flew down the hall shattering trophy cased, punching holes in the walls, and completely stunning the Watchdog.
The pain that shot through Watchdog's body was incredible, knocking him to the ground unable to stand for a few minutes. When he was finally able to crawl over to the wall and support himself enough to stand, the girl was gone. His fists shook as he bit his lip hard, staggering down the hall towards the front of the school. He had to escape, before... before the cops arrived.
Before the cops arrived. That's just what a villain would think...
