The Macaque: Demons of Helheim
For his origin, read “How I Became the Macaque” in CCC #125 - Voting Thread
“Everyone clear on the plan?” Green Arrow asked.
Black Canary, Speedy, and I all nodded in agreement. Which meant it was go time.
I had spent years combing through Star City’s criminal underworld, looking to find out who placed a hit on my father. Ultimately, I found him; a local millionaire who made most of his money from organized crime. Only thing is, I knew I was gonna be miles out of my league trying to nail him on my own. So, I made a new friend.
“Alright, then let’s go.” Green Arrow said, and we were off to storm his mansion.
First, Green Arrow and Red Arrow snuck inside to hide. Then, Black Canary created a distraction by blasting the front door off with her canary cry. Then, while the guards were scrambling, the Arrows ambushed them and started taking them out.
And then, with the house in chaos, I’d break directly into Charles Meloni’s bedroom to apprehend him. Which I did, once the goons protecting his house were all busy.
I kicked down the door to his office and exclaimed “CHARLES MELONI, YOU’RE COMING WITH ME! NEXT STOP FOR YOU IS IRON HEIGHTS!”
He looked at me and said “The Macaque? I thought Deathstroke killed you.”
“You can kill a man, but you can never kill his legacy.” I said. “Now come with me or…”
Moments later, I got hit with an ice blast from behind.
I looked around to see a woman who appeared to be made of solid ice. “The Macaque, meet my bodyguard, Ice Dragon. She’s a metahuman with ice powers.”
Meloni then turned to her and said “Kill him.”
She blasted at me again, but I rolled out of the way. I ran in close and punched her in the face, but Ice Dragon just shrugged it off, opened her mouth, and shot out an ice blast that sent me flying across the room. I’d probably have broken my back if not for the padding in my suit.
“Was nice to meet you.” Meloni said sarcastically. “But I’m afraid this will truly be the end of The Macaque.”
Green Arrow darted into the room just in time. He first distracted Ice Dragon by hitting her with a fire arrow, and then knocked her out with a powerful jumping wheel kick.
Meloni drew a gun and tried to shoot him, but Green Arrow was quicker on the draw; he knocked his gun out of his hand with a regular arrow, and then hit him right in the face with a boxing glove arrow.
“You alright?” He asked as he helped me get up.
“I’ll live.” I said.
“Star City police are already on their way.” He said. “Come on, they’ll be here any minute.”
As we were leaving, he said “You have skill, but you’re tremendously out of your league. How would you like to join the team; I can train you the way I’ve trained Speedy?”
“That’s very kind of you.” I said. “But I’m sorry, I have to refuse. I want to continue my father’s legacy, not yours.”
“Fair enough.” He said. "Biggest piece of advice; no matter how hard you get your ass kicked, you ALWAYS gotta get back up."
"Thanks." I said. "I'll let you know if I ever need you again."
“Just be glad you’re not in Gotham." he replied. Batman isn’t as trusting of other vigilantes in his turf.”
________
I went home that night to tell my “guy in a chair” the good news.
“Mom.” I said as I walked in. “We got him. He’s on his way to prison.”
Yes, my mother was my “guy in a chair.” I have to be the only superhero ever who can say that.
“Thank you.” She said as she came up to give me a big hug. She cried tears of joy, knowing the man who put the hit on her husband was finally going to face justice.
After we had our moment of euphoria, I said “I think tomorrow we should resume our focus to the Demons of Helheim. We were making good progress with them, I think we can nab them for good if we work hard enough.”
“Honey, we had a big day today. Don’t you think you should…”
“I think I should get back in the field as soon as possible.” I said.
The Demons of Helheim were a white supremacist biker gang that had been causing trouble in The Glades ever since their Star City chapter was opened about seven months ago. Nothing big enough to ever get the Green Arrow’s attention, but they’d been involved in their fair share of violence around the city. Rumor was that their leader was some kinda metahuman, but we had no way of knowing that.
“Alright.” She said.
My Mom had long hacked their private Facebook group, and their Whatsapp group. If they were up to anything, and were stupid enough to post about it, she’d know.
___
The next day, it was time to crash a biker event.
Unfortunately (for me at least), it took a while for them to do anything that justified getting involved. One of them got into a fight with an old man just passing through (not sure why, but with the Demons of Helheim, could’ve been anything), and ran into action.
“Mom, call the police, tell them a fight’s broken out.” I said over our radioline.
I sprinted towards the bikers, and then kicked the attacker in the side of the face, knocking him out. I told the old man “get out of here” before the others came at me.
Three of them ran up to me, all with brass knuckles. I knocked out one with a swift punch to the neck, and then turned and sidekicked another in the liver. The last one got a lucky strike in the side of my face, but my helmet absorbed most of the impact, and then I kicked his knee out.
Others ran towards me, but they stopped when someone shouted “STOP! Let me handle him personally.”
Out came a man who was eight feet tall, and built like a gorilla. I knew from the moment I saw him that he must have been the metahuman leader of this gang we heard rumors about.
“Nice to meet you. I go by Viking Rage.” He said. “And you?”
“The Macaque.” I replied.
“Excellent.” He replied. “Now I know what to write on my trophy case after I mount your helmet.”
He then came at me and threw a powerful haymaker that almost dented my helmet and almost knocked me out cold. While I was down, he kicked me in the side, breaking at least one rib.
“It’s almost sad.” He said as he picked me up. “Every once in a while, some bored kid like you starts running around Star City, thinking he’s the next Batman or Green Arrow. It would be tragic, if it weren’t so fun.”
He tried to punch me in the gut, but I blocked it and struck him in the neck. No matter how strong you are, a good strike to the trachea always hurts.
I fought back with all the strength I had left in me. Before he could even recover, I kicked out his knee, punched him in the liver, and started choking him out.
Moments later, the police arrived, and the bikers started running. But it was no problem; their leader was about to be captured.
_______
I came back, and my mom said “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I said. “Or at least I will be.”
She said “Your father would be very proud of you.”
“Thanks.” I said as I stared back at our computer monitors. “We will honor his memory, no matter how many times I have to get my ass kicked to do it.”
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