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There's something off about Moe.
Roy had been noticing it for a while now. Whenever he was around Moe, there was just a strange feeling that there was something wrong with him. Like he was hiding something nefarious behind his eyes. He hated to jump to conclusions, but there was just a vibe coming off of him that he didn't like.
It was funny- a few months ago, if Roy had been told that there was something going on with Moe, he would've brushed it off as nothing. He was harmless; there was a reason why everyone only had good things to say about him. Ever since he started dating Joy though, and thus being around the house more frequently, Roy had caught onto something being off.
He had never had the chance to actually snoop around until now though. Joy was working the late shift and had asked Roy to pick up something for her from Moe's apartment. Roy really didn't want to do it, but it was apparently urgent, so he agreed. She had given him her key (They're already sharing keys? Gross.) to get in, on the off chance that he wasn't home, and thus Roy was on his way.
When Roy had arrived, the door was locked. When he unlocked it and went inside, he immediately spotted what Joy was looking for- her phone charger on the coffee table. It didn't seem like Moe was home; the only sign of life was his dog, sleeping peacefully in front of the TV. Roy snatched up the charger and was about to leave, when he got an idea.
Moe wasn't home. This was the perfect time to sneak around. He even had an excuse if he showed up.
Roy put the charger back down and began wandering throughout the apartment. Moe's apartment was well-kept and clean. Every room he peeked into was meticulously ordered- even the spare bedroom, which looked like it hadn't been touched in some time, was spotless. He decided that he would begin his proper snooping in Moe's bedroom, though he would have to be careful to keep everything in order.
To Roy's disappointment, Moe's room yielded no results. His room was surprisingly bare compared to what he expected. There were a few posters on the walls and a small reading corner with plushies and a beanbag, but nothing much that was really geeky. He scoured through every draw, looked under every piece of furniture, even checked in the pillowcases and under the mattress. Nothing.
Deflated, Roy abandoned his efforts in his bedroom. He left the room and instead took a peek in the room across from it.
Ah. So that's where all his geek stuff is.
Moe's study was much more decked out, exactly what Roy had expected for the bedroom. He stepped inside to get a better look. The walls were decorated with a range of posters, mainly comic book ones. There was a desk in one corner of the room with a decent PC; next to it was a large shelf, displaying a variety of comic book memorabilia and large books. There were two more beanbags on the floor (How many people does this dude have over?), with a small stack of comics next to one of them. The room was a geek's dream.
Roy immediately began his snooping efforts. He first tried the computer. He moved the mouse around slightly to get the screensaver up.
User: Moe Hoang
Enter Password: ________
Roy frowned. Smart. He'd have to try and sneak around for a password now too. Roy decided to look in the drawers of the desk. Nothing except for stationary. Roy was about to give up and succumb to the idea that Moe was genuinely just a nice guy, when a piece of paper in the drawer caught his eye. He pulled it out. It was relatively small, but had a quick scribble of what looked like a car on it.
Roy's eyes widened. That was strange. Moe did not seem like someone to care about cars. Why was there a sketch of one very fancy-looking one in his drawer? Something about this seemed nefarious, like secret information he shouldn't be seeing. He placed the paper back where he found it, and filed that information in the back of his mind.
Roy drifted towards the large shelf, scanning for anything unusual. He began gently moving this around, trying to see if there was anything else hidden. If Moe was smart, he would probably hide any strange plans behind something like a book. And that was what Roy was hoping for. He pulled at a large blue book with a faded spine.
All of a sudden, the shelf swivelled around with Roy being dragged along.
Roy lost his footing and fell, directly onto a metal slide. Screaming, Roy attempted to manoeuvre himself upright as he slid, but failed. His screams quietened as he brought himself back together- this was clearly leading to something secret, and he should be quiet in case something was there. He held out his arms, bracing for impact.
Roy skidded onto concrete. Luckily, his arms had taken most of the force. Groaning, he quickly took a look at them- a bit red, but not grazed or bleeding. He stood up, brushed himself off, and took a look around.
He was in some sort of lair. The light was so dim that he couldn't even see where the walls were. He couldn’t really see much of anything. In front of him was the only real source of light- a very, VERY massive holographic screen, emitting a bright red light. The seat was turned around to show nobody was in it. On the screen were several pictures, ranging from a photo of a man to a nice-looking house. Roy cautiously approached the screen to get a better look.
>Owen Verre
>Birthdate: 9/10, 29 years old
>82 Brioche Lane, Tastyville.
>Lives alone, home 8pm-9am every weekday.
>Physically strong, not trained in fighting sports.
>Does not drive.
>Allergies to shellfish and eggs.
Roy recognised him. He had come into the pizza shop the week before. Joy had complained about him being disrespectful over an overcooked pizza. It looked like whoever was here was making a profile on him. Roy looked down at the controls. The controls had been nicely decorated with yellow spots, contrasting well against the red.
Yellow spots… that looks familiar.
A chill went up Roy's spine. Someone was here with him.
"Hello, Roy."
Roy snapped to see who was there. Standing there, mere metres from him, was the elusive Dynamoe. His sister's enemy. Although right now he was maskless, holding it in his hands. There was no doubt that Roy had stumbled into his lair.
Roy's eyes widened.
"You…"
"I suppose it was a matter of time until someone found out," Moe sighed as he began putting the mask on. "You would think the name gives it away, wouldn't you?"
Roy glared at him in an attempt to be intimidating. His hands, however, were sweating with anxiety. "What the hell do you think you're doing with all this stuff?!"
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," Moe was playing with the ends of his gloves. "That would be ridiculous. The last thing I want to do is hurt Joy, and seeing her dear baby brother beaten by the evil Dynamoe isn't a great look. Consider yourself lucky."
Roy went to say something, but shut himself up quickly. Moe clearly didn't know about Joy's identity. He had to go about this a different way.
"What makes you think I'm not going to tell her, huh?"
"Because you won't."
In the time it took for Moe to speak, he had made his way to standing directly in front of Roy. There was something clutched in his hand- a pocket knife.
"If she ever finds out, I will make your life a living hell," He held the knife mere centimetres from Roy's neck. There was a deep fire of rage in his eyes that Roy had never seen. It was terrifying. "I might not hurt you physically, but I will hurt you in other ways. Just try it. I dare you."
Roy was trembling. He needed to distract Moe. At least distract him enough to get this knife away from his throat. Besides, he could use what he just learnt to his advantage; his sister would thank him for giving the Dynamoe’s plans away.
"W-Well at least tell me what the hell's going on behind me! Are you stalking this dude?!"
Moe's face was intense, scanning Roy for some reaction. Suddenly, he sighed and took the knife away from Roy, folding up the knife.
"I wouldn't call it stalking. Maybe just some heavy research," Moe forced Roy to turn around and look at the computer. "Do you happen to recognise this man, Roy?"
Roy refused to answer that.
"Do you?!"
"Of course I do!" Moe feigned shock. "I wouldn't be researching him if I didn't know him!" Moe rested his hands on Roy's shoulders. "But do you know what he's done?"
"Uh, I guess?” Roy was not sure why Moe was suddenly pestering him like this. “He was being kinda mean to Joy last week, so Louie kicked him out of the store. That's it. She told us all to drop it and move on ‘cause he’s never coming back anyways."
Moe's nails dug into Roy's shoulder through his gloves.
"That's it? That's all you think? I don't think you understand how much he deserves this. Joy does not deserve to be spoken like that by anyone. Don't you think people like that should be punished?"
"No! You literally kill people over nothing!"
"Haven't done that yet, but I'll keep that in mind for him."
Roy pushed Moe's hands off his shoulders and turned around. "If you really think this shit is a big deal, shouldn't you be leaving this to Ninjoy?! She's the vigilante out there, not you. And she’s not gonna kill him over some stupid miscommunication."
Moe groaned at the name. "Ugh, you and Joy are so alike sometimes it's infuriating. You both speak nothing but praise about that stupid woman. Ninjoy is nothing but a stuck-up who would rather target the pettiest of crimes than focus on the real issues. She has no idea what the hell she’s doing."
The fucking irony of that huh. The mention of Joy gave Roy an idea.
"What would Joy think if she saw you doing this huh?! Do you think she’d agree with you doing this?!"
"She's not going to see me do this, idiot. Why do you think I've been waiting?" He tapped his head with his finger, grinning. "Much easier to get away with it if you wait. She won’t connect the dots so easily."
The sound of tires on gravel caught both of the boy's attention. Roy noticed a small screen in the right corner- a camera showing outside of Moe's apartment. Joy had pulled up to the building. Roy internally breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way Moe was going to do anything with her here. Roy just needed to get the hell out of this lair.
He turned, only to make eye contact with a panicked Moe. Roy knew what he had to do. He had to get to Joy before Moe did.
He was going to tell her no matter how much Moe threatened him.
Roy kicked Moe in the ankles, catching him off guard before fleeing. He heard Moe yelling profanities, but he didn't listen for long. He had to find the exit before Moe caught up.
To his relief, the exit was right next to the entry, and appeared to take the form of a tube. Roy opened the door and stuck his head in. He was immediately sucked into the tube. Roy closed his eyes, bracing for a sharp impact, but was instead met by a soft landing. He had landed in Moe's bedroom.
He now had to get out of here and find Joy.
Roy ran out of the room, slamming the door shut. He ran out into the living room only to see Joy already in the apartment. He immediately ran into her and pulled her into a hug.
"Roy!" Joy seemed surprised to see him. She pulled back and smiled at him. "What are you doing here so late? Didn't you get my text?"
Roy resisted the urge to blurt out Moe's identity right away. "...No?"
"I said I'd come pick it up because Louie let me go home early," Joy frowned. "Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
"...Joy, I have some news you're not going to want to hear."
"What?” She frowned. “What is it?"
Roy heard something from the hallway. Quickly, he spoke to Joy.
"Moe is actually the Dynamoe."
Joy was expressionless.
"Excuse me?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out! I went into his study and I fell down into a lair and it turns out it was the Dynamoe's! And I saw him there, dressed up and all, and he’s planning on going after someone-"
"Roy, I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but this is not funny."
Roy stopped.
"What?!"
"What on Earth makes you think Moe is also the Dynamoe?"
Roy was flabbergasted.
"I saw it with my own eyes! He literally threatened me to not tell you-"
"Roy, Moe had to call me this morning because he had a spider on his roof and was scared he would accidentally kill it. I highly doubt he's capable of threatening any living thing."
Joy crossed her arms. "And besides, that's a very serious accusation. It's not something to joke about. I get that you don’t like him, but I can't believe you'd even fathom the idea of joking about that. And yes, I know you don’t like him. Don't think I suddenly stop being observant around you."
"But Joy-"
"Stop. This conversation is over. Don't joke about something like that," Joy picked up the keys that Roy had left on the table. "We're going now."
Roy sighed. It was hopeless. He’d just have to resign to Joy being upset with him. As they were leaving, Roy turned around to look back.
He saw Moe's raging eyes looking back at him.