Chapter Text
The soft muttering from the police scanner came in and out with various reports from around town. Tango would pay more attention to it on a normal day, but it has been quiet recently. It didn't help him feel any more motivated when he looked up at the cloudy sky. The clouds were gray, likely to rain at any moment.
Tango never liked the rain. Considering his affinity for fire, no one was too surprised by that fact. The rain made him feel weak and scorched out the longer he was exposed to it. If it was a light drizzle and not for too long, he was fine, but any longer and the effects would start kicking in.
He stood up from his position on the roof to retire for the day. He didn’t want to condemn himself to being soaked just because he was too lazy to move.
Right as he turned around, Tango saw a familiar face standing behind him. His expression morphed into one of surprise and disbelief. “Skizzleman?”
“The one and only.” Skizz grinned before giving him a dramatic bow. He was in his hero outfit without a mask. He’s never bothered hiding his face when his name has always been known. Being a hero, he was compensated handsomely and could afford to do such a thing. Every hero had that choice, but most chose to keep their identity hidden still. Vigilantes, like Tango, did not get that kind of insurance, aid, and legal protection, but they were also more free to do what they wanted. “How ya doing, Phoenix?”
“I thought you were retired.” It was a blunt statement, but Tango was curious as to why he was there. Skizz was an active hero for many years and was well-loved by the public. Well- He still was, but he didn’t engage in heroics like he used to. Instead, Skizz had focused his efforts on The Heart Foundation, the charity he founded alongside BigB near the end of their hero careers. If he was out and about, that meant something was wrong. “What brought you out here?”
“Can’t I just check in on the current heroes and vigilantes and see how they’re doing?” Skizz asked, but Tango gave him a doubtful look. He clicked his tongue, accepting the nonverbal comment as an answer. “The Boogey’s been ‘round a lot and I’ve been asked to step in some. I’m more than happy to help out, of course, but it’s worrying they felt the need to call on me, you know?”
“‘The Boogey’?” Tango echoed, confused about what he meant by this. Was that a new villain? If they were calling in Skizzleman, they must be dangerous.
Skizz furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, seemingly studying Tango before his eyes widened in recognition. “Oh! You’re a vigilante, not a hero. You don’t get government debriefs. Right, right. Sorry, I’m a bit behind on the current crime-fighting scene.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Tango huffed in reference to the first part of what Skizz said, crossing his arms loosely. He didn’t want to piss off
the
Skizzleman, but he would like to be seen as someone worthy of information. They were both grown adults and Tango needed to know what he could be dealing with. “What do I need to know about this guy?”
“He’s a monster, not a guy. He’s certainly not human, from what we can tell.” Skizz pulled out his communicator to show Tango a picture.
The creature in the picture looked to be made of dark purple, drooping goo. There was growth akin to antlers (or perhaps strangely shaped antennas?) coming out of its head but it didn’t look to be made up of similar material to a deer or moose hybrid’s antlers. Tango couldn’t tell for sure because of all the goop. It had large, pure black eyes and nothing else visible on the surface.
“There were thoughts about it being a hybrid, but hybrids are human too,” Skizz continued. “They have human emotions and characteristics, as you know. This thing just knows hurt and destruction. It has no loyalties. Besides, while hybrids are very diverse, creatures like this have never been registered in our database. We have shifted through it thoroughly.”
“I get that it’s creepy looking, but what makes it a threat? What has it done?” Tango asked, still trying to get a feel for the situation. Some thought Tango was creepy too, but that didn’t make him an emotionless monster . There could be a person underneath all of that gross slime, for all they knew! Various abilities could do things like that so how was The Boogey being a person too far of a reach? “If it has done some hurting and destroyification, why have I not heard of it?”
Skizz quieted, debate clear on his features. The communicator device was put away and he stretched his muscles. “I just wanted to let you know that you should be on the lookout. Now, I should go finish my patrol.”
“Hey, hold on!” Tango grabbed his wrist as the man turned to leave, hair sparking in annoyance. Was Skizz planning to just drop something like this on him and then go? “Skizzleman, I’ve made a name for myself here. I know what I’m doing. You don’t have to hide things from me like I’m a child.”
Skizz stopped walking and eyed him up and down as if he were considering his age and experience. Tango let go of his wrist and tensed at the realization, face flushing some from embarrassment. He did not have
that
much of a baby face, did he? “I am an adult!”
“The details are being kept under wraps,” Skizz admitted, deciding to give into Tango’s demands after (Tango assumed) accepting his claim. “We don’t want panic to break out. Mass hysteria will only make the situation worse.”
“I’m not a random civilian though,” Tango replied pointedly as the rain started to sprinkle around them. He attempted to calm his frustrations around the fact they’d been out here so long the rain had settled in. He had been wanting to avoid it. “How can I help if I don’t know anything?”
“We’re still learning about The Boogey, but it has been infecting people.” Skizz kept his voice hushed. “We’ve been able to detain all the ones we’ve found so far, but there are a range of symptoms. None of them are as awful as The Boogey himself, but some of the infected are homicidal. That’s all I can say.”
Before Tango could reply, the comm in Skizz’s ear spoke to him- Tango couldn’t exactly make out what it said. Skizz put a hand on the earpiece, “Got it, Boppers. I’ll check it out.”
With that, Skizz jumped off the building and was gone. That man could move quickly when he chose to. Tango rushed to the edge to try and pinpoint where the hero had gone. He flexed his muscles, a weird sense of adrenaline pumping through his veins. Tango could just let the professionals deal with whatever this was and go home to his nice, comfortable bed (that might be the better choice here), but curiosity got the better of him.
Tango spotted Skizz gliding down and he jumped after him. Tango didn’t have a glider built into his suit like Skizz did, but he had gotten skilled at using his fire to imitate flight. It was useful since it would allow him to jump high, as well as land safely from the tall heights.
As soon as he landed on the ground, he took off running. Tango didn’t want to lose sight of Skizz, of course, but he could also hear screaming. His heart thumped fast, but it filled him with energy instead of anxiety. Was this a chance to fight beside Skizzleman? To be his backup?
Tango was surprised to recognize the alleyway Skizz had turned down. It was the same one he had hidden in before Scarlet Moon used Starflower’s flower to portalify him to Galaxy Duo’s lair that last time. The dumpster that once protected him from street view was covered in purple goop, as well as much of the building’s side.
Within a single breath of his arrival, Skizz’s body was thrown from the alleyway to the main street like a baseball. Tango had to dive and roll out of the way to avoid being hit by the hero’s large form. “Skizzleman!”
Skizz hit the building across the street, promptly groaning in pain on impact. The earpiece was screaming something into his ear but, again, Tango couldn’t hear what it said.
Tango ran to Skizz to help him up as the purple goop creature exited the alleyway. Skizz rubbed the bump on his head while his left arm was laid over Tango’s shoulder. His right hand moved from his head to the comm as he tried to stand without Tango’s help. “B, it’s an infected! We can save them.”
Skizz was right on that front. The being that left the alleyway was similar- but not identical- to the creature Skizz showed him. The one standing had features indicating they were either a wolf hybrid or a dog hybrid; Tango wasn’t sure which one they were. The slime dripped from their mouth and they moved much like zombies did in old apocalyptic movies, but not as slow. One of their eyes was just as black and empty as The Boogey’s, but the other eye was a normal blue.
“You never said it was fully zombifying people!” Tango exclaimed as the infected charged at him. He didn’t wait for a response since this wasn’t time for idle conversation.
From there, much of it was a blur. Punch, kick, fire, dodge, punch, dodge, punch, punch, maybe an explosion or two. Tango fell back on old habits, but part of him felt as if he had to watch for someone else. There was no indication someone else was around and they hadn’t- wait.
The Red King! Tango had interacted with the villain more times than he could count. Usually, when The Red King was out and about, his Knight was not far behind. Knight was nowhere to be seen and that was what unsettled Tango.
The Red King wasn’t wearing his villain outfit nor his signature sunglasses and crown. Tango associated those accessories with him so strongly that he didn’t look like him without them. The villain was dressed more casually than one would ever choose if they planned to engage in a fight like this; The Boogey must have gotten to him in his civilian form! Assuming that the infected dog hybrid was The Red King, anyway. What must Knight be thinking? Did he know that The Red King had been infected?
Skizz hadn’t seemed to make the connection- but why would he? Dogwarts didn’t come onto the scene in any major way until after Skizzleman retired from combat. Even when they did appear, The Red King was usually in weredog form. Tango had only seen him once- maybe twice in this form but… it was him, wasn’t it?
His brief distraction cost him, for the infected hybrid lunged at Tango, but it was not the vigilante who paid the price. Skizz slammed his body into the infected Red King, knocking him away from Tango. Tango moved to provide backup, but Skizz ordered against that, “Stay back!”
Skizz retrieved what appeared to be a sedative and jabbed it into the non-goopy section of flesh on The Red King’s shoulder. He held it there until the infected villain fell limp. Skizz loosened his muscles as he let go, leaving the body lying on the floor.
“Woo!” Tango cheered at the victory. He neared Skizz as he thanked him and started to discuss what just went down, but slowed when Skizz stayed turned away from him. Skizz was violently shaking and just staring at the sedated body. “What’s wrong? Skizz?”
Fear struck within Tango’s chest when he noticed goop dripping from Skizz’s lips. Skizz flicked some of the slimy drool away as he trembled for another sedative. He turned to Tango, one of his eyes darkening into a black.
“Don’t let me hurt people,” Skizz croaked as he stabbed himself in the leg with the sedative’s needle. He fought against the effects for a moment before slumping forward and collapsing onto The Red King’s body.
Fuck.