---------EPILOGUE---------
Two Days Later
Tropic stood in his robe fresh from the shower, staring
out the large picture window in his 35th floor apartment on Talos
Island. His wet blonde hair hung low beyond his shoulders and he drank
from a steaming cup of coffee. The sound of old standards from the
’40’s came softly from the stereo.
He sipped his drink and looked
out over the statue of Talos. To his right, two heroes flew past,
to his left he saw a flash of light and, squinting his eyes, saw a
hero battling a Steel Valkyrie. Then another hero bounded by right
in front of his window. He sipped the coffee again shaking his head.
"What a great city.", he thought.
He turned away from the window and
crossed the living room until he stood in front of a large cabinet.
He opened it’s doors and placed the coffee mug on one of it’s shelves.
Inside the cabinet was a collection of souvenirs he had acquired over
the course of his adventures. He saw the rage ampoule, the page of
a diary, Uni-bands, and several other objects until his gaze fell
on his two most prized possessions.
One was a letter from the Chinese
and American governments thanking him for stopping a Malta threat
and quite possibly preventing World War Three. The other was the faceplate.
Statesman’s faceplate. The cities greatest hero had sent it to him
after Tropic had led a group of heroes to an alternate dimension and
rescued the captured Statesman from his evil doppelganger Tyrant.
Tropic sighed and smiled. He reached into the pocket of his robe and
pulled out a small black velvet pouch. He opened the bag and the multicolored
reflection of light from $500,000 dollars in diamonds and other precious
stones played across his face. He shook his head, grinning. "This
may be the best souvenir yet", he said out loud.
Suddenly, there was
a knock at the door of his apartment. Closing the bag and putting
it in the cabinet, he grabbed his coffee and padded in bare feet to
the front door. He looked through the peep hole and stood back in
surprise. Opening the door, he exclaimed "War Witch!"
She stood at
his door clad in a short green halter type dress. It plunged low in
front and the skirt went to her mid-thigh. She wore a simple black
choker around her neck and she ran her hand through her green and
blue striped hair. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a frown.
"I mean Clarissa," Tropic corrected himself and was rewarded with
a smile. "What are you doing way out here?", he asked grinning.
"I
just came by to thank you again for saving me…us…the other day." She
smiled brightly.
"Oh, it was my pleasure.", Tropic said as he opened
his door wide to let her in.
She crossed into his apartment and before
the door closed, if anyone was standing in the hallway, they would
have heard her say softly…
"We’ll see."
The End