Forced Partnership by Robert T. Jeschonek

Forced Partnership
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    Book 3 in the Forced Heroics Series
    Â  By
    Â  Robert T. Jeschonek
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    Â *****
    More Superhero E-books by Robert T. Jeschonek
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    7 Comic Book Scripts
    A Matter of Size (mature readers)
    Forced Retiremen t (Forced Heroics Book 1)
    Forced Betrayal (Forced Heroics Book 2)
    Heroes of Global Warming
    The Masked Family – a novel
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    *****
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    Forced Partnership
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    ONE NIGHT IN ISOSCELES CITY...
    My favorite super-hero pounds me with his fists. I can almost see the spiky sound effect balloons fly up with each punishing blow to my head. Boom! Pow! Wham!
    Krack. That's the sound of my cheekbone snapping. The un -super cheekbone of a very un -super man. The super-hero battering me has unbreakable bones and the strength of ten men, but I've got nothing like that.
    Even though we both wear the same black and gray costume and go by the same code name. Even though we both call ourselves Partycrasher.
    "Stop it! Stop hurting me!" I blubber the words through my shattered teeth and swollen lips. "How can you do this to your number one backup ? Your chief deputy in the Party Line ?"
    At least that makes him put my beating on pause. "For the last time!" He's so furious, he spits in my face while he screams at me. " You are not my backup ! "
    I cower on the sidewalk at his feet. "Please don't say that! What's wrong with you?"
    "You're not in the Party Line , and we've never had a team-up!" He hauls back his fist, ready to let it fly. "The only thing you've ever done for me is ruin my life !"
    "This isn't you talking, Partycrasher!" I spread my arms pleadingly, desperate to get through to him. "You're under a villain's control . You've got to fight it!"
    The leather in his black glove creaks as he tightens his fist. "The only thing I'm fighting is the urge to kill you right this minute ."
    I meet his gaze through the eye-holes in his black leather cowl. Maybe there's a spark of mercy in there after all. "I knew you didn't want to kill me, Partycrasher."
    "I didn't say that. I just don't want to kill you too soon ." The muscles bulge along the length of his arm, defined by the moonlight flowing over them. "I want you to suffer like she did."
    Then, he releases that punch he's been aiming. His sledgehammer fist crosses the night air like a missile, cruising straight for my...
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    *****
    AT LAST! THE SECRET ORIGIN OF THE PARTYCRASHER/ADJUSTER TEAM!
    You haven't lived until you've charged through the dark city streets at night, fighting crime with a true crusader. I'm telling you, man.
    I remember our first adventure together, five years ago. Back when I was just starting out. Back when I was still calling myself the Adjuster.
    You should've seen my homemade outfit and gear. So lame. I basically wore a black hoodie and jeans, plus a Halloween mask that was supposed to make me look like some kind of red demon creature.
    It was pouring down rain one night, and I saw these two goons beating up a homeless guy in an alley. When I tried to break it up, I got my ass handed to me. Didn't even get to try my patented spine-cracking techniques on these guys. (I'm a chiropractor by day, hence "the Adjuster.")
    Anyway, I was pretty much laid out on a pile of trash, about to get torn apart, when all of a sudden I heard that trademark howling laugh of his. It echoed down the alleyway, making the goons stop and look around for him.
    Was he up the alley? Down the alley? Neither!
    He leaped down from a fire escape above us, kicking both of them in the head at once on the fly. The goons staggered aside as he landed in a crouch on the wet pavement, surrounded by his fanned-out black cape.
    There was the briefest of pauses. I remember thinking how cool he looked, how intimidating. Now that was a super-hero, I thought.
    Then, he swirled into action again, tearing through the goons like they were a couple of rubber clowns. The one guy was crying by the time he was done with him; Partycrasher dislocated his