Secret Supervillain

by Alesha Dixon

  “We so appreciate you taking Alexis on,” Mum continued, ignoring Alexis who looked as though he wanted to sink into the ground. “I know things between my mum and your dad weren’t… Well, never mind. I’m just pleased that all of that is behind us and you’re part of the family.”

  “Trust me, hiring Alexis as an intern is the least I could do to make up for my father’s actions” – Darek hesitated, clearing his throat and looking embarrassed – “really.”

  I was suddenly desperate to ask what he meant about his “father’s actions”. That implied that it had been Nolan who had caused the fight with Nanny Beam before he passed away. But Darek didn’t offer any further explanation and, collecting himself, he moved the conversation on quickly before anyone had the chance to linger on it.

  “Anyway, I know that Alexis is going to be a brilliant addition to the team. And I’ll have to keep my eye on you, Clara,” he said with a grin. “If I start now, maybe by the time you leave school I’ll have persuaded you to have a career in technology, too.”

  “I’ve considered it and weighed up the pros and cons, but it would be interesting to hear from someone experienced in the tech environment,” Clara replied, giving Kimmy half of her biscuit and patting her on the head. “I look forward to discussing it with you in due course.”

  “Me too.” He laughed, before turning his attention to me. “And Aurora? Want a job at Vermore Enterprises? It’s turning into a family affair!”

  “I’m not smart like Clara and Alexis,” I admitted. “So I don’t think I’d be much help.”

  “Much help? Aurora,” he said, watching me intensely, “you have the Beam family superpowers. Don’t ever underestimate what you can do.”

  I smiled gratefully in reply. He checked his watch and stood up, prompting his security men to rise as one, ready to leave.

  “I have to get to a meeting, but it’s been a pleasure seeing you all. Thank you very much for the tea and biscuits and Alexis, I’ll see you next Saturday, nine a.m. sharp.”

  “Yes, sir,” Alexis replied.

  “Darek, call me Darek,” he insisted, waving back at us as he and his security team made their way out of the kitchen and down the hall. “Goodbye, Beams!”

  The front door shut behind him and there was a moment of complete silence until we all burst out cheering, congratulating Alexis on his new internship.

  “I can’t believe it!” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “I get to work for Vermore Enterprises!”

  “This calls for a celebration,” Mum announced. “I think ice cream before dinner is in order.”

  “I should say so,” Dad agreed. “Clara, how about you grab the bowls.”

  While everyone bustled about excitedly, I was able to speak to Alexis quietly in the corner of the room.

  “This is great news,” I said as he typed at warp speed on his phone, probably telling all his online friends what had happened.

  “It’s the best news,” he said, concentrating on the screen. “I wish I could start this second.”

  “And you’ll have the inside track on things.”

  He looked up. “What do you mean?”

  “Vermore Enterprises is playing a key role in finding the Light of the World. You’ll know everything that’s going on.”

  “I don’t think so, Aurora. I doubt they’re going to tell an intern anything important.”

  “They don’t need to tell you anything. You’re an expert at getting information from computer systems. You can just fill me in when Mum doesn’t.”

  Alexis gave me a mischievous smile. “As proud as I am right now that you’re thinking so rebelliously, I won’t be doing anything that puts this internship at risk. For once, I plan on doing exactly what I’m told to do and playing by the rules. Plus, this is Vermore Enterprises, Aurora. Not just any company; the biggest and most advanced tech company in the world. If they want to keep things secret, they’ll do just that.”

  “Yes, but I think I could do something to help if I just knew what –”

  “Aurora,” he gave me a stern look that he must have learnt from Mum, “don’t try and pry any information from me. You promised Mum and Dad, remember? Nanny Beam, Mr Vermore and Mum have got everything under control and there’s really nothing you can do. So just come and enjoy some ice cream.”

  He put his arm round me and led me to the table as Dad happily put bowls of ice cream covered in chocolate sauce and sprinkles in front of us.

  *

  That night as I got ready for bed, I couldn’t get what he said out of my head and one phrase seemed to be on repeat in my brain.

  There’s really nothing you can do.

  Tidying my room by throwing all the clothes on the bed into a jumbled pile on the floor, I picked up the special Lightning Girl jacket that Georgie had designed for me earlier in the year for my countless photoshoots. I traced the big lightning bolt that was stitched across the back with my finger and then let out a long sigh, throwing it across the room on to the top of the pile.

  “Guess I won’t be needing that,” I said out loud to my empty bedroom.

  Because what’s the point in having superpowers if you’re not allowed to use them?

  5

  “Why is it built in the shape of a banana?”

  Alexis looked horrified at Mum’s question. We were standing on the pavement, staring up at Vermore Enterprises in East London’s Tech City area. Alexis had finished his first week interning and Darek had invited us to come along as his special guests and have a tour of the famous headquarters.

  “Vermore Enterprises is NOT built in the shape of a banana,” Alexis hissed, glancing at everyone coming in and out through the swivel doors to check no one had heard.

  “No, your mum’s right,” Dad said, nodding and shielding his eyes from the sunlight as he continued to look up. “It’s definitely a banana.”

  “I see a banana,” Clara agreed. “Or perhaps a cookie.”

  Alexis blinked at her. “A cookie? HOW does this building possibly look to you like a cookie?”

  “A sort of bitten-into cookie,” she explained. “Like you’ve got a delicious circular cookie and then you’ve taken a big bite out of it. To leave it … crescent-shaped.”

  “Oh, yeah!” I exclaimed, knowing exactly what she meant. “Or I was thinking a boomerang. Does Darek have any links to Australia?”

  “No! Everyone, listen.” Alexis sighed in despair, as we all turned to look at him. “It is built in the shape of a moon!”

  We looked up at the imposing, modern building towering above us.

  “A moon?” Mum said, squinting her eyes.

  “Yes. A moon. Like Clara even said, crescent-shaped,” Alexis said, shaking his head as though he was talking to a class of teenagers who were just not getting it. “Not a banana; not a cookie with a bite in it; not a boomerang. A moon.”

  “Oh. Right,” Dad nodded slowly. “I can see that. A moon.”

  “I think it looks more like a banana,” Clara announced, causing Alexis to bury his head in his hands. “If you look at the very top of the curve, it seems to straighten out horizontally, like the stalk of a banana.”

  “No, that’s just the roof viewing platform,” Alexis explained through gritted teeth. “It had to be straight at the top otherwise you wouldn’t be able to stand on the roof. You’d slide off if it was curved.”

  Clara looked thoughtful. “Did you know that monkeys eat bananas a different way to us? They ignore the stem and instead start at the other end, which is in fact the top of the banana – the stem is the bottom – and then they pinch it and peel. There is less resistance that way and it’s a much more efficient method.” She paused and let out a long sigh. “We can learn a lot from monkeys.”

  “How fascinating,” Dad said. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Hello!” Alexis cried, waving his arms frantically at us. “Any chance you can focus on me, please?!”

  “Sorry, Alexis, of course,” Mum said hurriedly, instruc
ting Clara to put her phone away. “We’re so excited to be visiting you here at your internship! And the building really is very impressive architecturally. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Me neither,” Clara said, adding, “although in South Africa, apparently there’s a building shaped like a pineapple.”

  “This building is a MOON. A crescent-shaped moon,” Alexis seethed, running a hand through his hair. “Mr Vermore and his architect designed the Vermore Enterprises Headquarters to be in the shape of a crescent moon for a reason. It’s symbolic for ambition and pioneering technology; to keep reaching for the stars, like astronauts kept working towards the first moon landing.”

  “Of course,” Dad said, shooting Clara a warning look as she opened her mouth with a quizzical expression on her face. “That makes total sense. It is clearly a moon. And a very impressive moon at that. Shall we go in? I can’t wait to see where you work and meet your colleagues!”

  Alexis nodded and led the way, already looking exhausted even though it was first thing in the morning. I followed him through the swivel doors and stepped into reception. I should have expected the interiors of the building to be pretty cool, considering I’d spent a few days over the summer in an underground spaceship-vibe dome that Darek had built for superhero conferences. But stepping into Vermore Enterprises was completely mind-blowing.

  The building seemed to go on FOR EVER. I swear, you’d need binoculars to see the other end of the floor. Everything was glass, from the long reception desk lining one side of the building to the huge spiral staircase slap bang in the middle of the room which led up to the hundreds of floors. The core of the building was completely hollow, with glass offices all around the edges of the walls, and you could see, towards the top, how the staircase curved into the banana shape.

  “Whoa,” I gasped, much to the satisfaction of Alexis.

  “I know, right? Let me get your badges and then we can head down to my floor.”

  “Down? Don’t you mean, up?” Mum asked, pointing at the stairs.

  He shook his head. “No, my office is underground. This is only a small section of the Headquarters, there’s a load of levels built into the ground as well.”

  As he left to sign us in at reception, Mum shook her head in disbelief.

  “So, this is what my long-lost cousin has been up to all these years,” she murmured. “Not bad, is it?”

  Dad put an arm around her shoulders. “It’s very impressive. But not quite as impressive as being a superhero and a full-time mum.”

  Mum nestled into his shoulder.

  “Or being the best dad in the world who knows everything there is to know about precious stones,” she said, looking into his eyes dreamily.

  “Bleurgh,” I interrupted pointedly, sharing a look with Clara, who was rolling her eyes. “Mum, Dad, we are in public!”

  Dad laughed and ruffled my hair, which I didn’t appreciate because I had spent ages this morning attempting to tame the curls.

  I had not been successful.

  I’m really glad Mum and Dad are very supportive of each other and everything, even more so considering they had actually separated a while ago. It wasn’t easy with Mum being a superhero and being away saving the world all the time. They grew distant. Luckily, once they’d separated, they’d realized quickly that they really loved each other and would do everything to make it work.

  But, STILL, that’s no excuse for gross, mushy behaviour in front of their children.

  “All right, let’s go,” Alexis said, coming over to us with a handful of lanyards and name badges. “I can’t wait to show you my office.”

  “You have your own office?” Dad said, raising his eyebrows.

  “Yep.” Alexis nodded, puffing his chest out. “I’m the only intern with one.”

  Alexis led us into the glass lift, which made my stomach drop as we set off to his floor. On the way he barely stopped for breath, telling us about the amazing facilities in the building (indoor tennis courts, a spa for lunch breaks, a gaming room, which had video games that hadn’t even been released yet) and how cool the people who worked at Vermore were. A lot of them made him a bit starstruck, but there were some other interns who he was getting on with really well.

  When the lift doors opened to his floor, I couldn’t believe that we’d gone to the right place. Even though we were underground, it felt as though we could have been on a top floor and for a moment I wondered if Alexis had pressed the right button, but he walked out confidently.

  It was so bright, with high ceilings and wide corridors, and it was all glass with amazing views across the city. Alexis paused halfway through explaining one of Darek’s recent inventions when he noticed we’d all stopped to stare out at the London skyline.

  “H-how…” I began, too confused to form my question.

  “Oh, yeah, it’s cool, isn’t it? It’s just projections,” he said, knocking on the glass wall of the corridor. “We’re underground, but it’s designed to look as real as possible. My office is in here.”

  He opened the door to his right and we stepped into a spacious room with a very messy desk. Alexis started at seeing someone sitting in his office chair and immediately straightened up, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt.

  “Mr Vermore!” he said, his eyes flickering to the mess across his desk. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were here. I was going to tidy but—”

  Darek chuckled, standing up to greet us. “My desk is very similar, Alexis. I can never find a thing. They say creativity is a messy business!”

  Alexis’s shoulders visibly relaxed as he stepped aside to let Mum give Darek a hug.

  “I just wanted to pop down to check that you were happy with your tour and to let you all know how well Alexis is doing here,” Darek said.

  Alexis stared at the floor, shuffling his feet.

  “Alexis seems to be loving working for you, Darek,” Mum said. “And the building is very impressive. The moon shape is very inspirational.”

  “Thank you,” he replied, “although, sometimes I worry it looks more like a banana.”

  Clara and I tried to stifle our laughter by having coordinated coughing attacks.

  “Shall I get you some water, Aurora?” Darek asked in concern, clapping me on the back.

  “I hope Alexis has been working hard!” Dad said hurriedly, keen to change the subject. “If only he was this focused on his school work, right, Kiyana?”

  “Dad,” Alexis hissed.

  “He has been a huge help,” Darek assured. “He’s been assigned a special project. I’ve just got him on the case, which is why he gets his own office.”

  “Wow.” I smiled at Alexis. “What’s the project?”

  “It’s top secret,” he replied proudly.

  Darek and Mum shared a smile.

  “Well, good luck with it, Alexis. And Darek, it really is very good of you to invite him to intern here,” Mum said. “Especially when you and Nanny Beam are so busy with—”

  She stopped, glancing at me. She cleared her throat. “Never mind.”

  “Busy with what?” I asked, jumping on her slip-up. “Have there been any updates on the Light of the World?”

  “Aurora—” Mum began, but Darek stepped forward to speak.

  “Actually, Aurora, there’s no reason for you to be kept in the dark. You are Lightning Girl, after all. We’re really making progress. I have people in this very building, at this very moment, using the latest facial and vocal recognition technology to track down Mr Mercury and any accomplice of his. There have been sightings of him in London. We’re closing in on him, I’m sure of it.”

  He bent down slightly to look me right in the eyes and spoke in a quieter, slightly embarrassed voice.

  “Aurora, I let you down at the Superhero Conference. I thought I could protect the Light of the World and I’ll never forgive myself for letting Mr Mercury get away with it.” He paused, thinking of the right words. “I know how significant this precious stone is
to the world, but more importantly, I know what it means to the Beams. I’ve waited a long time to have a family. Together, we’re going to get the Light of the World back to where it belongs. I won’t let everyone down again. I promise.”

  “Darek,” I said, offering him a weak smile, “I know exactly how you feel.”

  6

  “Oi! Watch where you’re shooting those light beams!”

  Mr Crow’s furious face popped up from behind the fence as I quickly put my hands behind my back.

  “Sorry, Mr Crow! I was just—”

  “That’s twice this week my bird house has been knocked to the ground,” he grumbled, picking up the bright, neon-green bird house he’d made himself three years ago.

  In those three years, we’d never seen a bird go near it. Alexis is convinced he saw a sparrow once fly towards it, shriek at the colour and fly off again.

  “I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful.”

  Our next-door neighbour shook his head. “Honestly, it’s not easy living next door to a superhero. Shooting your light beams all over the place, at all times of the day. No wonder I never see any birds in my garden! They’re probably scared to death from the array of disco lights!”

  “Gerald, what are you prattling on about?” Mrs Crow said, coming out into the garden holding a yoga mat. “How am I supposed to listen to my breath and focus on my centre with your whingeing floating in through the window?”

  “It’s Lightning Girl,” he harrumphed, gesturing over the fence.

  “What about her?”

  “She’s practising her light beams and she knocked over my bird house again.”

  “Sorry, Mr and Mrs Crow,” I interjected. “I’ll try to be more careful. I was playing with my dog.”

  I patted Kimmy on the head and she gave a loud bark, confirming my story. I’d discovered a new game which involved shooting light beams in all different directions while Kimmy went bonkers chasing the beams around the garden. She was yet to work out that she couldn’t catch light.

  Mr Crow shook his head and muttered something under his breath, while Mrs Crow watched me suspiciously.