"I can explain. Just don't break him. He's only been my sidekick for a few months."
Pam laughed, "Look, the heroes have cleaned up crime so well that they've taken to fighting each other now."
"How about the diner around the corner?" Cupric asked. "Just put him down."
Jack dropped the kid and helped me to my feet. "How are you feeling?"
"Like a blown fuse." I slowly regained my footing as we staggered along to the eatery Cupric suggested. It was the only brightly-lit spot in the neighborhood. A bell on the door rang our entrance to a room cast in linoleum, tile, and chrome. The darkness outside turned the plate glass windows into massive mirrors, poorly reflecting the white, black, and silver contents of the diner.
"Hey May," Cupric called, "Table for four?" May was a heavy woman with burly arms and an impressive gut for which her apron failed to do anything. Her silver hair was cut short, and she bore a tired smile.
"You look like shit, Greenie," she said.
"Just a little scuffle," Cupric said with a smirk.
"Remember, you may get free coffee, but your food and your friends are full price."
"You accept free coffee!" Jack exploded. "How dare you!"
"Look," May said, jabbing a thick finger at Jack's oversized chest. "Coffee's cheap, good friends are priceless. It's my diner, I can give away what I want. Besides, having a hero for a regular means I haven't been robbed in six years. You can't buy security like that." She turned to Cupric. "Pick any spot, Greenie."
"But... but.." Jack sputtered.
"Forget it," I said, "Or we'll have to start charging when you visit our house for dinner." Jack was just too black and white in his thinking. In his mind there was a good and a bad, an us and them, and a great void in between. We followed Cupric to a booth away from the other patrons and sat down. I stifled a smirk when both Cupric and his sidekick winced at the motion.
"All right," Jack said, "Explain yourself."
"Look, I know the Fifth Street Gang is harmless, but I saw Shadowboy checking it out. He looks like a bad guy in his getup, so I figured it'd make for a great object lesson in handling the unexpected. Only you went and dropped him in half a second. I kept up the charade of not knowing who you were, but it just got out of hand." Cupric winced again and worked some of the muscles where I'd pummeled him. "Who have you been sparring with anyway?"
"My dad," I said.
"Right." There was a pause as May brought us drinks and took our order.
"Who's his dad?" the sidekick said in a voice that was sounding more familiar every time he spoke. Cupric picked up a glass of water.
"Razordemon," he said in hushed tones before taking a drink. The sidekick's eyes practically leapt out through his mask.
"And you sent me..."
"Look," I said, "My dad won't come after you for our little brawl. You're part of the community, so he'll only come after you if you betray the code. Besides, he's out of town."
"Right," he murmured, still sounding scared white. "Razordemon's a good guy. Easy to forget." He folded up the bottom of his mask and took a drink. In the better lighting, I realized the copper highlights on his outfit weren't decorative. They formed circuits connecting various parts of his body to his fingertips, probably concentrating the energy he generated where it could be used to maximum effect. "Any idea how long your dad will be out of town?" he asked.
With that phrase, something clicked in my mind. The other details flooded to the fore. The broomstick build, the twitchy demeanor, I knew this kid.
It took all my willpower to not say, "He could be back any day now," mirroring our earlier conversation. Instead, I went with the more formal, "He didn't share the details of his mission."
Ben nodded. Nora still thought this twerp was normal. It was why she hid her speed from him. I guess I did get to kick his ass after all.
Part 3
To someone looking in from the street, it must have been a surreal scene: four men in costumes seated at a booth in an ordinary diner, having breakfast at two in the morning. Of the lot, I was the only one not dressed in green. I hadn't dealt with Cupric much, but it was no real surprise when he pushed back his hood and had copper hair. Though judging by his complexion, he wasn't a natural ginger. His whole schtick revolved around the fact that the flames he generated were the color you get from burning copper oxides. I thought it was too big of a chemistry pun, but I wasn't one to judge. Ben, from what I'd heard from Nora, was the kind of nerd who'd not only get the joke but laugh at it. I still don't get why they were together.
"I'm sorry," Cupric said. "It was a stupid idea I came up with on the spur of the moment. It was supposed to convey the lessons that things weren't always what they seemed, and that there are times you'll stumble on something and find yourself in over your head. I just didn't realize that you're approaching my league in hand-to-hand skills." He turned to Ben. "And you! What was with that overcharge you hit him with? Energy attacks are very dangerous, you could have killed him."
"It wasn't intentional," Ben said. "It built up each time I wasn't able to discharge it. I didn't realize I was hitting him with three doses at once." He paused. "Or was it four?"
"We could have staged something safer," Jack said, "Having a sidekick brawl in the middle of the street isn't exactly 'hero style.'"
"And I'm not exactly a sidekick anymore," I said. "I'm on a class-three license now."
"Aren't you too young? Isn't your birthday next week?" Jack asked.
"No, it was this weekend." That might be the only time I've seen Jack do a literal face-palm. It's not easy to get that kind of reaction out of him.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say you have something planned for next week?"
"With your dad out of town..." Jack started to explain.
I nodded. It's not easy having an idiot for a godfather. "We'll discuss it later."
"I guess everyone's had a surprise tonight," Cupric said. "I feel like I need half a ton of aspirin. It serves me right."
"Have you picked a codename yet?" I asked Ben, trying to change the conversation.
"My first pick turned out to be a corporate trademark, so right now it's blank. How did you pick your name?"
"I was born into this life. My parents picked it out." I sighed. "It does just cry 'sidekick,' doesn't it?"
"A little," Ben said.
"You could follow the family legacy and change it to 'Shadowdemon,'" Cupric said. "A bit long, but it could work."
"So, what powers do you have?" Ben asked.
"None," I said.
"We got our asses kicked by a normal?" Ben blurted out. Jack leapt to his feet, knocking the table from its mooring and dumping our food into Ben's lap.
"Never look down on someone because they don't have powers!" Jack yelled. "We are not better than any of them! Especially when they stand shoulder-to-shoulder against evil. Their courage dwarfs ours with ease." Even with a mask on, Ben's body language told me he was on the verge of wetting himself. With every eye in the place on us, I felt obliged to find a way to defuse the situation.
"You broke the table," I said.
"I..." Jack looked down in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. Ma'am, I will gladly cover the damages and then some. I didn't mean to break it."
"Just..." May said, "Just get out. I'll have Greenie give you the bill when I find out how much it is." Jack practically tripped over his cape trying to make it out the door without breaking anything else. I stood up and followed him. As I left I heard Cupric scolding Ben.
"Don't ever forget a word he said. We may be different, but that does not make us their betters."
On the street, I caught sight of Jack's cape fluttering as he flew away. I made my way up a drainpipe to a nearby roof. The climb was agony after the beating I'd taken, but Dad would kill me
if I let a little thing like pain get in my way. Flopping against an air conditioning unit, I scanned the skies. there was no sign of Jack. I took out my phone and called him.
"Hello?"
"Forget something?"
"What? Oh!" He hung up. A few minutes later, he swooped down and picked me up. I yelped in surprise, but the ground was already receding fast. I don't admit it, but I have a problem with heights, especially heights that I can't get down from on my own without going splat. It's not flying per se that's the problem. Airplanes are fine, but being held aloft by a pair of hands under my arms is not exactly a means of travel I'd have chosen. As the lights of the city rushed past us hundreds of feet below, the only thing preventing me from screaming in fright was the paralysis of the fear itself. Each buffet of frigid air whipping past felt as though it was about to rock me out of Jack's grip and send me plummeting to my death. The analytical part of my mind just shut down, and I lost track of where we were going.
Finding a solid surface under my feet again, I fell to my hands and knees and began thanking God I'd made it there. The surface in question was a rooftop patio next to a swimming pool. From the view of most of the city, I guessed it was one of the towers in Leyden Heights. As I calmed down and my heart rate returned to normal, I realized it was just Jack's place.
"You didn't know where to go, so you went home?" I asked.
"I don't lose my temper, I don't break people's things, that's not who I am," Jack said, barely pausing for breaths. "I'm the only powered person in my family. When he made that remark, it felt like he was intentionally insulting you and everyone I'm related to. Not to mention all of the non-powered heroes I've fought alongside over the years. I mean, I'm supposed to be the good guy, levelheaded, just, stalwart, and I broke that poor woman's table. And those dishes."
"Breathe, Jack!"
"Right, right. It's just a table, it can be fixed, we can make it better. But the dishes..."
"Calm down, I'm sure May won't let you forget a dime."
"Who's your friend, Jack?" Our gazes went to the door to Jack's apartment. Framed in the soft gold light from the dining room was a young woman in beige Capris and a short t-shirt. A wild mop of flame-red hair tumbled past her shoulders and her dark blue eyes seemed to be looking me over. I stood up and tried to collect what was left of my dignity. It was made slightly more difficult by the impish smirk on her coral lips.
"Shadowdemon, miss?" I don't know what made me use Cupric's suggestion, probably the part of me that didn't want to be a "-boy" in front of an attractive young woman. This was almost certainly Jack's niece, which made another part of me scream that I shouldn't be attracted to her. With Jack as my godfather, that made her my spiritual cousin... but only in some theological readings. Biology said we weren't even remotely related. Analytical me said it was probably bad form to try to hit on Jack's niece, especially with him right there. I was so caught up in her that I almost missed the raised eyebrow Jack gave me.
"He probably trusts you if he brought you here," she said, either missing my question or ignoring it. "You may want to step inside." She turned and walked back inside the apartment.
"That's Fae," Jack said. "Remember? We talked about you talking to her about secret identities."
"Sorry, I was still off-put by being dragged through the sky. Without any kind of warning, mind you."
Jack sighed and headed inside. Without much choice left, I followed, closing the sliding door and the curtains behind me. Jack's condo had been decorated by someone else, and maintained by someone else. It looked like a spread from a home and garden magazine: formal, uninviting, sterile. Staggered framed pictures tried to look random or organically placed, but came off as forced. I doubt Jack even knew what the prints were called, if he'd ever taken a look at them.
"Shadowdemon's a new one," Fae said, "but your outfit looks just like one worn by a certain Shadowboy who's been known to hang out with my uncle Jack."
"You caught me," I said, "I only upgraded from a sidekick this morning. The name is new." I tried to sound as suave and composed as possible. Truth was, I was still a shambles after the flight and the sudden discovery that Fae was hot. Too much of that mess made it to my voice for my liking.
"But who are you really?" She moved in close and stared straight into my eyes. I've seen sapphires that were not as rich a shade of blue as her eyes. She almost held me enchanted as she reached for my mask. I caught her wrists at the last moment.
"Excuse me Fae, but that is just about the rudest thing you could have done." She scowled, her brow furrowing. Somehow, even her angry face was cute.
"If I figure it out, will you take it off?"
"What?"
"Let me see. You're not that old but Jack trusts you enough to bring you here. That narrows it down already. Then; with that color hair and those eyes, you must be Travis Colfax."
"Fae..."
"I saw it in your expression. I know I'm right."
"Can we talk about something? About what you just did?"
"If you take your mask off, I'll listen to whatever you have to say." I sighed and shook my head, taking a step away from her. Not long after I let go of her wrists, I felt a pinch on my rear. Looking over my shoulder, I saw an evil grin which confessed without a word. I continued into the living room, which was beige, glass, and steel. An overstuffed cream-colored couch faced a large television in a pale wood cabinet. I dropped myself onto the couch. Fae draped herself over the opposite end.
"Listen," I said.
Fae put a finger up to my lips. "You know my terms." I let out a long sigh. After a moment of silence as Fae watched me like a hawk, I took my mask off. She seemed overjoyed at being right.
"You've moved into the circle of people who know my identity. Now you're a danger," I said.
"What?"
"I could go into a theoretical discussion of why we separate our secret identities from our cover identities, but I'm certain you've heard it from Jack. Instead, I'm going to give you a real example." I paused, trying to compose myself. "Just from what you know, you can probably infer who the rest of my family is. When my sister was born, my mother chose to leave the hero life to raise her children. My dad stayed in, because it was what he was good at. Not to say Mom wasn't, but she also enjoyed being a mother, and with small children, there's not much room for overlap. Anyway, years later, there's this bad guy, a major threat. Early on, he put Jack in the hospital when no one thought it was possible to hurt him, let alone that badly. You probably heard he was hit by a car or something."
There was a glimmer of recognition in Fae's eyes. Despite the memories I was starting to dredge up, I kept going. "This guy, he was called Michelangelo because he looked like a living statue, walking marble, only tougher. He knows he can't beat the entire community, and after putting Jack in traction, he goes to ground. Somehow, we don't know how, he finds out that my Dad is organizing the hunt. Worse, he finds out his secret identity. Instead of going after Dad directly, he makes an end run to throw him off his game. He goes after us." I pointed to myself. "At this point in my life, being a sidekick, and eventually a hero, seemed like harmless fun. You go running around the city, beat up bad guys, turn them over to the cops and dash. With Michelangelo loose, we were banned from our costumes and stuck on a normal schedule."
I swallowed hard, trying not to let emotion get in the way of my story. "We were getting ready for dinner when Michelangelo showed up at our door. He ripped open the house and brought the roof down on us. Me, my sister, and one of my brothers were pinned in the rubble. Because of where the house split, Mom was out in the open, right in front of him. I had a front row seat, but I couldn't move, not even to turn my head away." I paused for a breath. "She was way outclassed and out of practice. Mom could have run away, but she'd have to leave us behind. Mothers don't do that, especially not those who're heroes
. So she stood her ground, trying to stall him until help arrived." I bit my lower lip, determined to be stoic. "She gave as good as she got, but he was a powerhouse and... and he broke her. When she went crashing into what was left of the living room floor, she was looking right at me. I think she was still alive, but she didn't last long." I fought to keep my voice steady. "My little brother Jeremy wasn't pinned. He was five I guess. When he saw Mom go down, he started punching the monster who'd hurt his mommy. Michelangelo swatted him flat without even bothering to look at him."
I paused, the raw memory rampaging through my forebrain. The images were seared into my mind, indelible. After Michelangelo killed Mom and Jeremy, he leaned over and looked into the space where I was trapped, his hands still dripping with their blood. I can't forget the weird energy coming from his eyes, or the stench of sulfur on his breath. I didn't understand why he'd shown up at our door; I didn't find out the background until later on. All I knew was that he'd killed my mother and Jeremy, and in a moment was going to kill me. That moment was when the cavalry showed up. Had they been a few moments earlier, Jeremy would still be alive. Had they been a few moments later, I wouldn't. I don't kid myself thinking there was any way they could have gotten there in time to save Mom.
Gruefield 18 (Tarnished Sterling Omnibus) Page 8
