Junior Hero Blues

by J. K. Pendragon

  The minute I could actually take half of a proper breath, I sat up to see that my backup had arrived, finally. Two superheroes—I think I recognized Lady Deathquake (awesome name) and Wolfhound—were locked in battle with two of Jimmy’s cronies. But Jimmy himself, not to mention the briefcase of whatever he’d been in the process of stealing, was nowhere to be seen.

  Then I spotted him: running down the sidewalk, shoving pedestrians out of the way as he went, and turning down an alleyway. There was no time to alert the other heroes, or call for more backup. I had to follow him.

  I used my powers for the first time that day, catapulting myself off the ground with waves of sound that sent the broken window glass scattering. I bounced over the heads of the crowd, hit the ground hard, and screeched to a halt next to the alley that Jimmy had turned down. For a moment I didn’t see him, but then I looked up and saw a dark figure running up the sand-colored wall like it was horizontal.

  Great, just great. I should mention at this point that I sort of have this issue with heights. I’ve had it all my life, but getting electrocuted and falling off a tower a year earlier probably hadn’t helped. The thing about my powers is, I can use them to fly . . . sort of. I can basically generate sound waves from certain spots on my body, mainly my palms and feet. If I shoot out wave after wave, I can propel myself through the air, or else do this stupid little hop to stay in one place.

  I’m serious, it looks really ridiculous.

  And I think that if I could, like, actually fly, my fear of heights wouldn’t be as bad, because I’d obviously never have to worry about falling. As it is, “flying” for me is pretty much constant jumping and falling, and the worst case of stomach butterflies anyone’s ever experienced. I deserve a medal for what I go through.

  So anyway, there was Jimmy running up the wall sideways (what kind of freaking power is that?) and about to disappear onto the roof, stolen briefcase still in hand. I shouted at him, something like, “Hey, Jimmy BigDick!” hoping he’d slow down or turn around or be so surprised that he fell off the wall or something. But he just kept running, so I had no choice but to catapult myself up into the air, and do my stupid little bounce thing to catch up with him. At least no one was watching.

  He jumped onto the top of the roof, and I came up over the edge and twisted in the air so that I was horizontal, and shot toward his back, slamming us both down. The roof was one of those stupid ones that are covered in gravel, and it burned my knees (although I will admit my costume does a pretty good job of protecting me, despite being lightweight—it’s some sort of secret League material).

  Jimmy swore and rolled over to throw another punch into my gut, but I was too fast for him this time. I dodged out of the way and ripped the briefcase from his hand, and then he spun on the ground, surprisingly agile for such a big guy, and knocked my feet out from under me—which, rude—and I fell, shocked enough to lose my grip on the briefcase.

  He grabbed it in midair, flung it over the other side of the building, and ran after it, catching it as he went over. I stood up and raced after him, angry enough to jump off the edge of a building without freaking out and stalling, for once.

  He was running down the side of the building, and I was falling, but luckily I managed to fall right on top of him. I landed my feet directly on his shoulders and kicked hard, shoving him off the wall. He fell, face-first and grasping at thin air, and I twisted and sent out shock waves just in time to stop myself from hitting the ground. I made a bit of a crater in the asphalt, though, which was less than optimal, even if it did look cool. The League frowns on destruction of city property. Obviously the glass window wasn’t my fault, but the crater sort of totally was. Oh well, maybe they wouldn’t notice.

  Jimmy had created some damage himself, cracking the asphalt and putting a decent-sized dent in a manhole with his head. For a moment I thought he was out, but when I took a step toward him, he groaned and lifted himself up onto his knees, glaring at me with a look of seething hatred. I almost took a step back, I was so shocked by the intensity of his expression, but part of me was pleased too that I’d actually gotten him angry.

  I kept walking toward him, nervous that this wasn’t over, but also relieved by the fact that he seemed to be having trouble getting back onto his feet. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do now, since we’re provided with handcuffs to incapacitate petty crooks, but based on the fact that this guy had just survived a ten-story fall and lived to tell the tale, I suspected they weren’t going to work on him.

  There were civilians around too, gasping and screaming and pulling out their phones. All that stupid stuff that civilians do when they should be running for their lives. Sometimes I think that the League is so sensationalized people forget that what we do is actually dangerous, and that, you know, civilian casualties are a thing that happens.

  Jimmy was still glaring up at me, his face sharp and angry, and then he glanced down for a second, and I saw that he was looking at the briefcase, which had fallen directly between us. I lunged for it, but he got there first. He grabbed it, and I went to tackle him, but he dropped out from under me. The manhole cover skidded across the cracked asphalt, and I landed over the open hole.

  The crowd around us gasped, and, trying not to think about what this meant, I jumped down after him.

  I landed in, you guessed it, sewage.

  Eww.

  I propelled myself back up out of it, but not before it had pretty much soaked me through. It smelled like . . . well, I’m not going to describe how it smelled, because I don’t want to relive it, and I’m sure you can put your imagination to the task.

  So there I was, bouncing up and down in the air and dripping sewage. I had always imagined that sewers were pretty small, but this one was huge. I’d fallen at least thirty feet, and the light from the manhole above did almost nothing to illuminate my surroundings. I tried to make my markings glow brighter, which they tend to do anyway when I’m upset or embarrassed or pissed off, but they didn’t help at all. I couldn’t hear anything either, besides a bunch of useless splashing echoes. I had no idea which way Jimmy had gone, or even which way the exits were.

  For a moment I was completely stuck, and then I remembered that I have sound powers that are good for stuff besides destroying city property, and closed my eyes. I brought my hands up, and shot out little waves of sound, listening as they bounced back to me, revealing archways and tunnels in all directions, and down one, the water rippling as if someone was running atop it.

  I lunged after him, nearly dousing myself again. I heard him gasp and swear as he realized that I was still following him, and again felt super smug at having managed to get a reaction out of him. I was mostly flying blind at this point, since I wasn’t staying still long enough for any echoes to get back to me, but I could hear him ahead of me. Footsteps on the wall, and then the sound of a manhole being wrenched open. I shot upward toward the blinding light, and saw his backlit figure disappearing through the hole.

  I emerged out onto the street, ignoring the screams from the inevitable crowd, and squinted around to see where he had gone, but no matter where I looked, there was no Jimmy, and no briefcase. And there I was, panting, soaking wet, my body starting to throb in pain, and absolutely nothing to show for my efforts.

  Oh, and I smelled like crap.

  The rest of the day pretty much sucked. Lady Deathquake and the Wolfhound were mad at me for going after Jimmy myself instead of alerting a Senior Hero, I was mad at me for losing him, and everyone was giving me a wide berth due to the fact that I was soaking wet and fuming.

  Lady Deathquake and Wolfhound took me to the League headquarters in their car—although Wolfhound put a towel on the seat first—and then we all went up the elevator and into a conference room, where I was surprised, and not at all happy, to see Captain Justice himself.

  “What are you doing here?” I blurted.

  The captain raised his eyebrows at me. He wasn’t wearing a mask, since he didn’t bother wit
h a secret identity. Everyone knew that he was Dr. Paulo Flores, a Filipino-American professor at Liberty City University, a certified doctor of medicine and two other sciences, as well as Captain Justice, the elected head of the League of Liberty. He was also really, really hot for an older guy.

  And I was standing in front of him, smelling like a public toilet.

  “Where else would I be?” He smiled calmly. “I’m here to conduct a debriefing of the situation that occurred today.”

  “Yeah, but it was just a jewelry-store robbery.” I swallowed. “Wasn’t it?”

  “I think you already know better than that, Blue,” said the captain disapprovingly. “I don’t imagine you’d have called for backup otherwise.”

  “They were Organization,” said Wolfhound. “No doubt about it. Though why they were robbing a jewelry store, I have no idea.”

  “There was a briefcase,” I said. “The leader, he said his name was Jimmy Black, he got away with it.”

  “Mmm.” Captain Justice pursed his lips. “The jewelry store was in fact a front for one of our undercover operations.”

  I gaped at him. “Then why did you send me there alone?”

  “It was an oversight,” said Captain Justice. “I’ll be looking into our dispatch procedures shortly.”

  “Good,” I said petulantly, and Captain Justice gave me a look that made me feel like he was my mother and I was el niño malcriado. I shut up.

  “Any idea what was in the briefcase, then?” asked Lady Deathquake.

  Captain Justice nodded. “Possibly. But I don’t want to speculate until I have more information. I’ll expect detailed reports from all of you by email no later than midnight.”

  Great. Homework.

  “For now,” continued Captain Justice, “you can all return home for the day. Blue, you may want to change. Do you have a set of clothes here?”

  I sighed. “Yeah. Do you think I could get my costume cleaned?”

  “Of course.” Captain Justice smiled at me again. “I’ll see to it immediately.”

  So that was how I found myself sitting on one of the comfy chairs outside Captain Justice’s office, wearing some old baggy street clothes that I’d left at the headquarters for emergencies, and playing Pong on my phone. I guess my disguise really does work pretty well, because the Wolfhound walked right past me into Captain Justice’s office at one point, and shut the door before announcing, “There’s a Mexican sitting outside your office.”

  Superhearing can be a bit of a curse sometimes.

  “He’s Spanish, not Mexican.” Captain Justice’s voice was so quiet that I suspected he knew I could hear him through the wall. “Though I don’t believe that is any of your business either way. What can I do for you, Frank?”

  “You can explain to me what all this is about,” grumbled Wolfhound. “Since when does the League keep secrets from its members?”

  “I’m not keeping secrets,” replied Captain Justice. “I’m merely avoiding the spread of disinformation. Believe me, when I know for certain what’s going on, everyone in the League will be made aware.”

  I lost my game of Pong and exited the app before a new one could start. A lady in heels and a tight pencil skirt walked past me, and I shrunk deeper into the chair, hoping she didn’t notice that I was eavesdropping.

  “I know you’ve got suspicions,” said the Wolfhound. “What was at that jewelry store?”

  “Various things.” Captain Justice was silent for a bit. “The one that’s chief among my concerns? One part of a data package that could potentially be used against the League if reconciled with the other parts.”

  “Used against us in what way?”

  Captain Justice didn’t respond.

  “It’s those damn chips, isn’t it?” growled Wolfhound. “They’re bad news. The old Captain Justice would never—”

  “The decision to implement the chips was based on a majority vote.”

  “Yeah, but you encouraged it.” Silence again. “I’m telling people.”

  “That’s what I was going to do,” said Captain Justice, “as soon as it’s confirmed that is the data which was stolen.”

  “You’d better.”

  Captain Justice sounded annoyed. “Frank, I am a very busy man. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss with me?”

  “No, I think that’s enough.”

  The door slammed open, and I shoved my phone back up to my face as Wolfhound stormed past me with a growl. The door stayed open, and after a moment, I heard Captain Justice stand and come to the door. I kept my phone at eye-height and glanced over as he leaned around the door to look at me.

  “Javier.” His voice was calm, but I was absolutely certain that he was about to tell me off for eavesdropping. “Why don’t you come into my office for a minute? Shut the door behind you.”

  I got up and shoved my phone into my pocket, trying to think of an excuse as I followed him into his office. I hadn’t meant to be eavesdropping! He should know better than to conduct private conversations with someone outside who had superhearing. Right?

  Captain Justice sighed and reached up to remove his cape. He hung it on his special cape hanger next to his desk and sat down, gesturing at the chair across from him. “Sit.”

  I did so, uncomfortably. I could still smell sewage on me, even though I’d showered before changing. I’d have to have another long shower tonight, and help my parents pay the water bill. “Something wrong, Captain Justice?” I bit my lip.

  Captain Justice stared at me for a second, then shook his head. “No, not at all, Javier. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

  “Oh.” I blinked. “Um, the doctors had a look at me. They said I’m fine. I’m a little banged up, and I smell kinda gross, but I’m all right.”

  He smiled a little. “I meant more in general. How are you handling this new life of yours?”

  “Oh.” I hadn’t really thought about it. It was just my life now, and had been for almost a year. “Fine. I mean, I like being part of the League.”

  It was better than what I’d been doing before, which was fighting crime by myself in a makeshift costume designed by Kendall. Until I’d learned that what I was doing was actually against League rules, and I could have been classified as a “rogue” and punished for it. Luckily they’d just asked me to join the League instead, and given me a fancy costume and training and all the good stuff that came with being a part of a team. I’d never really thought of myself as a team player though.

  “That’s good,” said Captain Justice. “How is your personal life? You haven’t told your parents anything, I assume?”

  “No.” I shrugged. “Safer that way.”

  “Indeed. And how is school? Still planning to attend Liberty City University next fall?”

  Ugh, why did he care? “Yeah, I mean, as long as the League’s gonna pay for it, I might as well.”

  “Have you decided what you’ll be taking?”

  This must have been what holidays were like for people with extended families. Next he was going to start asking me if I had a boyfriend yet. “I thought I’d just do general studies until I figure out what I want to do.”

  “Well, I hope to see you in my intro to physics class, then.”

  “Um, yeah.” I swallowed. “Of course.”

  “And how is your training going? Have you been spending time at the gymnasium and our training center?”

  “Um. Yeah. Lots.”

  “Really.” He tapped a screen on his desk. “Our records say that you haven’t checked in in three months.”

  If he knew that, why bother to trap me in a lie? I resisted the urge to scowl at him. I was pretty much done being interrogated under the guise of mentor-like concern or whatever. “So what did Wolfhound want? Is there something going on?”

  Captain Justice’s dark eyebrows rose a few millimeters. “He is currently concerned that I’m not being honest enough with the League members. He feels that I do not perform the role of Captain Justice to
the standards that he would like.”

  “A lot of people think that, don’t they?” I said.

  “Well. That’s politics for you.” Captain Justice stood and went to open the door, nodding at the view of the city through the tall window behind his desk. “You’d better head home. It will be getting dark soon, and I’m sure your family will be wondering where you are.”

  Once my costume was clean, I put it on and wore it home, practicing jumping between rooftops and pretending that my stomach wasn’t doing stupid somersaults every time I looked down. I stopped on the roof above the café to retrieve my backpack as the sun was setting, glad that no one had found it and decided to rifle through it. Not that I had anything of value in it, unless they were really into science notes and old granola bars.

  From there it was only a few blocks to my apartment building, an old dinosaur from the forties. I think it had been nice when it was built, but no one who lived there could afford to keep it up, so the whole thing was kind of falling apart. But we had a little balcony, and my bedroom window opened into an alleyway with a fire escape, so I could come and go out of it without having to worry too much about someone seeing me.

  Of course, the minute I got into my bedroom, I heard voices from the living room, which meant that both my parents were already home and probably knew that I wasn’t. So then I had to change quickly and put on my glasses (not necessary anymore thanks to superpowers, but still good for hiding my glowing alien eyes and also looking smart), and then go back out the window and down into the alleyway, and then all the way back up the stairs. By the time I got to the apartment, I was about ready to go to sleep for a week.

  My mom was in the living room with her feet up, and my dad was frying up something for dinner. I was happy to see them, but I was also exhausted, sore, and kind of bummed out, and not really in the mood to talk, even though I always talked to my parents in Spanish, which felt like less work.