by Lucas Flint
I was snapped out of my thoughts when Dad slapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hey, sport, how are you doing? You're sweating like an elephant."
"What?" I said, looking at Dad. "Oh, I'm all right. She's just a really intense lady."
"You can say that again," said Dad. "Anyway, let's stop talking about stuck-up women from big cities. I'm just glad to see that you're all right and that those Injector idiots are going to rot in jail for the rest of their lives. So long as you're safe, I don't care who they have working for the police."
"Thanks, Dad," I said. "Um, can I go back to my room now? I'm still kind of tired and I'd also like to take a shower."
"Wait a minute, Jack," said Dad. "Today's your birthday, remember? I got you a gift. I planned to give it to you when I got off work later, but now that we're both here, I might as well give it to you now."
Dad pulled a small box out from under the table and gave it to me. The box was about the size of a smartphone, but slightly bigger. Written on the top were the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACK--FROM DAD.'
"What is it?" I said, looking up at Dad.
"Open it and find out," said Dad.
Wondering what Dad could have possibly gotten me for a present, I popped open the box's lid and pulled out the object inside it.
It was a small framed photograph. It showed Grandfather, still wearing his Trickshot costume but with the mask removed, holding a small baby in his arms, a proud smile on his face, while a young boy who looked to be about six stood next to him, also smiling, though he looked a little jealous of the baby in Grandfather's arms.
"See that?" said Dad. "It's a picture we took of you, Dad, and Thomas not long after you were born. Told Dad to take off the stupid costume, but he insisted on wearing it. So this picture is about sixteen-years-old, the same age as you."
"I've never seen this picture before," I said, looking up at Dad again. "Where did you find it?"
"I didn't," said Dad. He put an arm around Mom's shoulder. "It was your mom here who found it in the attic while going through old family photos. I had forgotten about it, even though I was the one who had taken the picture all the way back then."
"It's great," I said, looking down at the picture again. "Grandfather looks really young in this picture, but he was in his forties or something around then, wasn't he?"
"Late fifties, actually," said Dad, "but yeah, he always did look young, even despite the stress of being a superhero aging him a lot."
I looked at the picture again. I spotted the Trickshot Watch on Grandfather's wrist. It was angled in such a way that the face of the watch faced the camera, though that looked more like coincidence than deliberate. Looking at Thomas, I was amazed at how he looked so much like Grandfather even back then, when he was just six.
As nice as the picture was, I couldn't help but feel sad when I looked at it. Both Grandfather and Thomas were gone. Granted, Grandfather, at least, was still alive, but Thomas wasn't. It reminded me of how small our family had gotten over the years. Yes, I did have some aunts and cousins in other parts of the state, but they all lived far away from each other and we rarely saw them except for around Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the like. Seeing this picture and then looking at Mom and Dad reminded me of how big our family had once been.
There was no way I could bring Thomas back to life. I could save Grandfather, possibly, but even then, there was no guarantee that I would be able to do that anytime soon.
But one thing was certain: I was going to use the Trickshot Watch to take down the Injectors and Icon, no matter the cost.
CHAPTER NINE
For the rest of the day, I mostly napped, except at dinner time when the ice cream cake came out of the freezer. Then Mom, Dad, and I had cake together and just generally had a good time. It was a nice distraction from all of the bad stuff that had happened recently. Plus, the cake was absolutely delicious, the best cake I had had in a long time. I made a mental note to get another cake just like this as soon as the next excuse for eating cake came up.
I slept surprisingly well that night, but my dreams were weird. They mostly consisted me of running and hiding inside the tool shed, but what I was running from changed constantly. Sometimes it was the Injectors, sometimes it was Christina, and sometimes it was just a large, shadowy mass that would definitely hurt me if I let it get me.
Such dreams would have scared me normally, but I didn't find them quite as scary as I should have. Maybe it was because I had the power of Trickshot now, so if any of those people came after me, I could defend myself.
In any case, when I got up the next morning, I found that my phone was full of texts from my friend Kyle. Apparently, he had been texting me all day yesterday, trying to find out if I was okay or not after I ran out of the bus with the Injectors chasing me down. I was about to text him back, but then decided that Kyle probably deserved to actually hear my voice, rather than just read a simple text from me saying I was okay.
So I dialed Kyle's number and waited for him to answer his phone. I didn't have to wait long. Two beeps and then I heard Kyle's slightly breathless voice on the other end, saying, "Jack, is that you? Did you get my texts?"
"Yeah, I did," I said, nodding as I sat up in my bed and yawned. "All four hundred of them. I'm perfectly fine. The Injectors didn't hurt me or anything."
"Whew," said Kyle. "I really thought you were a goner when I saw those three Injector guys leave the bus to get you. And when I heard that four more Injectors joined them ... well, I wasn't exactly making plans to go to your funeral, but I figured I should prepare just to be safe."
I chuckled. "Nah, I don't think I'm going to die anytime soon. It was very scary, though."
"I bet," said Kyle. "I'm amazed you survived at all, by the way. I've always heard that whenever the Injectors come after you, that you never survive. They don't take prisoners."
"And they wouldn't have taken me prisoner, either, if I hadn't been saved," I said. "I got lucky."
"Yeah, who defended you, anyway?" said Kyle. "Some of the other kids at school are saying Bug Bite appeared out of nowhere and saved you, but others are saying it was an entirely new superhero no one has ever seen before. I haven't been able to find out who is right."
I paused to think about what I should tell Kyle. It was too risky to tell him that I had saved myself as Trickshot, because even my parents didn't know about my identity as Trickshot yet. Even if Kyle was my friend, I wasn't sure I was ready to involve him in this just yet.
So I said, "I'm not sure. I was inside the tool shed the entire time and there weren't any windows or anything that I could use to look outside. Whoever saved me probably was a super of some kind, though, because there's no way an ordinary person could have taken down seven Injectors by himself like that."
"Well, I heard rumors that Trickshot did it," said Kyle, "but that doesn't make sense, of course, because your granddad retired ten years ago, so there's no way it could be Trickshot unless someone somehow got their hands on his costume again or made their own."
"Uh, yeah, right," I said, nodding. "Whoever it was, I'm grateful they came to my rescue. There's no way I could have saved myself, not unless I ran into some police officers accidentally, of course."
"Right," said Kyle. "Everyone at school is talking about you, but I'm the first person to actually talk to you since then, I think. Even Debra has been worried about you."
My heart skipped a beat. "Debra? You mean Debra Ackerman?"
"Yeah, your girlfriend," said Kyle teasingly. "Not that I'm surprised, given how nice she is, but I thought I would mention it anyway."
I rolled my eyes. Debra Ackerman, one of my classmates, was not my girlfriend. But I had had a crush on her for a while now and had been trying to muster up the courage to ask her out. Kyle knew how I felt about her, which he teased me about whenever he got the chance because that was just the kind of friend he was.
"Maybe you should ask her out when you come back to school on Monday," Kyle suggested. "You're sixte
en now, which I'm sure makes you a man in some foreign country somewhere in the world. And men ask out the women they want."
"Says the guy who's never asked out a girl in his life," I said.
"I'm not telling you to fight and die for some great cause here," said Kyle. "Just saying that now's your time, dude. Go for it."
I shifted uncomfortably on my bed. "I'll 'go for it' when I feel like it. Anyway, let's change the subject."
"Like we always do whenever I tell you to ask Debra out."
"This is important," I said. "Remember when that one Injector, Rodriguez, claimed that one of us had something that belonged to the Injectors? Something they were trying to take back?"
"Of course I remember that," said Kyle. "What about it?"
"Because I want to know if you found out who might have had what the Injectors wanted," I said. "Did anyone admit to stealing from them or anything?"
"Of course not," said Kyle. "Do you really think that anyone would admit out loud that they outright stole something from the Injectors? That would be like walking onto Times Square and announcing to everyone that you stole a million dollars from the mafia. No one is that desperate to get put on the hit list of the Injectors, not even the emo kids who talk about how much life sucks all the time."
"But someone has to have something that belonged to the Injectors, right?" I said. "It doesn't seem likely that the Injectors would bother hijacking a school bus unless they had good reason to."
"I don't know," said Kyle. "I haven't gone around demanding that the other kids empty their backpacks or lockers so I can see if they have anything that might have belonged to the Injectors at some point. Personally, I think the Injectors just made that up as an excuse to rob us."
"But it doesn't really fit with how the Injectors work," I said. "I've never heard of them robbing or hijacking a school bus before. My theory is that one of the other students has or had Power, but who, I can't say."
"I bet it was Ryan Bond," said Kyle. "He seems like the kind of guy who would steal from a group as dangerous as the Injectors. Plus, he's friends with Robby, who we know actually did try to buy Power from the Injectors."
"Can't argue with that," I said. "Ryan is a jerk and jerks like him are more likely to do something stupid like that than other people. Still, I don't want to jump to any conclusions, especially without any evidence."
"Okay," said Kyle. "Anyway, do you want to hang out today? I didn't get to pay for your lunch yesterday at school, so maybe we can grab lunch or go see a movie. I heard the newest White Leopard movie is supposed to be pretty good."
I opened my mouth to say sure, but then I glanced at the Trickshot Watch, which sat on the desk next to my bed, and remembered that I had promised to train with TW today. "Sorry, Kyle, but I won't be able to hang out with you today. I've got a lot of chores to do today and stuff, so I can't hang out with you right now."
"Oh, okay," said Kyle, who sounded somewhat disappointed. "Well, maybe we can hang out on Sunday, then, if you're not too busy."
"Yeah, Sunday sounds good," I said. "Anyway, see you later. I've got to go."
I ended the call. At the same time, the Trickshot Watch flashed and TW stood before me again, his arms folded behind his back and a curious expression on his face.
"Was that your friend Kyle?" said TW.
I nodded as I put my phone back on my desk. "Yeah. He was just calling to make sure I was okay because he hadn't heard from me since yesterday."
"What a good friend he is," said TW. "It reminds me of the friendship Gregory had with his fellow superhero, Jinx. The two of them always had each other's back, even though they worked in two different cities."
I shrugged. "Kyle and I have known each other since first grade. We'd do anything for each other."
TW's eyes narrowed. "You didn't tell him about the Watch, did you?"
I shook my head. "No, I didn't. And I don't have any plans to at the moment, because I'm not sure I want to rope him into this stuff yet."
"Good," said TW. "Gregory made it very clear that he didn't want knowledge of the Trickshot Watch to trickle down into the general population yet. He doesn't want you or your family to become targets for the Injectors or any other group out there who might wish you harm."
"Like those Icon guys you mentioned, right?" I said.
TW nodded. "Precisely. Icon is as ruthless as the Injectors, if not more so. That is why it is so important that you train today and learn how to control your powers."
Yawning, I glanced at the clock on my phone and said, "But it's so early. Do I have to start training now?"
"Not right away," said TW, shaking his head, "but it is imperative that you get started as soon as possible. Because you don't have school today, that means you have all day to train and learn how to use your new powers."
"Right," I said as I stretched my arms. "But where are we going to train? I'm not supposed to let anyone see me transform or use my powers just yet. Where should we go?"
"I already have a place picked out for this purpose," said TW. "I spent last night running a search on the Internet for any abandoned places in or near Rumsfeld which you might be able to use for training. I located one such location and have downloaded its address to your phone, as well as the quickest route there via bike."
I picked up my phone and went to my map app and saw that there was indeed a location that I hadn't looked up myself: Warehouse 19, on the east side of Rumsfeld.
I looked up at TW. "What is Warehouse Nineteen?"
"According to my research, Warehouse Nineteen was once owned by the Lockmiller Corporation twenty years ago," said TW. "It was abandoned after a fire, however, and has remained locked up and closed to the public ever since."
"There aren't any security guards or homeless people living there, right?" I said as I lowered my phone.
"From what I have researched, the place is totally abandoned," said TW. "Even homeless people don't go anywhere near it. Apparently, there is a rumor among the homeless people of Rumsfeld that Warehouse Nineteen is home to an evil fire spirit that burns anyone who tries to enter and claim the place."
I raised an eyebrow. "And you decided that that would be a great place to train?"
"Well, why wouldn't it?" said TW. "It is large, with plenty of space for you to use your powers freely, and no one lives in or near it, which means that it is unlikely that someone will accidentally stumble upon you while you're training. Plus, as we all know, spirits don't actually exist. It is just an urban legend created by superstitious individuals who don't understand science."
I frowned. "Says the advanced hologram which can grant me superpowers whenever I put on the costume you made."
TW crossed his arms. "I didn't know you were so superstitious, Jack. Gregory thought you weren't."
"I'm just joking," I said, waving at TW dismissively. "Anyway, let me get dressed and have breakfast and we can head down there. Best not to train on an empty stomach, after all."
CHAPTER TEN
Warehouse 19 looked pretty much what I expected it to look like. It was a huge warehouse, easily twice the size of my house and about three times as wide as my school's campus. It had probably looked really impressive in its heyday, but as I parked my bike in front of it and looked it up and down, I could tell that this warehouse had seen better days. Its exterior was rusted and dirty, while several of the windows near the top of the building that were busted out were so dirty that you probably couldn't even shine a light through them. There was also a lot of crude graffiti on the walls, including one that said INJECTORZ WERE HERE.
Warehouse 19 wasn't alone, either. It was surrounded on all sides by other abandoned or rundown warehouses of varying sizes, with some smaller and others even bigger.
Normally, I would have avoided this place completely. I didn't even tell my parents where I was going. I just told Mom that I was going to hang out with Kyle for the day. Dad had already left for work by the time I left, so I didn't need to tell him anything, but I
still felt a little guilty about lying to Mom's face. But then I reminded myself that this was necessary, because I didn't want to tell her or anyone else in my family about my secret identity until I had my powers under control.
As I climbed off my bike, the Trickshot Watch flashed again and TW appeared beside me, looking up at Warehouse 19 with mild interest.
"This is it," said TW. "What do you think about it?"
"It looks like it's going to fall apart any minute," I said. I looked around. "Also, it's really quiet around here. Like, really quiet."
"As I said, this part of town has been more or less abandoned for some time," said TW. "Even so, I would suggest not being too loud or boisterous in your training."
"Because I don't want to attract the attention of the evil fire spirits that will consume my soul if I disturb their naps," I said. "Right?"
TW rolled his eyes. "It's for your safety. Because of the age and decay, Warehouse Nineteen is not as stable as it looks. If you hit it too hard, it might collapse."
"Don't worry about me," I said, giving TW the thumbs up. "I'm always careful with my environment. Just ask my parents."
TW looked at me as if he didn't quite believe me. "Well, it's good to see that you're confident. Perhaps that will make it easier to teach you how to use your powers, assuming your confidence doesn't become arrogance."
"Well, why do I need to do this training at all?" I said. "I'm not against practicing my powers, but look at how easily I defeated those Injectors yesterday. And that was my first time using my powers. I think I'm already pretty good at using them."
"Because you had my help," said TW. "But the fact is that I'm not always going to be around to help you. Had I not been there, that fight likely would have ended very differently."
"Wait, you're not?" I said. "Are you going to leave me? I thought you said you were built into the Watch."
