Secret Origins

by James Riley

  “Also spiders,” Bethany pointed out.

  “But whatever the theme, that’s usually a clue on how to take them out. If you’re fighting Electro, hit him with water. If Hydroman is chasing you, hit him with Electro. See what I mean?”

  “Don’t you mean Aquaman?”

  “Nope. Four, even in superhero comics, there are different kinds. You’ve got your crime detective stories like Batman, your comedy comics like Squirrel Girl, your—”

  “There’s not really a Squirrel Girl,” Bethany said. “No way.”

  “Uh, there is, and she’s awesome,” Owen said, giving her an indignant look. “I’m just saying, this Jupiter City place could be futuristic, it could be creepy and crime-ridden, it could be anything. Doc Twilight looked more like Batman or Daredevil than, say, Spider-Man, so we’re probably going to be dealing with a lot of rooftops and gargoyles and stuff.”

  “I’ll watch out for that. Is that all?”

  “You’re not taking this seriously, Bethany!” Owen shouted. “And we can’t just jump out of here if things go badly. Think about what comic books are like. Huge, all-powerful heroes and villains fighting in the streets. You need to know how to deal with it all.”

  Bethany looked down. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m just . . . he’s so close, Owen. And I’m, like, crawling out of my skin here. I just want to go find him already!”

  Owen nodded. “I get it, I do. Last thing to remember: Comics are about heroes. People standing up to bullies and bad guys, helping protect anyone who can’t stand up for themselves. So if we do run into trouble, there should be someone around to help out.”

  Bethany’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re saying to just hope we get rescued?”

  “Depending on what’s out there, that might be our only hope,” he said, taking a deep breath in, then letting it out.

  “Okay, Dr. Doom,” Bethany said. “But you’re not fooling me. You can’t wait to get out there either. I know you. You love superheroes.”

  Owen glared at her, then slowly smiled. “I’m so excited!”

  She grinned as well, then pushed him toward the laboratory door. “Then lead on, comic book guy. Let’s go find my father!”

  In spite of all his rules, Owen felt weirdly optimistic as they walked out of Dr. Apathy’s lab. This was a comic book world, after all. The place where the good guys always won! And after all this time, Bethany was about to find her father . . . maybe. This might turn out to be a piece of cake, all things considered!

  As they left the room, the lights of the blue-fire portal began to flicker, causing the shadows to dance.

  Then the shadows pulled away from the portal to follow Bethany and Owen.

  CHAPTER 9

  They passed through what resembled a round bank-vault door to get out of the lab (it was ajar, so Bethany decided her father had definitely come this way), and emerged to a sight that made them both gasp in surprise.

  “We’re definitely not in a basement anymore,” Owen said, stepping closer to the curved glass windows covering the entire wall in front of them. Apparently Dr. Apathy built his lab at the top of a skyscraper, because beyond the windows an entire city spread out far, far below.

  “Jupiter City, the robot called it,” Bethany said, leaning forward to put her head on the glass. Owen was a bit more tentative, but got close enough to look as well.

  Jupiter City didn’t look like any city she’d ever seen before, not in real life or in books. Everything seemed to glow with an eerie red color in the evening hours as the sun went down. Apartment and office buildings looked a bit like they would in New York or Chicago, but seemed a bit too perfect, like they’d been sketched out with a ruler.

  They appeared to be in a downtown area, with a few other skyscrapers around them. One a few blocks away had the words SECOND COUSINS CORPORATION written at the top, with a gigantic “2” next to the words. Another had a giant lightning bolt at the top that blinked, with the words THE DAILY CURRENT.

  “That must be a Fantastic Four type team,” Owen said, pointing at the first building. “And instead of the Daily Bugle or the Daily Planet, like in Spider-Man or Superman, it’s the Daily Current. That lightning bolt is so cool! How many times do you think they’ve used it to fight off giant monsters?”

  Nearby, a giant statue of a man in a duck costume sat on top of some kind of museum, which was strange. Close by that was a domed building with white statues in a courtyard. Not two blocks from there, a mysterious building seemed to appear and disappear as Bethany stared at it.

  “None of this seems to really fit together,” she said, staring at the disappearing building. “It’s like there’s no consistency.”

  “That’s because the major landmarks are probably all from different comic books,” Owen said. “Like that crazy invisible house. That’s probably a book about a magician or something. And that domed place looks a lot more like a superhero team headquarters, an Avengers or Justice League or something.”

  “And the duck museum?” Bethany asked, pointing at it.

  Owen shrugged. “Got me. Where do you think . . . wait, look!” He pointed down to the right, where the buildings looked a bit more run-down, though still like they’d been built—or drawn—that way. “There’s someone on the roofs!”

  Bethany covered her eyes against the setting sun’s glare and tried to see what he was pointing at. At first, she couldn’t make anything out, but then caught a bit of movement on the rooftops. Someone was moving quickly, watching the streets as they went.

  Someone with a cape.

  “Dad,” Bethany said, banging her hand against the glass. “Come on! We have to catch up to him.” She grabbed Owen’s hand before he could respond and dragged him toward some elevator doors. She mashed the button over and over until the elevator finally arrived, then pushed Owen inside and jumped in herself, slamming the button for the lobby so hard she almost hurt her thumb.

  “Floor three hundred and fifty?” Owen said, pointing at the display above the buttons. “This is going to take forever!”

  Bethany opened her mouth to respond, then screamed as the elevator dropped like a rock, the floor numbers flying by faster than she could even see. Owen screamed too, and he grabbed her arm, though Bethany had no idea what good that would do when they hit the ground.

  They seemed to pick up speed as they zoomed by floor two hundred, and Bethany found herself grinning in spite of their looming death. They might be about to crash into the floor going a thousand miles an hour, but the fall was still fun!

  They passed floor one hundred, and Owen took in a deep breath, then started screaming again, while Bethany began laughing, harder and harder, whether at him or just the sheer excitement of the drop, she wasn’t sure.

  And then the elevator dinged, and they stopped smoothly. The doors opened, and Owen’s scream trailed off into a sort of awkward moan.

  “Amazing,” Bethany said, her heart almost beating out of her chest. “And it got us down fast! Let’s go, Owen. We can still catch him.” And she grabbed his hand again, trying to pull him. This time, he seemed to stumble along, letting out another uncomfortable little high-pitched moan every few feet.

  The lobby of Dr. Apathy’s building was beautiful, with marble columns and elaborate leather seating. But what it didn’t have was any people. Not even a security guard.

  “Where is everyone?” Bethany said, turning around as she walked. Behind her, a sign above what looked like a security desk said APATHETIC INDUSTRIES, which must have been Dr. Apathy’s company name.

  “Some mad scientists in comics hide behind companies,” Owen told her, still rattled. “Lex Luthor has LexCorp. The Green Goblin has Oscorp. I guess Dr. Apathy has this.”

  “That doesn’t explain why no one’s here,” she said, frowning. But there wasn’t time to figure that out anyway. Right now she was just thankful she didn’t have to explain to security why they were coming out of the building’s elevator without ever having come in the front doors.
>
  They pushed through unlocked glass doors to the street outside, and Bethany braced herself for the sounds of a bustling city. Only, other than the hum of some electrical boxes, the city was almost completely silent. No pedestrians walked the sidewalks, and there were no cars driving in the streets. A few were parked on the sides, but they looked like they hadn’t been moved for a good long while.

  “This doesn’t feel right,” Owen said. “No city full of superheroes would ever be quiet. There’s always a bank robbery or an invasion by the mole people or something.” He gasped. “Unless maybe that’s why everyone’s hiding at home? Because there is an invasion going on?”

  “We’ll watch out for it,” Bethany said, trying to orient herself on the street to where she’d seen her father. “I think we need to go up this street for a few blocks, then find some way to get to the roofs. Or maybe he’ll see us first? He looked like he was searching for something.” She set off in that direction, and Owen hurried to catch up.

  “He could be on patrol,” Owen said, looking all around, like he was a tourist. Which he was, she supposed. “Do you think we’ll see any superheroes fly by?”

  “I didn’t see any upstairs,” she said, reaching a street corner and stopping at the red light, then shrugging and crossing anyway. It’s not like there were any cars on the streets. Where was everyone?

  A few empty blocks later they reached the familiar-looking buildings that they’d seen Doc Twilight on from the window. Well, Bethany hoped they had, at least. Matching rooftops to street-level buildings wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. Everything seemed more sinister here, like someone might rob you around any corner.

  “This feels right,” Owen said, shivering. “Like where a Batman-type superhero would patrol the roofs. Less other-dimensional stuff and more muggings.” He looked over his shoulder. “Don’t flash any cash or anything.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind if I see anyone,” Bethany said. “Or if I had any cash.”

  “Wait,” Owen said, tapping Bethany’s arm and pointing. “There’s someone!”

  Up ahead on the steps of an apartment building, an old woman stood, holding a walker. She seemed to be staring at them, even from a distance.

  They walked closer, and Bethany waved. “Hello!” she said. “We were just wondering where everyone was?”

  The old woman didn’t respond at first, but just stared at them. Bethany frowned, moving closer, but Owen pulled her to a stop. “Look at her eyes,” he hissed.

  Bethany squinted, then took a step back involuntarily. The woman’s eyes were entirely black.

  “Is she a zombie?” Owen whispered, breathing faster. “Sometimes there are comic book crossovers, and superheroes meet zombies. It never ends well, trust me.”

  “We need to get to the roof,” Bethany said, backing away from the woman. “Maybe we should—”

  “Out after five p.m.?” the woman shouted at them. “You’re breaking curfew, so must be little hooligans! You want to take my money, I bet! I’ll show you what we do to lawbreakers in Jupiter City!” She picked up her walker and tossed it down the stairs, then slowly began making her way toward them.

  “This is . . . odd,” Owen said, backing away. “But at least she’s not a zombie.”

  “I’ll show you who’s a zombie!” the woman shouted as she reached the street. “You’ll wish that undead magician uptown had gotten ahold of you when I get through with you, you little criminals!”

  “Undead magician?” Owen said, his eyes widening. “That’s so cool.”

  “How about we concentrate on this woman?” Bethany said, pushing Owen backward. The street seemed to darken around them, but not from the sun going down.

  “Uh, Bethany?” Owen said, stopping short behind her. “We have a bigger problem.”

  Bethany turned, and watched as a shadow rose up off the street, wrapped itself around a street lamp, and silently extinguished the light.

  Shadows began moving all around them, pulling up off the ground like they were made of paper, but standing upright.

  “This is what you deserve!” the old woman shouted behind them, and Bethany looked back, only to find shadows on either side of the woman as well. “The Dark has you now, you little crooks. And he’ll teach you what happens to people who break the law in Jupiter City!”

  CHAPTER 10

  The two-dimensional shadows began to glide toward them, some looking vaguely human, others like something out of a nightmare. All had long shadow tendrils that connected them back to the mass of darkness that loomed like fog rising over the entire city.

  “They’re all around us,” Owen whispered.

  “We’re not criminals!” Bethany shouted at the shadows, but they didn’t respond. Either they chose to remain silent, or they couldn’t speak. The closest ones began to reach out with long black fingers.

  “Lies!” the old woman shouted. “You’re rotten little kids, and you need someone to teach you a lesson. I’d hate to be in your shoes now!” She grinned evilly at them.

  Bethany turned to Owen, her body going cold with fear, but before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and yanked her straight at the old woman, the one place where there weren’t any shadows.

  “Get away from me!” the woman shouted, her black eyes filled with rage and terror as Owen pushed her aside, then sprinted toward the building stairs she’d been standing on earlier.

  They banged into the front door hard enough to send a shock through Bethany’s bones. While Owen frantically struggled against the locked handle, Bethany looked up to find shadows slipping down the building’s walls toward them, while the ones on the street grew closer and closer. “Here!” she shouted, shoving the lock-picking device at Owen. She heard a click, then almost fell inside as the door opened.

  “There’s no escape!” the old woman yelled. “You’ll get what’s coming to—”

  Bethany kicked the door closed behind her, cutting the angry old woman off, then ran behind Owen toward the closest stairway. “Get up to the roof!” she said. “We have to get above them. They’re everywhere down here!”

  Owen took off up the stairs as Bethany threw a quick look over her shoulder, then gasped.

  The door hadn’t even slowed the shadows down. Instead, they’d slipped right beneath it, while the shadows on the walls from ceiling lamps began to move after them as well.

  “How can shadows move?” she shouted at Owen, who didn’t stop running as he reached the next floor.

  “I don’t know, but I hope Doc Twilight knows how to fight them!” Owen said, leaping over a shadow on the ground that reached for him with a two-dimensional hand.

  As soon as Owen passed, the hand turned to grab for Bethany, and instead of jumping it, she launched a hard kick right at the palm. Her foot passed through the shadow like it was nothing, and she lost her balance, skidding forward, one hand falling to the floor to hold herself up.

  The shadow grabbed for her hand, and this time it was as solid as she was, only its grip was ice cold.

  “Let go!” she shouted, trying to pull her hand away, but the shadow held her fast. She punched at the hand, but the shadow split in two around her fist, and now the second shadow reached out and grabbed her other wrist, holding it firmly in place. “Owen!”

  But there were so many shadows around her now that she couldn’t even see her friend. They rose up from all sides on the floor and walls, surrounding her, reaching for her. She could feel a strange sort of anger and hatred radiating off of them before they even touched her. “No,” she whispered, flinching away from their touch.

  And then a bright light blazed through the shadows, and Owen grabbed her hand, yanking her through the chilly darkness and out the other side. “Come on!” he shouted, and pulled her toward the stairs.

  “How . . . how did . . . ,” she tried to say, but couldn’t get the words out. The rage she felt from the shadows seemed to almost burn her, even now.

  He held up the flashlight on his phone. “S
hadows don’t much like light, do they?”

  She smiled as she forced her feet to move up the stairs, struggling to shake off the shadows’ aura. “Thanks,” she managed to say.

  He looked back at her, still running up the stairs, and almost laughed. “Whenever I’ve dreamed about having superpowers, they never included using a cell phone flashlight.” Not watching where he was going, he immediately tripped, faceplanting right at the top of the stairs.

  Bethany barely slowed down as she passed over him, pulling him up by his underarms as she went. “No stopping, Captain Flashlight,” she said, and led him up the last flight of stairs, the shadows just a few steps behind.

  The door to the roof was locked as well, but Owen used the lock pick, and they burst out into the night air right before the darkness poured out of the door like a flood. “There!” Bethany shouted, and pointed across the roof.

  One lone light hung over the roof on a strand, the others having all burned out. This one gave off just enough of a glow to illuminate a small circle below it, which Bethany made for, Owen right behind her.

  As soon as they entered the circle, she whirled around, waiting to see if the shadows would attempt to follow, but they didn’t. Instead, they pooled around the circle of light, rising into the air like some kind of horrible slime monster, enclosing them from all sides.

  Within seconds, they couldn’t even see the roof door anymore. Nothing existed past the edge of the circle but shadow and darkness.

  “I don’t think my flashlight is going to help us here,” Owen told her, his hands shaking.

  Bethany just stared at him. What could she say? That this was all her fault? That she should have listened to him from the beginning? That clearly this was a horrible idea, but that she just couldn’t, she couldn’t let her father get away again, not after all this time?

  But where would that get them? Trapped on a roof by some kind of demon shadows, waiting to infect them with hatred and rage, probably like they had the woman on the street, if her insane anger and black eyes were any indication. But why? What did they want? Why were they here?