“Sorry buddy, but this going to hurt you!” I said. I hit him with heat vision on the cheek. I tried to be careful, just burning off the lipstick and not his skin. His cheek began to smoke.
He put his hand up to his cheek. “Yes, that did hurt,” he said. “But not a lot.” He shook his head. He lowered his hand. The lipstick was now replaced by a light brown burn spot. Adam’s eyes opened wider, his stance softened. “Thanks! I needed that!” he said to me.
“Are you back to normal?” I asked.
“I’m not really sure what my normal is, but I no longer think you are evil and I don’t feel like destroying you,” he told me.
“Well, that’s a good start,” I said.
Jason and Wendi ran over to us. Wendi turned to me. “Super Teen, I’m so sorry. I just wanted my Brandon back. I had no idea he would go berserk and try to fry you.”
“I believe you,” I told her.
Wendi turned to Adam. “Sorry I made you go crazy. Now, come on back to town. We can really be the power couple in this place!”
Adam shook his head. “I am sorry, Wendi, I truly am. But I can’t return to that town. You need to forget about me so we can both start new lives. Just remember, Brandon moved away. And now you will each have better lives.”
Adam’s index finger crackled with energy. He touched Wendi on the temple. She blinked. She blinked again. “Where am I?” She said. She looked at Adam, Jason and me. “Why am I out in the middle of nowhere with Super Teen, a dweeb in armor and some strange handsome dude?”
“Hey!” Jason said.
“Wendi, you helped us take down a gang of evil robots and drones. You’d better get home before more arrive. The town is forever grateful to you!” I told her.
Wendi smiled. “Of course it is.” She walked up to Adam. “My number is 555-5550-7140… Call me!” On those words, she skipped off.
“Now what?” Brandon asked.
“We have to find a place for you,” I said.
“And convince the government to let you free!” Jason added.
“Both great ideas,” MAC said. “But you need to put them both on hold as the clown gang is attacking the Starlight City all night bank!”
“I’m on it!” I said.
“I will come too!” Adam said, a grey mask instantly morphing over his face.
A picture of a pulse of energy appeared on the front of his shirt. “I will call myself Quazar!”
“Works for me!” I said.
“I’ll help as well!” Jason said.
“Jason, I need you to go get Ellie Mae Opal. She has just moved with her mom and dad to Centre City.”
“Right!” Jason said. “But why do you want Ellie Mae?”
“I think that after we take care of these clowns, we’re going to need Ellie’s teleporting powers to pay a visit to Adam’s creators. And talk some sense into them!”
“Got it!” Jason said. “Just remember, don’t breathe around those clowns.” He lifted an arm and flew off.
“Come on Quazar! Let’s go fight crime!”
Dear Diary: Well, surprise, surprise! Even Wendi isn’t a total jerk. She seemed genuinely apologetic about causing Super Teen to be attacked. Maybe there was more to Wendi. She may not be quite as shallow as I’d always thought. That was kind of good news.
The really good news is that I have a plan. Adam and I will stop the clown gang. There is no way they can handle us both. I hoped. Then I’ll show General Sky and the others that Adam can be a productive and useful member of society on his own. How am I going to do that? I really have no idea! I’m hoping something will come to me while I’m kicking clown butt. But I know I will eventually figure something out. If I have to, I’ll go to the media. I’ll tell them the government is trying to make a super army. And not only that, but they are keeping their super soldiers by force and making them do things they don’t want to do. I know the media won’t like the idea of the government creating clones. I know they definitely won’t approve of the government trying to control people. Hopefully though, the general will see it my way. I just need to prove that Adam isn’t dangerous and that he can still work for them, but it has to be his choice. He could be an employee, not a prisoner. I like that idea. I feel pretty certain Adam will too. I also think that even the general will realize they’d be better off with a happy super employee than an angry super clone.
Clowning
When Quazar and I landed at the Starlight City all night bank, the clown gang had already collected bags and bags of money. A guard, a couple of workers and some customers lay on the ground shaking.
I kicked in the door and stormed into the bank.
“Man! You clowns just aren’t funny!” I said.
The five clowns stopped in their tracks. They all grinned. The lead clown smirked at me. “So, Super Teen, you are back more for!” He pointed at Quazar. “I see you brought a friend to join in the fun!”
“What’s your deal, clown?” I said.
“Clowning doesn’t pay well. So we went to night school and learned some chemistry and biology. Sure, we could have become chemistry or biology teachers but figured this would be a lot more fun.”
Another clown leaned over his shoulder. “Plus it pays better.”
“I mean…why do you guys love making people frightened?” I asked.
Quazar pointed at the clowns. “I think they are kind of cute.”
The lead clown grinned. “Kid, you got yourself good taste. But most people these days think of clowns as scary or creepy. So we decided to roll with it. Take advantage of people’s fears and make money at the same time. It’s win-win.”
We heard somebody drop down behind us. We spun to see two skinny clowns holding balloons. They must have been floating up in the bank’s high ceilings waiting for us.
“Ha! Ha! have some fear!” the clowns said, leaning into us and pressing buttons on their flowers. A brown liquid shot out at us.
Quazar held up his hand and created a wall of flame, incinerating the liquid into smoke. I blew the smoke back at the two clowns.
They both inhaled. They looked at each other and shouted, “Clown! Yikes!”
The two turned and started to run away, screaming, “Clowns are gross!” they both crashed into the wall and fell to the ground.
Out of instinct, I leap up into the air. I grabbed Quazar, pulling him up with me.
The other five clowns had pulled out water guns and began squirting a liquid at us. Luckily, we were too high up for the limited range of the squirt guns. The liquid fell to the floor, burning holes in the wood.
“Ah man,” one of the clowns moaned. “This place had such nice timber floors.” He pointed to us. “This is on you!”
I pointed at the clown. “Finally, you said something funny!”
“Thank you!” he said with a bow.
“Look, you silly clowns. I want to give you a chance to surrender peacefully!” Quazar said. “I’ve always found clowns nice and funny in a weird and strange way. So give up now and I won’t zap you!”
“What do you mean zap us?” the lead clown said.
“Show ‘em,” I told Quazar.
“Really?” he asked.
“Sure, just leave the lead clown to me. I owe him one!”
Quazar rubbed his hands together quickly. They started sparking with electricity. He pointed his left hand at the two clowns on the right. He pointed his right hand at the two the clowns on the left. Bolts of zig-zagged energy cracked from Quazar’s hands into the four clowns.
The clowns shivered and started to smoke. Quazar stopped zapping them. The four clowns dropped to the ground.
“That’s what I mean by zapping you!” Quazar told the clowns.
The lead clown threw a ball on the floor which exploded into a big cloud of smoke. The clown darted towards the rear exit.
I passed him at super speed. He bumped into me and fell to the ground.
“Ouch!” he said, rubbing his head. “That hurts! What are you made of? S
teel?”
“Pretty much,” I said. “You know it’s been a long weird day. And I haven’t taken my boots off for hours!”
“So?” the clown said from the floor.
“I’m going to take them off now….” I said, bending over and popping my boot off.
“Once again…so?” the clown said holding his head up.
“These boots are great. But they don’t always let my feet breathe. My feet are especially bad when I’m angry. Normally, I wouldn’t do this in public but since everybody else is already knocked out…” I extended my foot and waved my toes under the clown’s nose.
“OMG!” the clown gasped. I could see his face turn blue even through his white paint.
I kept my toe under his nose, the sheer smell of my foot was holding him up. He wanted to pass out to gain relief but my foot odor held his head steady. Yeah, my foot odor seems to be a force of nature.
After a couple of seconds, the paint on his face began to melt. I figured that was enough. I removed my foot from his face. His head jerked back. He was out cold. He would probably stay that way for a day or two.
Quazar landed next to me. “Wow, that’s some stinky foot odor you’ve got there. I thought my feet were bad. But wow! You beat me hands down!”
“Thanks!” I said.
I saw Captain Michaels and his officers coming towards us. Captain Michaels glared at the clowns laid out on the floor. He surveyed the damage they had caused.
“Thanks for the help, Super Teen,” Chief Michaels said. “I’m sure glad I deputized you.”
Chief Michaels pointed at Quazar. “Who’s your friend? Do we have a new superhero in town?”
Quazar offered his hand to Captain Michaels. “No sir, I am actually leaving town. I was just visiting and thought I would help out a fellow super.”
“Well, I’m glad you did,” Chief Michaels said. “Any friend of Super Teens is a friend of our town.”
“Thank you, I have enjoyed my time in this town,” Quazar said. “But now I must move on!”
“Speaking of moving on…Quazar and I have people to see!” I said.
“I understand,” Chief Michaels replied.
I took Adam by the hand and we both flew out the door and up into the sky. “Where we going?” Adam asked me.
“To BMS labs!” I said.
It felt good to hold somebody’s hand.
Dear Diary: It felt so great to be holding Adam’s hand. I have a real connection with him. We’re two super beings in a world of mostly non-super people. We’re outcasts. Okay, maybe not outcasts, but the majority of people don’t know what to make of us. Some people are scared of us, which they shouldn’t be. Some people look at us almost like gods, which they really shouldn’t do either. We’re just two normal kids who happen to be super. Yes, one of us is also a four-year-old clone. And that is a little freaky. I can’t believe I’ve had a crush on a four-year-old. Fair enough, not a normal four-year-old but still a four-year-old. Best not to think too much about that. He is a cool great guy who is super like me. That’s all that matters!
Of course, I have to find a new home for Adam. He needs a place where he can start out fresh. I can’t believe that I finally find somebody I like, who I think may like me, and he cannot live in my town. Well, the good thing is that we are both super and we should be able to see each other quickly if needed. Right? In many ways, this is a great situation. I get my own life. He gets his own life. But we still hang out together when we want. Perfect!
An Unexpected Offer
We landed in the courtyard of BMS labs. Dad and Hana were there along with Jason and Ellie Mae Opal. This was to be expected. I was pleased to see that Ellie Mae’s parents, Jeanie and Don were also there. Jeanie was a lawyer who fought for the rights of supers and Don was a researcher. They were both good people and I was glad they had come.
Adam and I both morphed out of our costumes. We wanted to greet these people as ourselves, not as our super selves.
Don walked up to Adam and offered him his hand. “I’m Don Opal, Ellie Mae’s dad. You must be Adam?”
“I sure am,” Adam said, shaking Don’s hand.
Jeanie walked over to Adam. “Adam, I’m Jeanie Opal, Ellie Mae’s mom,” she said and gave him a hug.
“Thanks for the hug,” Adam blushed. “I think that might be the first hug from a mom I’ve ever been given. It felt nice and warm.”
A little tear welled up in Jeanie’s eye. (Mine too)
“Jeanie, Don, I’m so glad you are here with Ellie Mae, but why have you come?” I asked.
Jeanie smiled at me. “When Jason, here, told us Adam’s story, we thought we could help. We know he needs a new home and family to start his life over, or maybe for the first time.”
“We want him to join our family in Centre City.” Ellie Mae said, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement.
Don nodded. “Yes, I left BAD because quite frankly they were kind of bad. I am now senior VP in charge of research at Future Now. It’s a cool new innovative company. We will work with BMS here to create top-notch high tech. We are even exploring other dimensions. Slowly and carefully, of course.”
Jeanie spoke up. “Future Now even has its own school for their employee’s families if they wish to go there. It’s a very modern school that features all grades and caters to both normal students and a few super students like Ellie. We need to teach people that supers are really just people.”
“Man! You talk so good!” Adam said.
“My mom’s a lawyer,” Ellie Mae said proudly.
“Guys this is truly an amazing offer,” I said.
Jeanie looked into Adam’s eyes. “We would start out as your foster parents but if it works out like I hope it does, we could adopt you if that’s what you want.”
“We only want what’s best for you!” Don said.
Adam bent his knees. He leaped into the air. His legs transformed into pure red-hot energy. He started skywriting above the lab…I AM SO HAPPY!
He fired a few fireworks from his hands (and a couple from his butt.) He hovered above us. “Oops! Sorry, I got excited there.”
I looked at the Opal family. “I take it that’s a yes!”
Adam landed in the exact spot he’d taken off from. “Yes! Yes! Yes! I am so honored. I have wanted to be part of a family forever.” He grinned. “Can I fight crime in your town?”
Jeanie grinned also. “Yes, I am sure I can do the paperwork to make that happen.”
Don nodded. “Yes! And while we at Future Now strive to be safe and careful and cautious, you never know if something might slip out or go wrong. It will be nice to have a superpower on our side to help contain any problems that may pop up. We can probably even put you on our security’s payroll.”
Adam stood there. His mouth dropped open. Yep, Adam really didn’t know how to react to people being nice to him for genuine reasons; other than because he was so handsome.
I snapped my fingers in front of Adam’s face. He shook his head. He blinked his eyes. “Sorry, my brain froze for a second. I’ve just never been so happy!”
My dad stepped forward. “I hate to break up this little gathering but you do know General Sky will have to be convinced this a good idea. She will need to know that not only is Adam safe, but those around him are also safe.”
Hana stepped forward. “Plus, the government didn’t spend all that money on Adam just to let him walk or fly away. They are going to need something in return.”
I pondered over those words. They made total sense. I was going to have to give the general an offer she couldn’t refuse. Thankfully, I can be a very persuasive person. Especially when I am fighting for a just cause. And man, Adam being happy and safe was the best reason I had ever had.
Dear Diary: Man oh man, it’s so great of Ellie Mae, Jeanie and Don to stand up like that and offer to make their home Adam’s home. I know in my heart of hearts Adam will be so happy there. He’ll have it all. A family, a job, a school (where he won’t have to h
ide who he is). I might even be a little jealous of that. Although, that really is silly of me.
Wait! What if Adam finds a girlfriend in this new town? I mean…he is starting over. Maybe seeing me will remind him of his past? Maybe he’ll prefer to be with somebody other than me.
Okay, maybe I’m thinking too much about this. Yeah, it is possible to think too much. I need to do what is best for Adam. If things between us work out, then great. If not, I am sure we will both find excellent, amazing people to spend our lives with. Right now, I have to concentrate on what’s most important. And that’s Adam being free of the general.
Time to get Persuasive
My dad had directions to General Sky’s base of operations. It was exactly 111 miles south of BMS labs. It was also three miles underground…pretty darn secure! As well, it was dangerous to teleport into it if we didn’t have the exact location.
Since we needed this, we called in a friend, Jess the cool witch. Lately, Jess hadn’t been training much at BMS labs. She wanted more freedom and more time to be herself. But she was still happy to help when needed and boy was she needed. After all, we could use Jess’s telepathy and clairvoyance to see the exact location of General Sky’s base in her mind. Then Ellie Mae could teleport us there.
Jess sat on the grass, legs crossed, eyes closed, meditating. Today, half of her hair was dark, the other half red. It was a look that somehow really worked for her. Jess opened her eyes. “I got ‘em!” she said, with a slight grin.
A beam of light appeared from her head. The beam of light showed us General Sky sitting in her quarters. She was drinking a cup of coffee.
“How big is the room where she is now?” Don asked.
Jess turned her head from side to side. The image in the light scrolled as her head moved, revealing a large room. “Big enough!” Jess said.
Boyfriends and Best Friends Forever! Page 7
