Shadow Boy

by R. J. Ross

  “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Mastermental says, stepping up to the mic. “We appreciate your coming to this very important press conference. We are here to inform you that Senator Herold has been apprehended. Rest assured, we will make sure that he will not become a problem ever again. As of now, all of the Hall branches are working closely with the authorities to clean up any lingering problems from his actions. Now, though, we have a very special introduction to make.”

  Before he can say anything, Carla pops up in front of him, grinning widely and waving a hand. “HI!” she says. The entire crowd starts cheering loudly—those that don’t know who she is are clapping just because we are. I hear someone let out a loud whistle of approval and I laugh as she starts blowing kisses to the crowd.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, both Central and South Hall would like to introduce you to a very special super,” Century says, stepping forward and joining them. “Hypersonic—”

  “Rainbow!” Carla says. Century and Mastermental look at her.

  “Forgive me, I’d like to introduce you to Rainbow—” Century starts out.

  “Hypersonic!” Carla says.

  The two Hall Leaders look at each other. “Sugar, why don’t you just tell them what your name is?” Century asks after a second.

  “I’m Hypersonic Rainbow!” she declares excitedly. “Hypersonic because I’m super fast—I’m the fastest at school except for Technico, but he says I’m still growing! And Rainbow because I love color! So I’m Hypersonic Rainbow!” she explains.

  “Well then, ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to introduce you to our Hypersonic Rainbow,” Century says with a grin.

  “She will, for obvious reasons, be a dual Hall member,” Mastermental says. “We’re extremely proud of Hypersonic Rainbow,” he says, looking at her with a fond smile. She gives him a shy little smile that quickly widens to a full-out grin.

  “Now I can answer questions!” she declares, turning to the audience, who start laughing, even those that hadn’t understood the cheers earlier.

  “Hypersonic Rainbow!” one of the interviewers says as she waves at him. “Do you have a love interest?”

  Carla turns bright red, but promptly says, “I don’t have time for boys, silly! I’ve got TWO Halls to work for and school! There are way more important things to focus on!”

  Well, that settles that problem, I think with reluctant amusement. Both of us have that, don’t we?

  I never did do my homework, did I?

  “What’s your favorite color?” someone else asks.

  “ALL the colors!” she declares. “But I like the bright ones best!”

  “How fast can you go?”

  “Were you in Texas with Fire Hazard and Kid Liberty?”

  The questions come rolling in and she answers them just as rapidly. It quickly becomes obvious that they love her, because all of the questions are flattering and everyone’s smiling. I abruptly realize how impossible it is to NOT love Carla. She’s a thing of beauty and joy—like the rainbows she’s so fond of. She’s the perfect super to fix the problems between norms and capes, like the Anti-Super Society. When they see and hear about how hard she works for the people, even they will understand that we’re not all egotistic show-hogs.

  So of course I love her. I feel a bit staggered at that realization, but quick on its heels comes another. I will probably always love her. I feel… really comfortable with that fact, I decide with a hint of amusement. And because I love her, and all of my other friends, for that matter, I’m going to make sure they’re exactly where they needs to be—safe.

  This isn’t some grand romantic plan to get her as my girlfriend, or anything like that. One, I’ve got lousy timing—I’m pretty sure she’s over her crush on me. Two, I’m not even thinking of dating anymore. I have a lot of important stuff to do, too. The first important thing is getting my dad off of the streets. When he’s taken care of, I’ll take out everyone else that might be a threat. It’ll take time and hard work, but I’m the one that can hunt them down.

  It's one of those things my dad actually gave me.

  ***

  “Herold’s in position,” one of the black suits say over Nico’s earbud. “We’re ready to head in.”

  The entire Hall had been there for Herold’s trial. There had actually been norms at the trial, as well, overseeing the whole thing. Because Herold wasn’t officially a super on record, there’d been a bit of a problem concerning whose court he was tried in. It was rapidly nipped in the bud when the Hall Leaders revealed the recording where Nico confronted Herold. So they’d sat in on the trial, watching Herold with looks of loathing and fear, and even gave witness to what he’d done when asked.

  Now they’re heading for the Cape Cells, with Herold stripped of his powers, and riding in a long line of black vans. Nico is one of the supers flying overhead, accompanying him to make sure nothing goes wrong—

  He stops, though, as the Cape Cells come into focus. Or, he slowly registers, the REMAINS of the Cape Cells come into focus. Slowly he reaches up and touches his earbud. “Mastermental? We have a major problem.”

  “I can see that,” Mastermental says from behind him. He calls for the procession of cars to stop and moves to Nico’s side. “Heroes, in,” he says, motioning to the others. As a group they rush in, ready for a fight.

  The place is empty—or almost empty, Nico thinks as he hears a familiar female voice. He turns, heading for one of the rooms. There, inside, laid out on tables, are all of the capes that had been protecting the place. They look near death, he realizes, heading straight for Harry. “Harry—” he says.

  “He’s coming along quite nicely,” Star Born says. He looks over, staring in shock at the super villain standing next to a table of scalpels and serums. He turns and looks at the other guards, noticing the stitches and bandages that they’re sporting for the first time.

  “You saved them?” he asks her. “Or are you experimenting on them?” he demands.

  “I saved them, of course,” Star Born says, giving him a vaguely irritated look. “I’ve grown quite fond of them over the past year. And when that Deathblow fellow attacked, well, I couldn’t just let him kill my new friends, now could I?” she asks. “Now since you’re here, go get that healer girl. I can only do so much, you know.”

  “Deathblow got out?” Ken asks from behind Nico.

  “Of course he got out. He and Mimic are gone, along with some I’ve never met before. They weren’t interested in me,” she says. “But do you really think they would stay when the power went down?”

  “How did the power go down?” Mastermental asks.

  “When I lost my powers,” Nico says. “Herold must have done it then.” He lets out a curse, tempted to punch something. After a second of quick thinking he reaches up and touches his earbud. “Rocco? Have you found your father yet?”

  “I’m almost there,” Rocco says. Everyone in the room hears it except for Star Born, who’s patching up another guard.

  “There’s a change of plans—tell him we’ve got a deal to offer,” Nico says.

  “Can we trust him for that?” Mastermental asks. “Shadowman is a criminal. We were planning to put him IN the Cape Cells—”

  “That’s exactly why we can use him,” Nico says, knowing that Rocco is listening. “Rocco is the only one that can find him when he doesn’t want found, and he’s already proved that he’s willing and able to do it. If Shadowman doesn’t cooperate, he knows what’ll happen.”

  “Got it, Nico,” Rocco says, hanging up.

  Nico looks to Star Born, and then glances at Mastermental. “And her?” he says, as if abruptly realizing that he’s not in charge in this matter.

  “Your father will not be happy,” Mastermental says as he looks over the fallen guards. “But I believe we can… come to some sort of arrangement.”

  “Mimic will go underground for a bit, it’s a big part of his nature,” Nico decides. “It’s Deathblow and the others that are the real problem.”
>
  “Agreed,” Mastermental says. “But I am sure that we can take care of this problem quickly.”

  “I hope so,” Nico says.

  "If the you from the future built the Cape Cells, why didn't he plan for Herold?" Ken asks curiously, moving closer. "You, future or not, tend to plan for these sort of things, right?"

  "Do you really think everything's stayed the same as the future me's past?" Nico asks. "Time is fluid--and we've made changes. Mom wasn't alive in his time, remember? Ace, according to Justin, was never trained as a super villain, and it goes on. Just because Herold went rogue for us doesn't mean he did for them. Or maybe in that timeline Dad stepped in and stopped Herold and Mother before all of this ever happened. Without Mom calming him down, I can see that happening all too easily. Or maybe I didn't screw up the way I did. There are a million explanations and none of them really matter. This is what's happening here and now."

  "That future that we were given hints about is only one possible future," Mastermental agrees. "We shouldn't just assume that everything will turn out the way it... did, I suppose you could say. Basically, America's Son, when you're supers, the future is never set in stone." He looks grimly at the rubble all around them.

  Bonus Chapters:

  Walk Like a Healer

  I pull Aubrey through another shadow, wondering how I got dragged into this. Well, sure, she can’t fly, and I CAN find the healers faster than her boyfriend can—oh, never mind, I think with a sigh. The hospital is bustling with people, and nobody even seems to blink at the sight of us wearing masks. I look around blankly for a moment. “I’m sort of surprised,” I admit.

  “By what?”

  “That he’s still here.” I turn, pointing as I feel the large healer Shadowman had once kidnapped. He’s walking down the hall surrounded by pretty nurses, with several files in his hands.

  “Ladies, you know I’m only starting—” the healer says, blushing slightly behind his beard.

  “We know—and we’re extremely proud of you, Michael!” one of them says. “We just want you to check in on a few of our harder cases.”

  “But I’m just supposed to be, like, sweeping the floor,” he says, only to catch sight of me. “YOU!” he says, pointing at me. “This is all your fault!”

  I raise an eyebrow. “That you’re surrounded by beautiful women?” I ask. "My heart bleeds for you, man."

  “That my parents kicked me out of the house!” he says. “I had to get a job—I’m only able to continue my studies because the hospital offered me a scholarship—and that’s only if I study to be a doctor!”

  “He needs the title,” one of the nurses admits.

  “I’m so proud of you!” Aubrey says, much to Michael’s surprise. He blinks as she pulls him into a hug.

  “Um, thanks?” he offers. “Who are you?”

  “This is Aubrey,” I say as she pulls back with a brilliant smile. “She’s the strongest healer I know, and I’m a pretty good judge on that.”

  “I was worried when I heard that Shadowman had caught you, but you’re doing great,” Aubrey says, excitedly. “Is there anything the Hall can do for you? Do you need a place to stay?”

  She’s younger than he is, but she’s acting like a mother, I notice with amusement.

  “You aren’t planning on taking him—” one of the nurses starts out.

  “Oh, no, not if he’s happy,” Aubrey says. “I’m so excited to see that so many of the healers have chosen to stay in the hospitals. Let me give you this,” she says, digging through her pockets and pulling out a phone. “I’ve got one for each of the healers out in the field,” she says, holding it out to him.

  “A phone?” he asks. “Thanks, but money is kinda tight—”

  “No need to worry about money. This is a—”

  I cover her mouth with a hand. “Just take the phone, man,” I say with a slight smile. “If there’s any problem, you’ll find contacts on there that can help.”

  “Um, thanks,” he says, turning it over and looking at the glowing caduceus symbol on the back.

  “On to the next one,” I say, tugging Aubrey away.

  “Bye, Michael!” she says, waving at him before following me. “Next is that boy you told me about,” she decides. “I want to talk him into coming to Cape High.”

  “I’ll warn you—I think he’s scared of me,” I say as we head through the Shadowlands.

  “I’m sure he’ll get used to it,” Aubrey says as we step through a shadow and onto a lawn—one that’s loaded down with the Press, I think, stunned. Marigold is standing in front of the house, looking extremely defensive.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, as much as I appreciate your admiration—” she says, her voice carrying even though she doesn’t have a mic, “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I don’t know who leaked this address to the press, but trust me, I will be cleaning it up—you!” she says, pointing at me. “We need to talk, boy.”

  I twitch, but before I can say anything, Aubrey is pushing her way through the crowd. “Hello, Marigold,” she says, holding out a hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” she declares.

  “And you are?”

  “Life Light.”

  “Oh! You’re Firefly’s girl!” Marigold says, breaking into a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, as well. How can I help you?”

  “I’ve come as the healer representative of Cape High, actually,” Aubrey says. “I’d like to invite our new friend to join us—under the East Hall Branch’s sponsorship, of course.”

  Since she’s taking care of that, I head back into the shadows, heading through to a portal leading into the healer boy’s room. I look around the pitch black room. It’s pretty homey in here, if you ask me. “Hey, you here, man?” I ask.

  “Go away,” he says from under the bed. I head over, peering under. “I said go away,” he says, glaring at me. Did I mention I’ve got excellent night vision?

  “We’ve come to save you,” I say. “Let me guess, they caught you on video, too, huh?”

  “I went viral,” he mumbles pathetically. “Everyone thought I was a fraud.”

  “How many people said that?” I ask, getting on my stomach for this conversation.

  “Five.”

  “And how many saw the video?”

  “Over a million?”

  “Then those five are the minority,” I say. “Want to come to Cape High? We’ve got WAY bigger freaks than you—and we won’t say a word if you reach in and pull something out—well, only if it’s you, because it’d be terrifying if it was one of the other kids doing it.”

  “But—”

  “At any moment Aubrey’s going to want to meet you and you’ll get pulled along at her pace, I’m sure. So I’m going to invite you properly. My name’s Rocco Stiltz, I’m a shadow walker, a debuted super villain, and a student at Cape High,” I say, holding out a hand.

  “Your eyes are glowing,” he says, staring at me.

  “It’s a trick of the shadows,” I say, grinning at him. “We’ll take you to the most secure place in the world—you’ll be surrounded by people that are a lot like you. And they’ll probably want to be your friends.”

  “Jonas,” he says finally, taking the hand.

  “Nice to meet you again, Jonas. Now let’s go before Marigold remembers she hates my guts,” I say, tugging him into the shadows.

  “What about that Aubrey lady?” he asks.

  “Whoops,” I say even as my com-link flashes. “Hey, Aubrey!” I say, answering it.

  “Where are you?” she demands.

  “Coming right back, I swear.”

  “I would hope so!”

  ***

  Bad Luck Ladies

  “ARIEL!” Skye yells, pointing at the pale skinned woman in a dramatic fashion. “You’re coming with us!” The entire cafeteria turns and stares at our little trio of abductors, and I feel the urge to groan. But I DID promise I would help Skye grab the water woman, so here I am. Doris, on the other hand, is j
ust here to watch. She told us earlier that she didn’t really care if Ariel joined their team or not. Honestly, I think she’s looking forward to seeing Skye and me fail.

  I have a bag hanging over my shoulder. It’s a pretty big one, but still—I’m not sure what Skye wants me to do with it. I THINK she wants me to throw it over Ariel, but that’s pretty risky when we’re surrounded by teachers, right?

  “Skye,” Taurus says. “The girls and I wanted to know if you’d like to go mini-golfing this weekend.”

  Skye looks over, completely forgetting the goal. “YES! I want to go mini-golfing! Can Rocco and Doris come, too?”

  “Sure,” he says.

  “Yay! Now, back to the important part!” Skye says, pointing at Ariel—or where Ariel used to be. “Where’d she go?” Skye says irritably, much to the amusement of everyone in the room. “Ariel?” she asks, sticking her head through a random table. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

  “Can’t she just find her?” Doris asks me.

  “That’s way too logical,” I say, grinning. It gets me a dark look from my aunt. “Here, I’ll find her for you,” I offer, handing Doris the bag and doing my ever-lengthening finding dance.

  “Does he really have to do that?” I hear Trent ask Max as I flip in the air and strike a dramatic pose on the nearest table, pointing the way.

  “Well, he and Skye ARE related,” Max says. Most of the room gamely starts clapping for me.

  “She’s at the pool,” I tell Skye, earning groans from everyone.

  “We could have guessed that!” Freddy calls from across the room.

  “Off to the pool!” Skye says, striking a pose as well. “Doris, it’s posing time!” she says when Doris just walks toward the door. “You’re supposed to strike a dramatic pose and exclaim something important!”

  “Yeah, yeah, we’re off to kidnap the sentient water,” Doris says, waving a hand, “AGAIN.” We head out, racing to the pool, only to see no one there. I sigh, dropping down on a chair.