First Superhero 1: The Second Super (4 page)

Craters appeared in the ground as, without even thinking about it, I launched myself into the air toward Macy’s falling body. My heart fell to my feet. I felt terrified, with no idea what was going on.

I flew above the crowd of people, whose eyes were still fixed on Macy and Richter. I reached Macy in seconds, and wrapped my arms around her. I didn’t even know how, but I slowed the two of us down and floated to the ground.

I looked at Macy, who had passed out in my arms. I looked around for somewhere to put her and realized that every single person in the parking lot was staring at me. I looked into the cameras pointed at me, broadcasting my image to millions—possibly
billions
—around the world. I could see in the reflection my eyes were shining a bright, bright white, obscuring my identity from the world.

The sound of my shoes scraping the gravel broke the pin-drop-quiet silence, as I walked over to a lady in her probably early thirties. She looked at me, her eyes filled with terror and confusion. A look I imagine everyone would see in my own eyes, if they could see them at all.

I held Macy’s unconscious body out to her, and the lady just stared at me, paralyzed with confusion. Not wanting to speak so as to not give away my identity, I held out Macy a little further, indicating that I wanted the lady to take her.

She held out both her arms, realizing what I was asking of her, and I gently placed Macy across them.

I turned my attention back toward Richter, who still floated in the air. Even though his eyes glowed a bright blue, I could still tell by the look on his face that he was as shocked and confused as I—and everyone else watching—was.

Deep craters formed and a deafening boom sounded as I shot through the air, aiming directly for Richter. The world around me seemed to slow as I flew closer to him, and the thought that no one had ever been as close to Richter as I was and lived crossed my mind.

My fist connected with the bottom of his jaw, and a booming sound like a loud crack of thunder echoed in the air. Richter flew upwards through the air from the force of my punch, which
should
have broken every bone in my body. I reached out to try and grab him and slam him into the ground, but I could only grip the black v-neck he wore. The shirt ripped off him like it was made of nothing. Richter regained his composure and took one good look at me before turning around and flying off as fast as he could, leaving nothing but a sonic boom in his wake.

I looked down, and saw everyone was still looking at me. There was nothing but complete silence as they all stared, trying to process what they had just seen. My mind was trying to begin to process it as well, but I wouldn’t let it. I had all the world’s attention, including Richter’s, and I needed to send a message before I even tried thinking about what the hell was going on.

I floated over to the edge of the high school and stood on top of the roof, thankful for my feet to be on something solid.

Then one person started clapping. Then another. And another.

Soon, the crowd of hundreds of people began clapping, shouting—
cheering
—for me. The sound was deafening.

I lifted the hand that held Richter’s shirt into the air above my head, and that’s when the crowd really went nuts. They were going crazy, screaming at the top of their lungs, jumping up and down in joy. They finally had hope once again.

I pumped the shirt up and down in the air and shouted myself. I looked across the crowd, and my glowing eyes met with my father’s. His mouth was wide open in shock, but when he saw I was looking at him, he smiled. He gave me a thumbs-up, and my heart soared.

I looked back across the crowd, and began floating in the air once again. They were still going wild as I floated closer to the ground. I looked directly into the news camera and smiled. I flew through the air, away from the crowd, shouting and whooping for joy, the crowd still cheering in the background.

Richter was no longer the only superhuman on Earth. There was now a second superhuman, but I just couldn’t get over the fact that the second Super was me.

THE AFTERMATH

S
O MUCH ADRENALINE
flowed through my body, I couldn’t sit down. I paced across the living room floor, feeling light-headed and as if I was going to throw up.

Mom sat on the couch, her elbows on her knees and her hands on her face. She stared at the wooden floor, searching it as if the reason for my sudden development of superpowers was somehow hidden in the cracks between the planks. Dad stood close to the television, watching the news report that contained the same footage that showed on every channel.

“Bystanders watched in horror as Richter dropped seventeen-year-old Macy Westling over four stories at Ebon High School in Ebon, Indiana,” the news reporter Jane Tanner said, her red lips quivering in excitement. “That is, until another superhuman appears out of nowhere, and catches her.”

The footage showed me flying out of nowhere, slowing our descent, and touching down on the ground. Even though I was standing in my living room terrified, I still couldn’t help but feel my heart skip with excitement as I watched what happened next in the footage for the hundredth time.

I turned from handing off Macy and shot off screen. I didn’t even realize how fast I was going until I saw the footage. The cameraman was unable to keep up with me, and by the time he zoomed out and got me back in frame, Richter was flying through the air, righting himself, and giving me one last look before flying off.

“Who is this new superhuman, and will he bring us the same troubles as Richter?” the news reporter asked. “To help answer that question we have joining us Tom Lance, former Head of Homeland Security, and Roland Peterson, host of the #1 talk show across America and self-proclaimed ‘superhuman expert.’ Gentlemen,” the reporter said, giving a slight head nod as the two video streams appeared on either side of her head.

Even though they were going to say the same things I’d heard them say all night, I stopped pacing and gave the television my full attention.

“Let’s start with you, Tom,” Jane began. “You’re saying that this complicates things more than helps, how so?”

Tom, an elderly man in his sixties, cleared his throat, the loose skin beneath it shaking back and forth as he did so. “Now,” he said, “first of all, I’m not saying that this new development isn’t good at all.
Clearly
that’s not the case; just ask Miss Macy. However, it does complicate things a whole lot more! What are we going to do, let this new Super and Richter turn the world into their battlefield?”

“Tom,” Roland interrupted, “right now the world is already Richter’s playground. At least if it’s a battlefield, that means there’s a chance at us winning!”

Tom nodded. “Yes, that is possible; however we do not know if this new Super is even capable of defeating Richter. And even if he does, who’s to say that he won’t become the next Richter, huh?”

“Regardless of what this new Super is
going
to be,
we
are going to all be dead if nobody stops Richter. Right now some guy in Indiana is more capable of doing that then all the world’s militaries, and so I’m going to side with that dude. The
only
person, I might add, who has
ever
been able to get close to Richter and survive, much less deal an amazingly powerful uppercut that sent Richter packing.”

I smirked at this part, but did my best to contain a chuckle. Mom and Dad were freaking out, so if they saw I wasn’t taking this as seriously as they were, they might get a little upset. But I was taking it as seriously—no—
more
seriously, than they were. I mean, it’s me who was on every television, phone, and computer screen around the world. I was the most popular person on the planet at the moment, and the second most-sought-after one, second only to Richter himself. Just the attention I was receiving alone terrified me, much less not knowing what was actually going on inside my body. I wasn’t totally afraid I was going to die; Richter seemed to have been just fine. Still, there was a chance that my body was doing whatever the hell it was doing, and it would eventually just explode or something. Plus, I had no idea how I was going to use my powers, both literally and figuratively. Or whether or not by being around me, my parents would get some sort of radiation poisoning, or something like that, and die.

There were so many unknowns, yet everyone had an idea that they knew exactly what was going to happen next. I would be a knight in shining armor, come to the aid of the world, and defeat Richter, restoring peace in order. Me, on the other hand, I had a feeling I just got lucky and caught Richter off guard. I had no idea how I was going to take him on again.

Still, despite all of that, I just couldn’t help but try not to chuckle every time I heard someone mention my “killer uppercut.”

M
OM
, Dad, and I sat around the dinner table, picking at our food. We were all processing what was happening. The only thing I could keep thinking about were the things that happened to Richter’s family when the world found out his identity.

As is obvious to most, Richter was always very open about his powers, even from the very beginning. He had no problem with letting people know who he was, because he thought he was invincible. And he was until I came along. However, one thing he didn’t take into account was his family.

A group of people made up of family members and friends of some people Richter had killed in his escapades, decided to take revenge on Richter and hurt him the same way he hurt them. They found his parents and younger sister, and killed all three of them in their home. Furious, Richter tracked down the people who killed his family and slaughtered all of them. There weren’t even any bodies left intact.

People were terrified of me, because they didn’t know if I’d be like a Richter 2.0. If they knew who I was, they’d act preemptively and foolishly. I was terrified that somehow someone would figure out who I was and come find my family. I’d already saved my parents from intruders in our own home once, and it wasn’t exactly an experience that I wanted to go through again.

“Listen, Kane,” my dad said, breaking the silence.

I found it hard to look him in the eye. For some reason, I was terrified at what he might say.

“I think we should lay low for a while. You shouldn’t be using any of your…” he searched for the word. “
Abilities,
at least not right now. There’s about to be a lot of attention on Ebon. We don’t know who could be watching.”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, I understand.”

“I don’t want you going to the shelter either,” Mom said. “Someone might recognize you.”

I slumped back in my chair and let out a sigh, obvious in my disappointment.

“Is that really a good idea, Heather?” Dad asked.

“Yeah, Mom,” I said. “I just,” I paused, trying to think of the right words to say. “I just think I’d go crazy being locked in the house. I need to see my friends. Try and feel normal, you know? Stay in the loop so I can try and figure out when it’s safe for me to start training.”

Mom and Dad looked at me, shocked. Mom almost dropped her fork as she let her mouth hang open. “
Training
?!” she exclaimed.

“What do you mean by that?” Dad asked.

I chose my next few words very carefully. “Well, I mean Richter isn’t going to stop until everybody on Earth is dead. He’s just toying with us right now, having his fun because no one was a threat. Eventually though, you can bet that pretty much everyone would be dead. But now,” I looked off to the corner of the room, trying to best articulate my words. “I’ve
complicated
things for him. Now there’s a threat. I’m the threat. I have a feeling he’s going to accelerate his plans a little. He’s going to be looking for me, and I have to be able to stop him.”

Dad stared at his plate of food and nodded. “You’re right, Kane. As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right.”

Mom pursed her lips and shook her head. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”

“Do I really have a choice?” I asked her, looking her in the eye. “People are dying, Mom. I’m the only one who can stop Richter.”

“Maybe the government is working on something that can stop him,” Mom said, frantic for an answer other than me, her baby, being put in harm’s way.

“I doubt it. The government is probably just looking for me right now. I’m the only thing that’s proven to work against him.”

“You’re not a
thing
,” Mom said under her breath, her voice quivering. “You’re not a thing. Don’t ever call yourself a thing.”

I sighed. “I’m sorry, Mom. You know what I mean, though.”

Mom pushed her plate away and stood from the table. “I need some fresh air,” she said. She walked away from the table and out the front door.

My eyes lingered on the door before returning my gaze to Dad. He looked at me, his eyes saying so much. He was scared, worried, confused, and whatever other things you are when you find out your son has superpowers.

“I’m going to go check on your mom,” he said as he stood from the table.

“Okay,” I said.

He walked out of the room, and at that moment, I’d never felt more alone.

EXCUSES

I
TURNED
my car off in the parking lot of the high school. I took a moment and closed my eyes. I breathed in and out slowly, trying my best to keep my hand from shaking. I looked up, and my eyes wandered to the caution tape around the part of the parking lot where I took off from. There was a small crater there, a stark reminder to what I’d done. I couldn’t help but smile a little. I had to admit, it was really freaking cool, even though equally terrifying.

I got out of my car, and took another deep breath as I made my way into the school. I was scared at what might happen when I got inside. What if someone recognized me? What if
Macy
recognized me? The thought was scary. I didn’t know what I’d do.

Speaking of Macy, I was so caught up in my own personal developments that I kinda forgot to be worried about her. However, that came to me in floods as I walked inside the high school, making up for lost time. It’d been a day since the event, and that definitely wasn’t enough time for her to recover. I questioned whether or not she’d even be at the school. I cursed myself for not thinking about that earlier, and began searching the crowd for her signature red hair.