Shadow Boy (18 page)

“Ouch,” he says, seeming to deflate in front of my eyes. “That was cold.”

“The only problem is that I don’t have a collar on me,” I say, letting out a sigh. “I’ll give you as long as it takes for me to get a power negating collar. See what you want to see before you go in, because I’ll be coming for you tomorrow.”

He has a strange look on his face, but I ignore it, heading for the nearest shadow and heading back home. I need to talk to Nico.

***

“There’s going to be a press release!” Carla says at top speed as soon as I step out of the shadows. The clearing in front of the campus is full of students, teachers and Hall Leaders. “I’m going to be given a NAME!” she says, racing past me a second time. I look over at where Century and Mastermental are standing together with Nico, and head straight for them.

“Nico—” I start out.

“In a second, kid,” Nico says. “We’re drawing up an agreement for Carla,” he says, tapping on the air. “Okay, it’s now in my records that Carla is being sponsored by BOTH Central and South. That means you both get to foot the bill for her shoe and clothing addiction. Congratulations,” he says. “With the way she goes through shoes, it’s a good thing there are two of you. Rocco, we’ve already written up yours.”

“They’re special made shoes!” Carla says, moving to the middle of the group and bringing up a leg to show off the shoe. “I go through the normal ones even faster!” she declares cheerfully.

“Nice little rainbow design there, sweetheart,” Century says with a smile.

“I love color!” she declares excitedly. “All the colors! I like the bright ones best, but don’t tell the pastels, okay?” she adds in a stage whisper.

“We’ll make sure to keep that fact to ourselves,” Mastermental says with only a slight smile of amusement. “Carla, I am extremely proud of how you conducted yourself today,” he says, holding out a hand. She gives him a surprisingly shy little smile and takes the hand as delicately as a princess.

“I just did what I could,” she says primly. “I really, really like the dispatchers and the cops and the ambulance people—they were all so awesome and they helped me a lot! I didn’t have a clue what to do a lot of the time and they walked me through it. Can I work with them more now that I’m official?” she asks.

“Sweetheart, that’s EXACTLY what we want you to do,” Century says.

“Nico—” I say again.

“Don’t worry, kid, I’ve already arranged for your funding,” he says. “We could do a press release for you, too, but it’d blow the whole villain thing—”

“I don’t want a press release,” I say. “I want a power negating collar. I—”

“It was recorded,” Nico says. “Well, at least the first part. Are you sure you want to be the one to bring him in?”

“I—” I groan, running a hand over my face. “I HAVE to be the one to bring him in,” I say, feeling everyone’s eyes on me. “I have to be the one that puts him in the Cape Cells, for a lot of reasons. I just…”

“I’ll get you your collar,” he says. “But we’ve got a press release to get to, first.”

“We’re just letting him run loose—”

“Can you find him?”

“Yeah, I can find him,” I say, determinedly.

“Then we’ll find him when it’s convenient. Unless you WANT to step on Carla’s debut.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Carla, didn’t think of that,” I say to her. “Um, what did you do with Herold?” I ask, looking around.

“Marigold has him,” Century says. "Don't worry, Technico made sure he couldn't escape before we left."

“He's surrounded by power negators as well as wearing a collar,” Mastermental sums up. “Now, Rocco, we want you to rest assured that we believe you,” he says, walking over and placing a hand on my shoulder. “I’m proud to have you as one of our villains.”

“Can you be proud of something like that?” I ask after a long moment. “It seems a little… backwards.”

“We’re Super Heroes, son, nothing we do is straightforward,” Century says. “And I owe you my life. I’m extremely proud to have you, as well. But now we have a press release to get ready for, right?” he asks.

“Let’s GO!” Carla says, jumping off of Nico’s back and racing off.

“Does she know where the press conference will be?” I ask after a long moment.

“Carla? It’s at Central Hall,” Nico says, touching his earbud.

“Whoops!” I hear her say.

“Now, shall we?” Mastermental says, taking to the air.

“I’m just going to go change,” I say, heading inside. “I can’t go looking like this.”

“Everyone is welcome,” Mastermental says to the group of students and teachers. “This is a proud moment.”

“YEAH!” the group roars.

“And afterward we go back to clean-up duty,” Nico says, instantly killing the buzz.

***

I feel awkward, even though our group is scattered through the crowd. Everyone that isn’t in the middle of saving someone is here, waiting to see Carla’s debut—well, no, her debut was on the streets, helping everyone, wasn’t it? I honestly can’t think of a better way for the world to meet Carla. (I even checked my phone earlier—there are videos of her going viral. I might have bookmarked a few of them.) Now I watch as she fidgets behind Century and Mastermental, wearing one of those blindingly colorful frictionless outfits she always wears and a matching mask. She looks beautiful, you know? Those big gold eyes flashing brightly, a large smile on her face, she looks so happy.

That’s another thing I’m going to have to deal with, isn’t it? So much has happened that I’ve almost forgotten the awkwardness. I watch her, almost laughing as she keeps trying to peek around Century. He very gently pushes her behind him, and when that doesn’t work, pulls her forward and places a restraining hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him, giving him one of those wide grins of hers, laughing as he says something.

“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.”