Shadow Boy (6 page)

I cover Carla’s ears, since she doesn’t need to hear such language.

“That thinks he’s better than the rest of us—even though he IS one of us,” Shadowman finishes, showing his disgust for the man.

“You kidnap our kind!” Carla snaps. “You’re just as bad as he is!”

“Kidnapping is one thing—murder is a lot more final,” he says. “And I never once believed I was better than the rest of the capes. I know exactly what I am, in the big picture. It’s the same thing you’ll be, Rocco.”

“He’ll never be like you,” Carla says.

“Sure he will—he’ll just have a different sort of boss. Technico’s already sending you out looking for people like me, isn’t he?” he says to me. “You’re going to be his little dog—the one that goes out and fetches whenever your master says to.”

“If he sends me after kidnappers and jerks like you, I’ll be perfectly fine with it,” I reply coldly.

“You won’t be paid nearly as well,” Shadowman taunts.

“I don’t care,” I say. But I’m not going to lie—I’m actually considering his offer. I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t. He’s not trustworthy, he’s a real jerk, too, and he did the things he did to Carla and the others—

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you,” Shadowman says. “I’m not surprised. You ARE my son, after all. I didn’t think you’d be stupid.”

“Why should I trust you?” I ask. “I’ve got no reason to, and every reason NOT to.” I’m holding onto Carla as if she’s a lifeline, and I only just now notice. I should let her go—but I’m not going to. I think, when she’s not moving, I’m stronger than she is. When she runs, though, she’s got momentum behind her strength. I dare to glance down for just a second.

She is… bright red and has this strange little smile that keeps creeping over her face, only to turn into a scowl. It goes back and forth a few times in just the second I look at her. I think she’s probably having some sort of mental breakdown? Maybe? I definitely shouldn’t agree to Shadowman’s idea—she’s already on the edge!

***

I don’t like hurting people, but he needs hurt, but—oh wow, hug! OH EM GEE he’s hugging me—wait, I’m angry at Shadowman—but Rocco’s hugging me! Maybe I can forgive Shadowman just a little? No! He’s trying to manipulate Rocco! Not cool! But Rocco smells so good! I’m getting hugged! Ohmygosh did I remember to brush after breakfast? What if I have coffee breath? Will he find out I stole some of Blackjack’s coffee? I’ll get grounded again! But Blackjack uses all that creamer—think Rocco would notice if I hugged him back? Maybe I can just sneak my arms around him for a second—ooooh, that Shadowman’s such a jerk! I ought to--

Carla, obviously, has been having this sort of “mental breakdown” all her life. Don’t worry, though, she’ll survive.

***

“Let’s call Nico!” Skye says, pulling out her phone and tapping on the screen before I can come up with a reply. “Hey, Nico! We found Shadowman!” she says cheerfully.

“Did you try to kill him again?” I hear Nico asks.

“Nope! Carla did,” she says, grinning evilly. “She had him flying around like a beach ball, too.”

“I’m not surprised,” Nico says. “Have you collared him?”

“He wants to play both sides,” Skye says. “Should we let him?”

“I didn’t say it exactly like that,” Shadowman says, just standing there with his arms crossed. I see him glance to the side and realize even he’s a bit worried about the creatures that live down here. “We can’t stay here much longer.”

“What do you propose, Shadowman?” Nico asks.

“I’ll keep you informed on Herold for a small price.”

“We could catch you now and you’ll never see a dime again for the rest of your life,” Nico says casually. “You’re no match for the group in front of you, and you know it. Either Skye or Carla can wipe you out, and with Rocco with them, you can’t hide.”

“Granted,” Shadowman says, “but without me, you’ll never have the inside track on Herold.”

“Do I need it?”

“Don’t underestimate him, Technico. He’s got your powers and a lot more hatred in him. We all know you’ve watered down since you got out of the Cape Cells.”

“I stripped you of your powers and broke your jaw,” Nico says.

“You could have killed me. You’ve gone soft.”

“Do you really think that’s going to make me want to work with you?”

“I’m keeping the fact that Mother-May-I is alive from him,” Shadowman says. “If you don’t want me telling him, you’ll give me a chance. And quickly, please, we’re reaching the danger point down here.”

We’re surrounded, I note as I dare to glance around. The creatures are all around us. I can actually see some of the bodies—they look like dinosaurs, with large, gaping teeth and snouts—

“Rocco?” Carla asks, making me glance down. “What are those?”

“Don’t worry about them,” I say, wondering if that’s why she’s hugging me so tightly. “I’ve not been attacked by them yet.”

“You just haven’t been down here long enough,” Shadowman says.

“Give Rocco your phone,” Nico says. “Rocco, you’re wearing your com bracelet, right?”

I glance down at the shiny cuff-like bracelet on my wrist. “Yeah, always.”

“Touch the screen of his phone to the com bracelet,” Nico instructs as Shadowman digs out his phone and hands it to me. I do as I’m told and hear a tiny beep from both. “Fine, we'll trust you for now, Shadowman, but the moment you mess up, you’re going straight to the Cape Cells, no board involved,” Nico says. “And don’t think I can’t do it—I’m the one that designed the place.”

“You did?” Skye asks.

“Well, me from the future did.”

“Okay, fine, agreed,” Shadowman says, now staring at the shadows. “Now, time to go. I’ll call you from a random phone as soon as I have the time—Rocco can come down and meet me, we’ll exchange information down here. He can’t reach here. He had better not notice what you did to my phone.”

“He won’t,” Nico says.

“Then time to go,” Shadowman says, racing through the nearest shadow. The three of us just stare blankly at his exit point. The monsters move into the clearing, large, grinning mouths and glowing eyes aimed straight at us.

“I think he’s right,” I say, letting go of Carla and reaching for her hand.

“DINOSAURS!” Skye says excitedly, bouncing like a cheerleader. “I want one!” I grab her hand and drag them both towards the creature, kicking it in the jaw as hard as I can and sending it flying. I race forward—only to have five more jump on top of us. I feel Carla and Skye pull out of my hold.

“Carla! Skye—”

The dinosaur-like creatures go flying. I take a moment to gape at the two fighting, and then throw myself into the brawl. It’s not smart, but I need to get both of them together and to a shadow portal, which I can’t do until they feel it’s time to stop fighting. I slam a fist into a large, glowing eye and a knee into the bottom part of a jaw before twisting and roundhouse kicking another. I feel teeth clamp down on my shoulder and grunt, jerking to try and get it off. When it doesn’t go, I spin, using the beast to hit the others surrounding me.

Before Cape High, I wouldn’t have ever known how to fight like this. Now, though, I’ve been tossed into the Apocalypse Field enough times that this feels like a Friday afternoon. Is that awesome or scary? I still haven’t decided yet, myself. I take it from my “dad’s” response, he hasn’t had Zombie Friday. Sucks for him—the robots have the outfits and everything. We even have the creepy music playing over the loudspeakers!

I find a rock and slam the dino on my shoulder into it so hard that I feel his teeth shatter. He tears my backpack off as he goes, but I don’t feel like chasing him down for it. Now that I’m free of the extra weight I wade into the fight, elbowing and kicking my way to where Skye is—

“Twenty!”

“Forty-five!” Carla says as she blurs past us.

“Cheater!” Skye accuses the blur.

“LADIES!” I bellow. “It’s time to leave!”

“Not yet!” Skye says, sticking her hand into the next dino’s chest.

“SKYE! Don’t KILL it!” Carla says, pulling to a stop with an outraged look on her face. “They’re an endangered species!”

“There are tons of them!” Skye protests. “And that one tried to bite me!”

“But they’re really just misunderstood!” Carla protests. “They’re hungry! You can’t blame them for getting hungry, everyone gets hungry!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll knock it out,” Skye says, sighing. I look behind her, seeing several questionable bodies lying there. I say nothing. The less of them there are, the easier it is for me to travel.

“If I promise to bring them food later, can we leave?” I ask as one jumps me from behind. I slam the back of my fist up, catching it in the nose.

“I want to come with you to MAKE SURE you aren’t lying,” Carla says, placing her hands on her hips for all of a second before slamming her elbow into another dino.

“Fine! You can come—but we’re leaving now!” I say, grabbing her hand. She grabs Skye’s and I race for the nearest portal, leaving the dinos behind. I have no idea where we’re coming out at—I don’t care, anything would be better than down—

I stop and look around, feeling several sets of eyes on us. My eyes catch on a sign being held by some of the people in the crowd. It says “NO SUPERS IN OUR SCHOOLS.” I see a few pictures of big name heroes with red circles and lines crossing over them.

“Well, then,” I say, staring at the football field full of Anti-Super Society members (so says the massive banner right over my head.)

I take a deep breath and paste on my most pleasant smile. “Hello, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well today! We didn’t mean to interrupt, so we’ll just be going now—”

“Supers.” It’s a murmur at first, but it rapidly becomes a roar. I blink as they pull out weapons, rushing forward to attack. Before we can run, though, someone speaks over a microphone.

“Now, now, my friends, let’s let them explain themselves first,” a man says. I turn, looking at the man at the mic. I… I think I recognize him.

“It’s Justin’s ex manager!” Skye says. “Tom something! He used to be on the television whenever there were Justin interviews and I always yelled at the TV because he was talking too much.”

“Wait, Justin’s MANAGER is a part of A—er, the Anti-Super Society?” I demand. “Hey! Hey, he’s a FAKE!” I say, pointing at him. “Everyone! He’s a fake! He used to work for a super! He can’t be—”

“I quit when I found out,” Tom says, cutting me off quickly. “I can only assume that you’re here to ‘crash the party’ aren’t you?”

“Ah, actually we got lost,” I say, holding up both hands. “I’m just looking for the Royal’s game—” Crap, baseball season is over, isn’t it? “Which was months ago, wasn’t it? Man I’m confused. Ah, I bet this place cost a TON to rent, huh? I’m sort of amazed you managed to… fill it… so well…” I add, looking around at the enraged norms. “I think we should run,” I whisper to the two standing with me.

“No way! This is the perfect opportunity to show off my super villainy abilities! No villain in the world has robbed an entire football field of haters trying to kill them! I'll be famous--or better, I'll be INFAMOUS!” Skye says, jumping into the air. “EVERYONE PUT YOUR HANDS UP!” she bellows at the top of her lungs. “THIS IS A STICK UP!”

I groan, only to blink as Carla slaps a cheap black face mask into my hand. “A little late, but I always carry a spare!” she says, proudly. I slip it on—just in time to see a wave of angry norms rushing straight for us. I see one person get on another’s shoulders, reaching for Skye.

“Hey! I didn’t mean it like THAT!” she yells, going higher.

I grunt as a group of norms tackle me. “Carla! RUN!” I say as I’m pushed to the ground.

“I’m not leaving you!” she shouts back, pulling the norms off of me. As soon as one is gone, though, the next tries to take her down. She shoves them away. I start shoving, as well, trying to get out from under them and to her side. We can’t hurt them—but they can try their very hardest to hurt US. I could slip through the shadows, I guess, but that’d just wind us up right back with the hungry dinos—

“SKYE! WE NEED TO LEAVE!” I bellow at the top of my voice. “NO ROBBING, JUST LEAVING!”

“Okay, fine,” she says, dropping down and grabbing Carla’s wrist. They literally walk through the crowd to get to me. “But let it be known, you people are really NO FUN!” she yells at them as they try to tackle us and wind up going through us.

I hear the snap of a flash and get blinded for a second as someone takes a photo of us. Crap. What I wouldn’t give for a technopath right now, I think as Carla and I are dragged through the crowd and out of the sports field. We make it a few miles down the street before slowing down. I hear sirens heading for the stadium and catch sight of a few riot control vehicles race past.

Not to mention our clothing is in tatters, I think dryly, looking us all over. “We look like we just went through a war in fast-forward,” I point out.

“You sure know how to show girls a good time,” Skye says cheerfully.

“Was that a date?” Carla asks a bit blankly. “Because next time I want to pick where we go, okay?” she adds, poking at a hole in her special-made frictionless clothing. “This was my favorite shirt—I think one of the dinos did it.”

I groan, running a hand over my face. “I don’t feel like finding a place to cook. Let’s just go somewhere to eat,” I say, turning and heading for the nearest hole-in-the-wall diner. “No, you can NOT stick them up, Skye,” I say before she even gets it out of her mouth. “And leave the masks on—we can claim to be lackeys for Max, if they ask.”

We head into the restaurant.

***

*Washington D.C.*

“Where have you been?” Herold asks as his assistant leaves the room and Shadowman steps out of the shadows.

“Just doing a bit of research, boss,” Shadowman says. “How are things going on the campaign side?”

“Annoyingly. Everyone and their sister wants to be president,” Herold says, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temple. “Politics is no place for people without thick hides. It’s a wonder there aren’t more supers in the business.”

“We tend to avoid the really dirty work,” Shadowman says.

“You’re a professional kidnapper.”

“Exactly, that’s clear cut,” Shadowman says, dropping down in the chair in front of Herold’s desk. “You politicians, on the other hand, have to explain to the world WHY the kidnapping was actually helping the world,” he drawls. “And you have to do it with the right air of sympathy. Seriously, you won’t find a super villain in the Cape Cells THAT devious. We pride ourselves on being more straight-forward.”

Herold just stares at him with a bland expression. “Do you have to practice in a mirror to do that?” Shadowman asks almost cheerfully.

“Have you found out anything about Technico’s whereabouts?”

“Not a thing,” Shadowman lies blatantly. “But I’ll keep looking. I’m sure that he’ll lower his guard sooner or later.”

“You told me you could find any super on the planet,” Herold says.

“In theory,” Shadowman corrects him. “In theory I can find any super on the planet—but you’re underestimating Technico. He and I have known each other for a very long time, boss. If anyone can figure out how to mask their presence from me, it’d be him.” That one’s true. “But shouldn’t you wait until you’ve won the White House to go up against him? You’re going to need an army behind you.”

“Why would I need an army? We’re both technopaths.”

“Absolutely true,” Shadowman says. He wants to point out things, but he’s not stupid. The less that Herold realizes the better off.

“I got an interesting email just a few moments ago,” Herold says, turning the screen of his computer towards Shadowman. “It seems one of the little rallies was interrupted by a boy with… strangely familiar powers,” he says, showing Shadowman a picture.

Shadowman barely manages to keep from cursing as he sees his kid, his niece, and Carla in the image. Sure they’re wearing masks, but those only work on people that don’t know them already. He hides his expression—at least he hopes he hid it. There’s a flash of something in Herold’s eyes that makes him wonder if he did it soon enough.

“I want that boy,” Herold says. “If he can do what you do, he’ll be perfect for the overall plan.”

“I really doubt he can—I would never be so stupid as to shadow walk into a sports field full of A—er, your Anti-Super Society members.”

“I have him walking out of the shadows on recording, Shadowman,” Herold says, waving a hand at the computer and bringing up a video of the assembly.

“Maybe you just can’t see the door,” Shadowman says, mimicking the bland expression Herold used earlier.

“Find him and bring him here,” Herold says coldly. “I want to see for myself.”

“Are you sure you’ve got time for that?” Shadowman asks. “Look—he’s with Skystep. THAT’S how they got into the building, not the kid. Now do you really want to mess with Skystep again? We already know she managed to throw off your mom’s brainwashing, right?”

“You’re right,” he says, thoughtfully. “And there was some sort of relationship with the man Mom swore was Superior, wasn’t there?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then bring me the boy and we’ll use him as bait to get Skystep to come to us.”

***

*Kansas City*

I’ve never been so happy to see the school campus before, I think as we reach home. “Man, that mission sucked,” I say, yawning. “And I still have to deal with that guy.” I hesitate, glancing over at Carla. “I’m sorry… you know, that we have to work with him.” What else can I say? I mean, he DESERVES to be in the Cape Cells for all he did to her and her group. “You don’t! I mean, I can handle that job. I’ll make sure you never see the guy again. That none of you ever see him again. Once we take care of Herold I’ll make sure he winds up in the Cape Cells, where he belongs. I promise.”

She looks down at her hands rather than looking at me, and I can practically see her mind racing. “I—” she starts out, only to stop. “Yeah, that’s good, gotta go,” she says, placing her hand on the panel and heading inside. Skye drapes an arm over my shoulders as we watch her go.

“Sooooo,” Skye says, “that was fun!”

“We were attacked by shadow dinos and haters, Skye,” I say dryly.

“Family bonding!” she explains cheerfully. “You’ll be the PERFECT getaway driver!”

“But—” I say, only to stop as she kisses me on the cheek and heads in, as well. I stand there for a moment, looking around curiously. What will happen after this? It’s pretty obvious that Nico’s upgrading me to a working cape. I’ve only been in this school for a few months, but I’m getting thrown into the game. I guess it comes with being one of the older students, or maybe it’s just because my powers are so… shifty.

“Are you going in?” I hear Nico ask from behind me.

“Is he right?” I ask, not turning to look at him yet.

“About what?”

“Are you just going to make me your dog? Send me out to fetch people?” I ask, finally looking at him. “Like a pair of slippers?”

“Take a walk with me, Rocco,” Nico says, motioning me to follow. “We’ll go get you some claw proof clothes from Kim, while we’re at it.”

“And teeth,” I say. “Carla has this big issue with killing them, so… I think I’ll be stuck dealing with getting chewed on.”

Nico nods and we start walking. By the way he’s walking, I can only assume he has something important to go over. “Do you know what Max, Jack and Ace are really training to do?” he asks after a long moment.

“Be super villains?”

“Well, that, yeah, but I’m going to tell you a trade secret—one that we don’t want getting out to the norms.” He nods at a house we pass by. “Max and Trent rebuilt that a while back, using my tech to replace the heater, air conditioning, all of it. They didn’t even have to report it to their insurance company. They’ve got a daughter with leukemia in the hospital right now.”

“Wait, what?”

“Astonishingly, everything in the kid’s room didn’t get hurt. Amazing, don’t you think?” Nico says with a little smirk on his lips.

“How did you know about the kid?” I ask.

“Ace has a habit of visiting children’s wards in hospitals. He puts on a little show to make them laugh.” Nico keeps walking. “Aubrey plans on stopping by, soon, as well—with her little class of healers. If I didn’t have my villains, do you really think we could pull something off like that with such precision?” he asks.

“So…”

“When we have things that don’t look good on the surface, but need to be done,” Nico goes on, “I use my villains. I need those ‘Dogs’ like you call them. They’re as important as Trent is to this game. And I’ll admit, I didn’t really care when I first started out, but I’m not the one that’s going to be running it. Zoe has big plans to make the world a better place. When you’re all grown, she’ll be the one calling you up when something needs done.”

“So… you want me to be a good villain,” I say.

“I do. But do you?”

“I don’t want to be like my father.”

“I don’t blame you,” Nico says with a snort. “I can honestly swear that if I send you after kids, it’ll be to bring them into Cape High—and they’ll have a choice of whether they come or not. No glass walls, just laser ones. Sure, you could compare the campus to the zoo, but my main goal is to get them out, not keep them in. You’ve been there long enough, do you think it’d be a bad thing?”

“No,” I say while glancing behind us. “So…” I hesitate, looking forward again. I can feel the last of my bruises healing. “We walked into an Anti-Super-Society meeting.”

“The stupidity of that name never fails to boggle me,” Nico says. “Where were they?”

“A baseball field, or maybe football, I didn’t look close enough.”

“How full?”

“Packed.”

“Huh.”

“Skye says it’s Justin’s ex manager that was running it,” I add. “What are we going to do about them?” I ask.

Nico’s silent for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face. “That’s a job for the heroes in the business,” he finally says. “We can’t fight it physically, that just puts them in the right. They are the reason we have guys like America’s Son, and Voltdrain, and all the picture perfect heroes that you will never find dirt on—even if you DO look into their personal lives. We turn the job over to the golden boys, let them do their jobs and a bit of baby kissing or whatever it is they do, and focus on the important parts.”

“They attacked us. They tried to hurt Carla,” I say, my hands clenching for a moment.