First Superhero 1: The Second Super (12 page)

Brain raised up his hands, gesturing for me to stop talking. “If you wouldn’t have been walking by the street at that time and seen me lying there,” Brian’s face glazed over, “I don’t know where I’d be. I could be really brain damaged, or worse.”

I think you’re definitely brain damaged,
I thought to myself.
Either that or I am, and I’m having a hallucination right now.

Brian put his hand on my shoulder, and it felt real. Definitely not a hallucination. “Thank you, Kane. I wouldn’t be who I am today without you.”

I opened my mouth, but I still couldn’t say anything. Finally I found the words. “You’re welcome. Any time.”

Brian smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah, okay, well that’s it.” And with that, he walked away.

I stood there totally dumbfounded. Brian Turner just thanked me for saving his life, even though I was the one who almost killed him in the first place! I guess that answers the question about whether or not he remembered what happened. I still felt bad for pummeling him into a wall, even though I was just defending myself. However, I
did
feel slightly less bad, since it all seemed to turned out alright in the end. Brian Turner was off my back, and it seemed like he was going to be a better person. Yeah, maybe I knocked a few of his memories loose, but at least no one had to worry about Brian Turner knocking a few of their teeth loose ever again.

I walked back to Eric’s house, sipping my beer and chuckling to myself at the craziness of what just happened. When I walked inside, I saw Drew standing in the kitchen eating some finger sandwiches with Veronica, who was giggling profusely at some joke he’d just told. I smiled to myself, feeling happy for Drew. Sorry for Veronica since she had no idea what she was getting herself into, but still, happy for Drew.

I felt someone tap my shoulder, and turned to see it was Macy. My heart fluttered with joy, and I let out a big grin. “How’s the party?”

“Forget that,” she said, punching me in the arm playfully. “What the hell did Brian want with you?”

I laughed. “You’ll never believe me.”

“Try me,” she said, scrunching up her nose causing a cute crease to appear between her eyebrows.

“Okay, but let’s go somewhere else,” I said.

She wrapped her cold small hands around mine, and began pulling me toward the stairs. “Let’s go up here,” she said.

I followed her up the stairs, and down a hallway lined with rooms. She brought me to one at the end, and led me inside. It was a bedroom with a full-size bed and a nightstand with family pictures on it. She led me across the room to a sliding glass door, and onto a balcony.

“How’d you know this was up here?” I asked, giving her a playfully suspicious look.

“Oh, you know, Eric and I are dating and this is where he takes all his women to seduce them,” she said nonchalantly, which queued me in on the fact that she was just joking.

“Ha ha,” I said as I leaned on the balcony. A hot summer breeze brushed across my face. I took another sip of beer to try and keep the heat at bay.

“So,” Macy said as she leaned on the balcony next to me. “You gotta tell me what Brian wanted!”

I explained to her what happened, along with how I couldn’t believe it was happening, and thought that one of us was possibly brain dead.

Once I’d finished telling her, Macy looked at me with the same look of disbelief I imagined I had when it was all happening. “Wow,” she said. “I guess whoever beat him up literally knocked some sense into him!”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I agree. I wish they’d done it sooner!”

Macy laughed and nodded her head. “No kidding! I could barely stand him after knowing him for only a few weeks! I can only imagine what it must’ve been like dealing him for years.”

I shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad. More of an annoyance than anything. Still, every once in a while, he’d remind you who’s boss.”

But I’m the boss now,
I thought to myself. I guess you could say that Brian Turner was really the first villain I’d defeated. But for some reason, I just didn’t think that Richter would be thanking me over a beer any time soon.

“So, Kane,” Macy said as she slid closer to me to the point where our shoulders were touch.

“So, Macy,” I said, as I looked down into her eyes with a smile.

“What are you thinking about?”

Without even thinking I blurted out, “How much I want to kiss you right now.”

Macy bit her lip and held back a smile. She stood on the tips of her toes, and we both closed our eyes.

Our lips touched, and it felt as if electrically sparked through me. I didn’t get the chance to fully enjoy it, however, as the quick burst of a police siren and the flashing of red and blue lights caused me to open my eyes, and then wince at how bright they seemed.

“Oh shit,” Macy breathed.

I grabbed her beer bottle from her hand, and threw the both of ours far away. I got a little carried away, as they went soaring thirty yards away.

“Wow,” Macy said as she grabbed my bicep. “You have a good arm.”

“I think we have other things to worry about,” I said as I turned and began walking back through the bedroom.

Macy followed close behind as we went down the hallway and down the stairs. I was going to run for the back door once I got downstairs, but a few police officers had already made it inside, and had everybody rounded up.

“Alright everybody!” an officer with black scruff and spiky hair shouted. “This party is over. I want everyone to go home. I have some officers standing outside the door with breathalyzers. If you’re too drunk to drive, you will call your parents, tell them where you are and what you’re doing, and have them come pick you up. No exceptions.” The officer found Eric and Victoria in the crowd. He pointed at the both of them. “You two aren’t going anywhere. You’re both in big trouble.”

I cursed under my breath, and began filing out the door. I breathed into the breathalyzer, and my blood alcohol level was zero. I only had a little bit of beer, but I was expecting at least a .01 or .02. But nothing? I had a feeling my health regeneration power had something to do with it.

Macy and I stood outside for a minute until we spotted Drew and Michael. “I’m driving them home,” I told the officer. He let them pass without testing them. Drew stumbled behind Macy and I, but I think he was mostly drunk on love more than anything else. Michael took up the rear, shuffling slowly, sighing heavily.

We all got in the car and breathed sighs of relief. Michael chuckled and Drew let out a whoop.

“This whole night could have gone very badly,” I said, more thinking out loud than anything.

Macy nodded. “For sure.” She turned and looked at me, her face glowing. “But in a way, it was kinda perfect.”

I smirked and nodded. “Yeah, it was kinda perfect.”

22

DRIVES

I
FELT
a sense of sadness wash over me as Macy left the car and disappeared inside her apartment building.

“So what was going on between you two?” Drew said from the back seat, his voice slightly louder than usual.

I felt my cheeks blush. “What are you talking about?”

Drew laughed. “Oh, you know what I mean. There was something different. I don’t know.”

“What I want to know is what was going on between you and Veronica,” I said, changing the subject.

Drew giggled. “We were just talking, is all.”

“Oh yeah?” I said as I pulled onto the road and began driving to Drew’s house. “Just talking? It looked like it was a little more than just talk. Isn’t that right, huh Michael?”

Michael just grunted in response. I looked in the rearview mirror, and could see Michael with one of his hands holding his pudgy face up as he stared out the window.

“Anyways,” Drew said. “I just think something’s going on between Macy and you.”

“And I think you’re drunk,” I said. Even though he was right, I didn’t want to say anything about what was going on between Macy and I. Mostly because I didn’t really understand what was going on all that well either. I wasn’t sure if we were “dating,” “talking,” “seeing each other,” or something in between. Besides, even if I did know, I didn’t want to just blurt it out without first checking and making sure it was okay with her first.

Ah, who am I kidding, if we were officially dating, I’d be shouting it from the rooftops before she even got the chance to tell a soul.

Drew and I talked a bit more on the drive to his house. When we pulled up, Drew almost fell out of the car. I had no idea how he got drunk so fast at the party, but I guess he was just an extremely lightweight.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Drew said before he shut the door.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“Yeah, I need you to give me a ride to my car.”

I nodded. “Oh, okay. See you then.”

Drew shut the car door, and began sneaking toward his one-story ranch-style house. I backed out and left before he got inside, but I’m assuming he made it in safely.

It was just Michael and I in the car as we drove down the highway of Ebon, the streetlights flashing in and out of my car. I kept checking the rearview mirror, but Michael never moved.

“Wanna listen to some radio?” I asked him as I reached for the volume knob, turning it up just a smidge.

Michael shrugged. “I don’t care.”

I sighed and clicked the knob inwards, shutting the radio off. “What’s the matter, Michael?” I asked. “You’ve been acting strange.”

Michael sighed and turned from the window. He looked at me in the rearview mirror. I glanced back and forth from him to the road. “You ever see somebody doing something and think you could do a better job then they could?”

I felt confused as my brain tried to figure out what Michael meant. “I mean, I guess, yeah. Why?”

Michael looked back out the window. “I feel like there’s so many things I could do better than other people, you know? Like if only I had the chance.”

“Well then, just do it, you know?” I said, doing my best to offer some sort of encouragement.

“It’s not that simple. I can’t just do it.”

“What do you mean?”

Michael waited a beat, trying to figure out whether or not he should tell me what he was thinking. “You know the Second Super—Tempest, some people call him.”

I began to get very hot, and I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. “Of course,” I said, doing my best not to stammer. “Everybody knows Tempest.”

“I just feel like he’s doing really shitty, you know? Like I could do so much better than he is doing.”

I was taken aback by what I’d just heard. “Well,” I began. I had to tread extremely lightly on this subject. “I don’t think it’s really that easy. I mean, it at least doesn’t seem like it is.”

Michael nodded his head. “Yeah, I agree, it’s definitely not easy.”

Damn straight.

“But I feel like if I were him, I’d be out there every night, saving people. If I were him, I’d stop every person from stealing, from killing, from abusing their family.” Michael’s voice was surprisingly not filled with anger, but filled with hope and wonder. “I’d be out there saving the world,” he said. I looked back at him, and he was staring off into space, smiling big, his eyes distant, thinking about the adventures he’d go on if he were Tempest.

“I’m sure he’ll get to that eventually,” I said. “I think he’s probably just trying to focus on Richter right now.”

Michael nodded and sunk back down into his seat. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Just wish it’d get taken care of sooner, you know?”

I nodded and clicked the radio back on. I turned the volume to a really low level. “Me too, bud,” I said. “More than you know,” I whispered under my breath.

We drove without speaking, deep in our own thoughts, the radio playing the soundtrack to our drive. But then our soundtrack stopped, as the radio went silent and a loud beeping noise emitted from the speakers. The sudden loud noise caused both Michael and I to jump in our seats. A man’s voice came from the speakers, filling the car.

“Attention, residents of Ebon and all towns in Fairview County. The Federal Government has issued a mandatory curfew beginning tomorrow night. No person should be out from ten o’clock at night to five thirty in the morning, unless it’s in case of an emergency. No other exceptions. I am also announcing that the F.B.I. is launching a full investigation into Tempest, and the reports that he may be living in the area. If you are approached by a federal agent for questioning, please cooperate, as they are only here to help, and have the safety of us and all United States citizens in mind. Their main base of operations will be at the Ebon Junior High School, and will be in full cooperation with the Ebon Police Department. Should you have any more questions, please contact the EPD at 903-555-8584. Thank you, and you will now be returned to your regularly scheduled programming.”

The radio returned to playing music. Michael and I sat there in silence for a few moments, trying to process what we’d just heard. It wasn’t until I pulled into Michael’s parking lot in front of his house that either of us said anything.

“Thanks for the ride,” Michael said as he climbed out.

I was expecting him to say something about the curfew, but was relieved when he didn’t. “No problem. Goodnight,” I said before he shut the door.

I backed out of his driveway, and once his house was out of sight, I floored it. My stomach sank and I began sweating. I didn’t use my powers, like they’d told me not to, but still: the government was looking for me. And from the sound of what the president had said earlier, they weren’t looking to be friends.

23

BREAKING CURFEW

“
T
HIS IS NOT GOOD
,” Dad said as we stood around the kitchen.

I sat on the counter, my legs swinging beneath me. I'd just told Mom and Dad about the curfew and the government moving into town, searching for me.

“I thought they said they'd leave you alone as long as you didn’t use your powers and interfere with them?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, that is what they said.” I sighed in frustration. “How am I supposed to just let this all blow over when they're out there looking for me? I can't defeat Richter like this!”