A True Hero

by M. R. Anglin

  A True Hero

  M.R. Anglin

  Copyright © 2021 M.R. Anglin

  All rights reserved.

  Fonts on cover are used under an SIL Open Font License: http://scripts.sil.org/OFL

  “Sail” © 2011 LatinoType Limitada.

  CHAPTER 1

  HIGH ABOVE THE BARREN landscape of the Alferdale Desert, a Super Hero named Starlight, faced off against a foe clad in green and white. A shaky camera zoomed in on her. Her midnight blue, skintight bodysuit contrasted nicely with her golden belt, mask, and hand cuffs, and her platinum blue hair billowed out behind her. The Villain, in contrast, spurted black smoke from the jet pack holding him aloft, though his hands radiated some sort of glowing, neon green power.

  “I’m obligated to warn you.” Starlight let her fingers curl into fists. “If you do not surrender, I will have to physically harm you.”

  The Villain threw his head back in laughter. “Haven’t you been trying with those paltry attempts at attacks thus far?”

  “I’ve been trying to get you out of town.” Starlight smirked at him. “No collateral damage on my watch.” Her fists ignited with a dark purple—almost black aura.

  The Villain’s smile faded as he glanced around him. He probably hadn’t realized he was no longer over the city. Most Villains liked fighting over populated areas—it crippled the actions of most operatives acting in consort with the Association of Super Heroes. ASH’s directive stated Heroes must avoid collateral damage and avoid harming citizens’ lives and livelihood at all costs—a thing not always possible when fighting in a populated area.

  “Fine then.” The Villain sneered. “We’ll see how good you are, Starlight.”

  The two rushed toward each other and clashed in midair.

  “This is so cool!” The cameraman—sounding like a boy in his mid-teens—commented as the footage followed the fight. Starlight blasted the Villain with dark purple energy followed by a more reddish one, but the Villain tanked the damage while trying to land a glowing punch on Starlight who bobbed and weaved out of his way.

  “I’m not sure who this baddie is.” The camera zoomed in on the Villain. “Looks like his power is an energy dampening field . . . or it could be a gadget of some sort. Maybe his armor is absorbing her blasts and powering his jetpack. If that’s the case, one of Starlight’s nova blasts will overload his system and—”

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  The camera swung around to focus on a figure dressed in pink, blue, and orange. She had fairly dark complexion common to those of Hispanic descent—though her pink mask covered most of the top half of her face. Her hair flowed behind her in tight brown and pink curls.

  “R-Refraction! Oh, wow!” The camera waved down before jerked back up to her face. Refraction was Starlight’s protégé, always ready to back up the Hero. Even from behind her mask, the cameraman felt her radiated anger.

  “This is a dangerous situation!” Refraction put her hands on her hips. “You could get yourself killed. Get out of here before—”

  “Nova blast!” Starlight yelled from above. ASH protocols required a Hero telegraph their major attacks as a warning to any civilians in the area. A white flash erupted from her hands and streaked across the sky. It blasted the Villain in the chest. As the cameraman predicted, the Villain jolted as his jetpack sparked and puttered. He plummeted from the sky and straight toward the camera.

  “Watch out!” Refraction grasped the cameraman’s shoulders.

  The feed tumbled about, showing sky then rocks then sand. When the camera came to a halt, it focused on a pair of jean-clad legs. The owner of those legs groaned, got to his feet, picked up the camera, and swung back on the action.

  When the camera focused, it caught Refraction, arms-crossed in an X, standing her ground as if she were blocking a blow. She had her head down, feet planted, and her mouth clenched in a determined grimace, but the camera could not pick up what she was warding off.

  “I need to adjust the filter here.” Justin tapped the phone playing the video. “Refraction has the ability to see waveforms invisible to the naked eye. She’s gotta be blocking some dangerous energies we can’t see.”

  “Which means she saved your scrawny butt from getting blasted.” Nicole, Justin’s best friend, sat beside him on the outdoor tables in the school courtyard. Trees sheltered the two in a dappled shade while they awaited their parents to pick them up. She had her eyes glued on her own pink-cased tablet where she was reading an article on minerals, though she did occasionally look up to see his video. Not that she needed to watch it again. She’d already sat through it five times.

  “Or killed.” Justin grinned at his phone. “This is why she is the chillest Junior Hero ever.”

  Nicole arched an eyebrow and looked up from her tablet. “You don’t have a crush on her, do you?”

  “N-no! Of course not! Pssh!” Justin chuckled, though his ears turned a shade redder.

  Nicole smiled to herself. Too bad Justin’s latte colored skin wasn’t a shade darker. His blushing wouldn’t be so obvious then.

  “Here’s the moment Starlight flies in and socks the guy good.” Justin, eyes glued on the phone, gave a punch in the air as if he were the hero. “Man, she’s good. This is my best Starlight video ever.”

  “How do you always show up when Starlight and Refraction are around—even when they’re fighting in the desert?” Nicole glanced across the grass at the school parking lot. Her father was supposed to pick her up today, but he was late. “The only reason I’d ever go willingly to the desert is to rock hunt.” She held her tablet to her chest. “There are so many amazing rocks and minerals out there.”

  Justin rolled his eyes. “Only you are so fascinated by rocks, Nikki.”

  “Exactly my point. No one should be out there, but then BAM! You show up.” Nicole let her tablet drop to her lap. “I swear, you always seem to show up where they are.”

  “Not always.” Justin slid the video progress bar to the left. “I can’t be there when I’ve got school or work, but next week is summer vacay which means nothing will stop me from going out to film them.”

  “Except your family vacation.”

  “Except my vacation.”

  “And work when you get back.”

  Justin gave her a sardonic look. “If you were a Hero, Nikki, you’d have the power of dream-killing and soul-crushing.”

  “Sounds more like a Villain to me.”

  “Your choice.” Justin went back to his video, watching it again for the fifteenth time.

  “You didn’t answer my question.” Nicole poked his cheek. “How are you tracking them?”

  Justin smacked her hand away from him. “I coded an app to track Starlight’s power. Still working on one for Refraction.”

  Nicole withdrew from him, eyes widening. “You are scary.”

  “What?”

  “You wrote a program to help you stalk Starlight and Refraction?”

  “I’m not stalking them. I’m documenting them.” Justin went back to his video. “It’s research. If I can get this app working right, I can track every Hero and Villain within the vicinity. Anyone who installs it will have prior warning when a Villain is in the area, and people can take precautions. Lower the injury and fatality rate of Villain attacks, you know.”

  “Yeah . . . ASH is doing all it can to lower collateral damage. An app like yours could help a lot.”

  “That’s my plan.” Justin’s grin stretched across his face. “If I get to see more of Refraction, it’s a bonus.”

  Nicole balked. “If you’re going to stalk Heroes while working on your app, you might as well stalk Heroes who are worth it. Starlight is great, but Refraction is weak. She never does anything.”

  “Except save
my butt.”

  “Anyone can do that.” Nicole pulled the latest issue of Heroes Monthly up on her tablet. “Look at this. Captain Justice and Junior Justice made the cover. They are true Heroes. I’ve already ordered a physical copy of this mag.”

  “They’re a bunch of generic goons.” Justin didn’t even spare Nicole’s tablet a glance. “Starlight and Refraction are much more interesting.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Nicole let her arms flop to the side. “Captain Justice has super-strength, flight ability, heat vision, and uses a bunch of gadgets in amazing ways. This articles pins him as the greatest Hero of all time.” She shoved the tablet in Justin’s face. “Junior Justice was voted the Best Upcoming Hero of the Year! He’ll be amazing when he becomes a fully-fledged Hero. Have you seen him fight with his staff?” Clutching her tablet to her chest again, she squealed. “Sooo cool!”

  “Now who’s the one with the crush?” Justin said unperturbed.

  Nicole shrugged. “I’ve never hidden it.”

  Justin shuddered.

  “Hey, wait!” Nicole leaned over Justin’s shoulder to look at the video playing on his phone. “Go back a bit.” She reached over him to tap it.

  “What are you doing? Get off.” Justin tried to shrug her off.

  Ignoring him, Nicole slid the progress bar back to the left. She watched the video play for a bit. “Did you see that?”

  “See what?” Justin gazed at his phone in sudden interest.

  “Rewind about five seconds.”

  Justin complied, rewinding to the shot where Refraction stood in the frame glaring at the camera. In the background, they could just see Starlight gearing up for her Nova Blast.

  “There!” Nicole tapped the screen. “Watch Starlight’s left hand.”

  Justin let the video run a few moments. For a brief moment, the violet aura around Starlight’s hands flickered and shimmered like a candle in a breeze before flaring back to life.

  “Did you see?” Nicole looked at Justin.

  “See what? The orange twinkle from the Villain? Probably the sun shining off his armor.”

  “The power in Starlight’s hand. It . . . wavered.”

  “So?”

  “It’s not supposed to.” Nicole leaned on Justin’s shoulder. “Starlight’s powers are a reflection of the stars, an ever churning mass of fusion reactions she channels through her body into her energy attacks. It doesn’t waver.”

  “How do you even know that?” Justin shrugged her off his shoulder. This time Nicole relented.

  “Starlight is one of my favorite Heroes.” Nicole let her eyes fall to the video. “I know everything about her.”

  “Now who’s the Hero stalker?” Justin went back to his phone.

  “Hi, Justin. Hey, Nikki.” Stephanie, a pale-skinned girl with curly, red hair, approached them. “Ooo . . . what are you watching?” She leaned in close to Justin’s phone and instantly turned up her nose. “Super Heroes? When will you two grow up?”

  “What’s wrong with Heroes?” Nicole swiped her tablet to open the magazine app. “Everyone’s obsessed with them.”

  “Leave it to you to follow the sheeple, Nikki.” Stephanie shrugged her bag off her shoulder. “Another lemming running over a cliff.”

  Nicole let her eyes fall to her magazine as Stephanie’s words crept into her mind like a spiked wall closing in on her. Sheeple, really? A lemming? Nicole felt herself shutting up into a ball, drawing her arms and legs to her core.

  “Careful, Steph,” Justin said without looking up from his phone. “You’ll make her retreat into her shell again.”

  “Huh?” Stephanie glanced at her. “Wow, Nik. Relax. I was joking.” She gave Nicole’s shoulder a gentle shove. “Don’t take everything I say to heart.”

  Nicole looked up at Stephanie whose freckles shifted when she smiled. Ever since Stephanie had joined school at the beginning of the year, Nicole had wanted to talk to her—the girl who didn’t care to fit in and did her own thing regardless of what anyone said—who was nice to everyone without taking any flak from anyone. Finally at the beginning of second semester, with Justin’s encouragement, Nicole had gathered enough courage to say hi. They had been friends ever since.

  “You can be into Heroes if you want, but I can’t get behind it.” Stephanie shrugged as she sat in between them. “I’d rather focus on more important things.”

  “Like winning the National Young Inventor’s Competition?” Justin said.

  “You won?” Nicole clapped. “Congratulations!”

  “No, no.” Stephanie waved her hands. “They haven’t announced the winner yet. I’m a finalist.”

  “You’ll win,” Justin pointed at her. “You’re brilliant—too smart for the Honor’s program. I don’t know why you’re at Alferdale High. You should apply to go to Sonmar Bridge Academy next fall. There’s still time.”

  “The snooty, private high school upstate?” Nicole shuddered. “Why would anyone ever want to go there?”

  “Because they have the lab, equipment, and supplies to take Steph’s inventions from the junk heap and into reality?” Justin said. “You need to go to Sonmar Bridge, Steph. Alferdale is holding you back.”

  Stephanie held up a finger. “One word: money. Four more words: I don’t have any. I’ve looked up Sonmar Bridge. Tuition is expensive. Then there’s room, board, and books.”

  “One word: scholarship. Three more words . . . wait . . .” Justin counted on his fingers. “Yeah, three more: Apply for one. You’ll get it, Steph. A full scholarship will cover everything.”

  “If it’s what you want, winning the Young Inventor’s Competition will help.” Nicole went back to her tablet.

  “They’re announcing the winners at an award’s ceremony in two weeks up in Quenton,” Stephanie clasped her hands together.

  “My dad and I are going there for vacation,” Nicole said.

  “Lucky!” Stephanie threw her head back. “I wish I could go. Look at this!” She pulled a piece of paper out of her backpack. “Congratulations, Stephanie Denmar!” was scrawled at the top in pretty, cursive font. “They have a ticket to the competition, a hotel room, and a spot at the award’s dinner waiting for me, but I don’t have a ride up there. I’ll have to miss the whole thing.”

  “That’s too bad, Steph . . .” Nicole lowered her eyes.

  Justin smirked. Without looking up from his phone he said, “Nikki’s brilliant idea in three . . . two . . . one . . .”

  “Hey!” Nicole picked up her head. “Why don’t you come with us?”

  “Called it,” Justin said.

  “Are you serious?” Stephanie leaned in closer to Nicole.

  “If all you need is a ride, it should be fine. We have to stop on the trip up, but it shouldn’t be a problem. My dad is letting me have a hotel room all to myself this year—you know, without the little door connecting the rooms together. You can share with me.” Nicole halted. Stephanie was staring at her as if she had an antennae sticking out of her head. “I mean . . . you can . . . if you want to . . .”

  “Are you seriously inviting me to go with you?” A smile tugged at Stephanie’s lips. “I wouldn’t be intruding?”

  “We’ll have a blast!” Nicole shed her apprehension, replacing it with excitement. “We can stay up all night, talking about Justin’s crush on Refraction . . .”

  “I do not have a crush on her!” Justin said.

  “I’ll have to ask my dad, of course. I’ll do it when he comes to get me. He won’t mind, though.” Nicole chuckled. “He’d jump at the chance to throw me in a room with someone else. He’s paranoid about me being by myself.”

  “Thank you, Nikki.” Stephanie threw her arms around Nicole. “Thank you, thank you!”

  “It’s no problem.”

  A honk tooted from the school parking lot. When Nicole scanned the area, she spotted a blue SUV pulling up to the curb. A dark haired woman with glasses wound down the window and waved at her. “Nikki! Nikki!”

  �
��Oh, no.” Nicole rolled her eyes as she sat back in her seat. “It’s her.” With a sigh, she packed up her things.

  “Who’s she?” Stephanie asked.

  “My dad’s girlfriend, Margaret.”

  “Fiancée,” Justin corrected.

  Nicole zipped up her bag with more force than was necessary. “They’re getting married next year.”

  “Oh, new mom.” Stephanie nodded with sudden understanding. “You don’t like her?”

  “She’s nice enough.” Nicole swung her bag over her shoulder. “I had no problem with her when she and dad were dating, but ever since they got engaged . . . I don’t know . . . I feel . . . I feel like . . . I don’t know how to describe it.”

  “She’s trying too hard to bond with Nikki.” Justin finally looked up. “You know how shy she is. It freaks her out.”

  “Maybe . . .” Nicole plodded toward the SUV.

  “See you later, Nikki.” Justin waved, eyes glued on the phone. “Oh, hey!” He jumped up and pulled a thumb drive from his back pocket. “For your project. Let me know how it goes.”

  “Thanks.” Nicole took it and waved to Stephanie. “Bye, Steph. I’ll call you and tell you what my dad says.”

  “Okay, bye. Thanks again!” Stephanie waved too.

  Nicole waved over her shoulder again before opening the door to the SUV and sliding in.

  CHAPTER 2

  NICOLE SLIPPED INTO the SUV, tossed her bag by her feet, and slid on her seatbelt. Here she was . . . alone with Margaret again.

  “Hi, Nikki.” Margaret smiled at her as she drove through the parking lot. “How was school today?”

  “Fine.” Nicole positioned her bag between her feet. “Where’s Dad?”

  “He got busy with work, so he asked me to come get you.” Margaret glanced both ways before entering traffic outside of the schoolyard.

  Nicole studied her out of the corner of her eye. Margaret was an attractive woman, that’s for sure. No wonder Nicole’s father fell for her. Her dark, straight hair had been caught up in a bun, and her fair, flawless complexion and dark brown—almost black—eyes spoke of her Asian heritage and constant moisturizing. Even her horn-rimmed glasses accentuated the curve of her cheekbones, adding to her looks rather than detracting from them. She was the only one Nicole could think of who looked better with her glasses on than without.