Super

by Matthew Cody

  The Shade paused, but it didn’t retreat.

  “Harsher,” said Daniel. “Treat it like … treat it like a servant!”

  “You get out of here,” said Theo. Still the creature did not move. “I said GET OUT OF HERE!”

  The Shade suddenly shrank back, like a dog who’d been threatened with a rolled-up newspaper.

  “Good,” whispered Daniel. “Keep it up.”

  “Go on,” said Theo, growing more confident. “I told you to go!”

  The Shade turned and started to slink off toward the door, but it had just reached the exit when there was a crash from above and Eric came bursting though the ceiling. He was covered in some kind of oily black stuff, like the stain Daniel had seen on the street after he’d destroyed one of the things. Eric must’ve won his fight with the first Shade, but another of the creatures had already appeared on the roof, peering over the jagged hole at the scene below. Eric managed to pull himself up onto his elbows, but just barely. He was struggling to get a second wind.

  At the sight of the looming battle, the retreating Shade reversed direction and began closing in on Eric. Now there were two Shades ready to pounce on him. He wouldn’t have the strength to defend himself.

  If Daniel tried to borrow Eric’s power, would he also borrow Eric’s weakness? Would he take on his friend’s wounds and leave both of them defenseless?

  There wasn’t time to consider. The two creatures were closing in, like sharks after blood. Daniel had no choice. He started forward …

  “STOP!” shouted a voice.

  Daniel looked over at Theo, who was now standing tall, his finger pointed at the Shades.

  “I told you to get away. I told you to disappear.… Now, for the very last time, you miserable sacks of garbage, you empty pieces of nothing … BEGONE!”

  Daniel had never heard such command in a voice before, such authority. It was the voice of someone used to giving orders. It was the voice of someone used to being obeyed.

  One minute the Shades were crouching, ready to attack, and the next they were gone. It was like a sudden dark cloud had passed over the sun, but now the light had returned. The tree fort was a wreck. There was a gaping hole in the roof, and papers and comics were everywhere. The door was destroyed. But there were no Shades.

  Daniel looked at Theo. The boy still looked pale and shaken, but he had also broken into a huge grin.

  “Now, just how awesome am I?” he asked.

  Theo Plunkett had told the Shades to disappear and they had.

  Chapter Twenty

  A Late-Night Visit

  The Supers agreed to reconvene the next day. After the attack on the tree fort, no one felt safe there anymore. What had once been their sanctuary was now far too isolated, too vulnerable—the doors had literally been blown off. They needed to be around people. And the more, the better.

  Examining the facts so far, Daniel began to suspect that for whatever reason, the Shades were drawn to attack when the Supers were all together but isolated from crowds. Although Louisa had been alone in Herman Plunkett’s study during that first attack, there had been four other Supers present in the house. The second attack had come when everyone was together on Halloween. And the last at the tree fort. Three attacks. Maybe they’d had it backward, maybe there really wasn’t safety in numbers. Small comfort that their enemy was unafraid to face them as a group, but maybe it meant they were safe alone in their beds at night.

  Not that anyone really expected to get any sleep. When he got home, Daniel put on his usual brave face for his parents (he’d become good at it since moving to Noble’s Green) and sat through dinner and pretended that he hadn’t just been attacked by shadow monsters—again. After the meal was over, his parents chased Georgie through his usual bath-time routine while Daniel tried to find some distraction in his homework. He’d hoped to lose himself in the equations of his pre-algebra book, but it was a hopeless battle from the start. He was doodling pictures of Shades in the margins without realizing it. Startled, he tried erasing the frightening scribbles; but the pencil marks just smeared together into one great, messy blob, and no matter how he looked at it, he still saw monsters. Without meaning to, he’d turned his math book into a twisted Rorschach test. If the Shades didn’t get him, Ms. Daehler, the pre-algebra teacher, would.

  After a little TV with his parents, Daniel washed up and slowly, reluctantly, put on his pajamas. He was just climbing into bed when he heard Mollie’s secret knock at the window. Although flying around alone at night was a very dangerous, very foolish, very Mollie Lee type of thing to do, Daniel was glad for the company. In the dark, he could just see her silhouette as she perched on the edge of his bed, her knees hugged tightly to her chest. For a while neither of them said a word. They were just content not to be alone.

  After a few minutes she whispered his name.

  “Yeah?” he answered.

  “Do you think we’ll win?”

  Daniel let out a deep sigh. He’d been asking himself the same thing, and he had only one honest answer to give.

  “This time … I don’t know,” he said. “We’re not even sure what we’re up against. Not really. Herman might be behind it all, but those Shades are definitely something new.”

  “I’ve been thinking about Theo, those Shades, and your … powers. They can’t all be coincidences, can they?”

  Of course Daniel had wondered about this himself, and Eric had said as much. Daniel had looked for a catalyst, a single event to tie all these various disasters to, but the only thing that seemed to link it all together was Theo. He was the common factor in all of this. The only problem with that line of thought was that Daniel’s gut told him Theo was not behind this. The evidence was stacked against him, and Theo’s spoiled-rich-kid persona wasn’t helping him any. But Daniel had followed the evidence rather than his instinct once before, and he’d ended up falling into Herman Plunkett’s carefully laid trap. While Daniel admired his idol, Sherlock Holmes, for his reliance on deductive reasoning, his own experience had taught him that real life was about more than logic. Daniel chose to go with his gut this time. He chose to trust Theo Plunkett. For a while, at least.

  Which left him struggling to come up with an alternative theory as to what the heck was going on.

  “I’ve been turning things over and over in my head, Mollie. And the only thing I know is that someone is trying to keep us off balance. Those attacks that keep coming when we’re all together, it’s like whoever’s behind this doesn’t want us to sit around and compare notes. Or maybe when we’re all together, it’s like putting pizza in front of a starving person—we’re irresistible.”

  “Great,” said Mollie. “We’re pepperoni.”

  Daniel smiled, then realized she probably couldn’t see him in the dark. But she wasn’t waiting for him to respond to her joke—she was already talking.

  “The thing is,” she was saying, “you should have told us about your powers, Daniel. And you should’ve told us about the ring.”

  “I know.”

  “No, I don’t think you do. You are sitting there thinking that you should’ve told us because that would’ve been the best way to keep us safe. But that’s not it at all. That’s not even close to why Rohan and I want to stick your head in a toilet and flush it.”

  Daniel swallowed. That was not a pleasant image.

  “Okay, why do you want to flush my … why are you upset with me?”

  “Because you were hurting and you didn’t let us help, you idiot. If we are going to be friends, really truly friends, then you need to stop trying to be everyone’s dad.”

  “I’m not trying to be—”

  “Yes, you are. First it was because of the powers thing. You didn’t have powers, so you were always, I don’t know, trying to prove yourself. To us. To yourself, maybe. And now you’ve got these new powers and they’re scary and you’re doing the same thing. You won’t let anyone help you. And that’s not what friends do, Daniel.”

  Danie
l thought about what she’d just said. He was glad that she couldn’t see his eyes in the dark—that way she couldn’t see the look on his face. He was in pain. He was scared. Scared of his new abilities, and what they might mean. And he was scared of the Shades. He’d been dealing with all this on his own. He’d believed he could. But he’d been wrong.

  “Sorry,” he whispered.

  “Apology accepted. But only because you’re a boy and can’t help but be mostly brain damaged to begin with.”

  Daniel wiped his eyes. Because of the dark, he couldn’t be sure, but he thought Mollie was doing the same thing.

  “So, tomorrow,” he said, “when we see the others, can I get your help?”

  “Help with what?”

  “I’ll need your help convincing them what needs to be done next.”

  “Okay,” said Mollie. “Your ridiculous schemes worked out the last time we faced the Shroud, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. What’s the plan?”

  “We take the fight to them. Theo’s scientist buddies are bound to discover those caves, so let’s beat them to it. We go back to the quarry. All of us. The Old Quarry was the Shroud’s lair, and it’s the only lead we have, so if there’s something there, I want to find it before those scientists do.”

  “And if the Shades come after us again?”

  “I’m counting on it,” said Daniel. “That’s why we’re bringing Theo along. He was pretty useful against them this time.”

  “So he’ll just order them to shoo again?”

  “No, this time Theo tells them to take us to their leader.”

  “And if they decide they don’t want to take orders from Junior?”

  Daniel didn’t have an answer for that possibility. The truth was they would be taking a terrible risk, but Daniel was tired of sitting around and waiting for the Shades to attack again.

  Mollie sighed. Daniel could just picture her rolling her eyes and shaking her head at his usual stupidity.

  “That’s your plan?” she asked. “Walk us back into the one place in all of Noble’s Green we don’t want to go, and offer us up to the Shades on a silver platter?”

  “Yep. I guess it is.”

  “Cool,” she said, and Daniel could hear the smile in her voice. “I’m in.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The Master of the Shades

  The town library seemed a safe place to meet. It was private enough that they could make plans without being overheard, but it was still public enough that the Shades would be unlikely to try another attack. Daniel, Eric, Rohan, and Mollie met there after school to finalize their plans. Theo had agreed to meet them at the quarry.

  The Supers assembled beneath the statue of Johnny Noble overlooking the library entrance. This Johnny was depicted as the town folk hero, and instead of the domino mask of the comics, he wore a coonskin cap and full beard. In his arms he carried a small child, one of the St. Alban’s orphans he’d rescued from the historic fire. In its own way, Johnny’s story as town hero was as sensationalized as the comic-book fictions Herman Plunkett had dreamed up all those years ago. Local legend had it that Johnny had charged into the burning orphanage again and again, heedless of the dangerous smoke and flames. The statue captured that strength, that bravery, well. But in the photos Daniel had seen, the few actual pictures of the real man himself, he’d been gaunt and haunted-looking. A poor, scared trapper who’d been caught up in big events. Too big for a simple mountain man. It was no wonder Johnny disappeared even as his fame spread and his legend grew.

  The only things about that statue that seemed genuine to Daniel were the eyes. Whoever had created the sculpture, he’d gotten that one detail right. Johnny had a piercing stare in the old photographs. Even in Herman’s comic books. Even here, carved in stone.

  Daniel’s plan was simple. Theo had informed them that the excavation project always wrapped up before sundown. This being Noble’s Green, after-hours security was light—just a single guard who did a drive-by check every few hours or so. Theo used his dad’s email account to give the guard an unexpected night off so they were guaranteed not to be bothered. The Supers would draw out the Shades, and with Theo’s help the creatures would lead them to the real villain behind all this. Whether it was Herman or something entirely new, they’d find out tonight.

  As they were setting out from the library rendezvous, Louisa and Rose showed up. Louisa came walking up the steps, while Rose materialized out of thin air. They were lucky that no one seemed to be paying attention.

  “We’re going too!” said Rose. “Mollie told Louisa and Louisa told me, and so we’re going with you to fight the bad guys.”

  Daniel shot Mollie a look.

  “What?” asked Mollie. “Louisa asked what I was doing tonight and I told her the truth. I didn’t invite the invisible girl along!”

  “Look, Louisa,” Daniel said. “This might be really dangerous, and … well, now that you don’t have your powers … I mean, you don’t have to come.”

  He knew this sounded ridiculous coming from him, but he wanted to give Louisa an out. An excuse to say no. She’d stuck with them all out of friendship, but she’d never really wanted to be a Super. She shouldn’t feel obligated to put herself in danger now.

  But she said nothing. She just stood there, staring at her shoes.

  “Louisa?” said Daniel.

  “Go on,” said Rose. “Tell them!”

  “Tell us what?” asked Rohan.

  “I never … I didn’t know it was Daniel,” she said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have. I thought I could blame it on the Shroud.”

  “Blame what?” asked Daniel.

  “She fibbed!” said Rose. “She told me so!”

  “I lied, Daniel,” Louisa said. “I lied to you all.”

  Then Louisa looked around to make sure no one else was looking and put her hand into the statue of Johnny Noble. Into the statue. Then she pulled it out again as easily as if she’d been dipping her hand into a sink full of water.

  “You do have your powers!” said Eric.

  “I didn’t at first!” said Louisa. “At the tree fort, that was for real. But the next morning they came back. I just … I don’t like being this way! I thought I could be normal. At least everyone would think I was normal.”

  She looked up at Daniel and her eyes were glistening with tears. They were such pretty eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Daniel,” she said. “I didn’t know you’d blame yourself. I really do hate lying, but it just … seemed so much easier this way.”

  Daniel didn’t know what to say. He’d felt such shame about Louisa. He’d been carrying it around with him for weeks, and to learn now that she’d been lying all along …

  Just as he’d lied. She’d had her reasons just as he’d had his, misguided though they might have been.

  “It’s all right,” said Daniel. “I understand.”

  “Well,” said Rohan, “that explains our outlier. That’s good, because with such a small sample, even one statistical anomaly can be—”

  “Can it, Rohan,” said Mollie. “We get why you did it, Louisa. But why are you here now?”

  “I don’t like my powers. I hate them. But I don’t want those … creatures coming for Rose. If I can help you, I will.”

  “Of course,” said Daniel. “You’re one of us. Always.”

  “Can we go now?” asked Rose. “ ’Cause if we wait much longer I’m gonna have to pee again.”

  True to his word, Theo was waiting for them at the quarry. He joined them as Daniel opened his backpack to reveal flashlights, rope, and other pieces of equipment. It paid to be prepared when you were planning a late-night expedition to an abandoned quarry haunted by shadow monsters.

  “So, you guys do this sort of thing often?” asked Theo. “Like a tween spelunking club?”

  “Well, only …,” Daniel began. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

  “And I thought I was living dangerously taking my dad’s car for a joyride.”

 
“You were,” said Daniel.

  “And what do you think we’ll find? Old Uncle Herman in his super-villain’s hideout?”

  “I know it sounds crazy, Theo. But yes, I do. Him or something else. It’s possible we’re facing something we haven’t seen yet.”

  Theo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I gotta tell you, I know those things, those shadows, weren’t human. I mean I saw them with my own eyes, but I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around all this. How’d you handle it? When you first found out about all this … stuff?”

  “I handled it worse than you,” Daniel answered. “You’re holding it together much better than I did.”

  The older boy smiled at him. “That’s it. Appeal to my ego. I think you’ve got me figured out, Corrigan.”

  The Old Quarry didn’t look abandoned anymore. The layer of loose, broken rubble had been cleared away and a complex scaffolding of support struts had been erected to shore up the unstable sides. As the sun went down and the temperature dropped, small trails of steam started to rise from the diggers and dump trucks that sat cooling near the edge of the quarry pit.

  Soon the scientists would begin delving into the mountain proper, and Daniel knew what they’d find there. The only thing standing between Dr. Lewis and the Shroud’s lair was a few more feet of dirt and rock. Daniel was determined to get there first.

  They stood at the edge of the pit, seven children on a monster hunt. Eric out front, Mollie by his side. Rohan wasn’t even looking down at their destination—he was scanning the line of trees or perhaps looking for something even farther away. Behind him stood Louisa, who looked like she might be holding her sister’s hand. Rose had turned invisible before they’d even reached the mountain, so it was hard to tell for sure. Theo and Daniel brought up the rear several yards back from the others, maybe because they were the ones least trusted, though each for very different reasons.

  Eric gestured to the far side of the newly excavated quarry. “The caves were over there someplace, right?”