by Lucas Flint
I almost told Christina that I had almost had the Watch for a week, but had switched out the words at the last minute in order to avoid giving her that kind of information. The less information Christina had, the less she had to work with.
"So what?" said Christina. "As long as you have the Watch, there's always the chance that it could be stolen and used by the wrong people. So I'm going to ask you nicely to give me the Watch. If you do that, I'll let you go without any further fuss and you can go back to living your normal life, whatever it is."
I bit my lower lip. Even if Christina wasn't working for the Injectors, that didn't mean I could trust her. Given how she had already lied to me once about her true nature, I didn't trust her claims about her organization working for the greater good. Likely they were just as criminal as the Injectors, just in more refined or less obvious ways.
"She's with Icon," said TW in my head.
"What?" I said aloud.
Christina frowned. "What?"
"Uh, nothing," I said quickly. "Just thought I heard you say something."
"She's with Icon," TW said again. "That's who she's working for."
"Icon?" I said in my mind. "You mean the organization that is holding Grandfather prisoner?"
"The one and the same," said TW. "I recognize her. She looks different from the last time I saw her ... longer hair, for one ... but I remember seeing an Icon agent with the same face as her when Gregory broke out of their prison. They probably sent her to get the Trickshot Watch back."
"Great," I said sarcastically. "What should I do about her?"
"Not give her the Watch, for one thing," said TW. "She may think that Icon is working for the greater good, but in truth, Icon's motives are far from pure. I don't know for sure what they're trying to do, but I do know that Gregory risked his life to send out the Watch in order to stop them."
"I suspected as much," I said. "Still, it's not like I can free myself. She's got me in a pretty tight bind at the moment, one that even my super strength can't break. Unless you've got a plan, it doesn't matter why Icon wants the Trickshot Watch back."
"I've got a plan, but it will require that you get close to her," said TW. "I'll let you figure out how to do that."
I tried to ask TW what his plan was, but he wouldn't respond to anything I said. It annoyed me that TW was not letting me in on his plan, but I decided to trust him for now and see if I could get Christina to pull me closer to her. After that, I would just have to trust TW to have a plan to escape from her that would actually work.
"Fine," I said to Christina. "You can have the Trickshot Watch back if you want."
For the first time since I'd seen her, Christina looked genuinely surprised. "What? Really?"
"Really," I said. I shrugged. "You've clearly got me in a bind here. I can't free myself and you are not going to let me go just because I asked nicely. It would be a waste of time for me to fight you, so you might as well take the Watch and leave."
Christina eyed me suspiciously. "That's a rather abrupt change of attitude from the defiant kid you were earlier."
"I may be cocky, but I'm also smart," I said. "I know when I can win and when I can lose, and I will definitely lose if I keep fighting you."
Christina smiled. "Well, I guess you're smarter than I thought after all. Very well. I'll just bring you closer to me so I don't have to walk over there and get the Watch myself."
The energy rope began retracting toward Christina, dragging me across the grimy wood floor at a surprisingly fast speed. I kept a neutral look on my face, hoping to avoid tipping Christina off to the fact that not all was what it seemed. Luckily, Christina seemed to be so eager to get the Trickshot Watch from me that she didn't even seem to consider that this was all a trap.
As soon as I was close enough to her, Christina reached down toward my wrist with a triumphant look on her face. Just as her fingers brushed against the surface of the Watch, TW suddenly said, "Surprise!"
A bright flash of light exploded from the Watch. My goggles protected my vision, keeping me from going blind, but Christina shouted in surprise and stumbled backwards. The sudden bright light must have shattered her concentration as well, because the energy rope dissipated as soon as she shouted. I jumped to my feet and immediately flew toward the boarded up windows, intending to smash directly through them in order to escape.
But just before I could smash through them, I felt two ropes wrap around my ankles and stopped in midair. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Christina had fired two energy ropes at me, which were wrapped firmly around my ankles. Even though I was pulling with all of my might, Christina was somehow not budging even one inch from where she stood.
"Nice trick with the flash there," said Christina, blinking rapidly, probably to get rid of the tears in her eyes. "But I'm not going to let you get away that easily."
Christina yanked her ropes back. I fell back a few feet, but still strained to fly forward. But as long as Christina held onto these ropes, I was not going anywhere. It was only a matter of time before I either ran out of energy and gave up or Christina did, but given how determined Christina was to get me, I might give up before she did.
But if Christina wanted me, then she could have me.
I immediately turned around and flew toward Christina, rather than away from her. A shocked look appeared on Christina's face, but she was too slow to dodge my attacks. I slammed into her with my shoulder, sending Christina flying backwards into the back wall, where she smacked into it and fell onto the floor, where she lay unconscious.
As soon as Christina lost consciousness, the energy ropes around my ankles disappeared and I turned and flew away toward the window. I didn't even hesitate to smash through the window and out into the city itself, flying in a random direction away from Christina's apartment as fast as I could.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"See?" said TW in my head as I flew away from Christina's apartment. "I told you that Icon was after you. I was right."
"I didn't say you weren't," I said as I flew. "No need to brag."
"I know, but I still felt like doing it anyway," said TW. "One of life's greatest pleasures is to brag when one is right about something. At least, that's what I learned from my time with your grandfather, anyway."
"You should have learned another lesson," I replied. "Anyway, I need to land and get my bearings because I have no idea where I am."
I landed on top of a nearby apartment building and quickly hid behind the large air conditioning units on the roof. I didn't think Christina was going to come after me anytime soon, but the last thing I needed was to be spotted by someone, even if that person wasn't associated with either the Injectors or Icon, because that would be a good way to get both of those organizations' attention on me.
"All right, TW," I said, glancing at the Watch. "How far away am I from my parents' house?"
TW flashed into existence next to me. That was when I noticed that he was even fuzzier around the edges than before, which worried me, because I remembered what TW originally told me about how he didn't have much time left.
"We are about five miles south of your parents' house," said TW. He pointed north. "If you go directly north, you should reach your parents' house in less than five minutes, especially if you fly at top speed."
"Thanks, TW," I said. "I can't even imagine what must be going through their heads right now. They haven't heard from me since last night. I bet they have every cop in the city looking for me. Hell, they're probably leading the search themselves. I wouldn't put it past them."
"Then why did you decide to stop on this roof?" said TW curiously. "Wouldn't it be better to fly straight home to show them that you are okay?"
I leaned against one of the air conditioning units and sighed. "Yeah, but I can't do that without telling them that I'm Trickshot, and I still don't feel like telling them that yet. I need to come up with a good excuse for why I went missing, one that they won't question."
"The longer you stay
missing, the more worried your parents will become," said TW. "And the harder it will be to convince not just them, but the police, of whatever story you come up with, because I guarantee you that the police will want to talk to you, especially if your parents have called them to let them know that you're missing."
I groaned. "Yeah, I know. You wouldn't happen to have a believable cover story, would you?"
"I was about to suggest that you tell them that you were kidnapped by Christina Madison, but then I decided that that might raise more questions than answers," said TW.
"No, that's actually a good suggestion," I said. "My parents and the police already know that Christina is not actually a detective. If I tell them that she also kidnapped me and held me hostage in that apartment back there, the police will be on her trail, which will make it harder for her to come after me. It's even technically true."
"Well, I'm glad you appreciate one of my suggestions," said TW. "But I am doubtful that it will stop Christina entirely. Icon agents are incredibly ruthless and determined. If you put up a wall in their path, they'll blow it up and use its remains to bash you over the head to make it easier to kidnap you."
"It's not meant to stop her for good," I said. "It will just make life more inconvenient for her. She might even leave me alone, at least until I beat the Injectors and am able to devote my time to dealing with her."
TW folded his arms in front of his chest. "Perhaps, but it is still distressing that Icon is here. I knew they would come to Rumsfeld eventually in search of the Watch, but I didn't think they'd send an agent so soon. They must want the Watch even more than I believed."
I glanced at the Watch. "Christina said they wanted the Watch because of its destructive power, because they didn't want it to fall into the 'wrong' hands. What did she mean by that?"
"Nothing good," TW said dismissively. "Icon doesn't actually care about good and evil. They just want to keep powerful objects like the Trickshot Watch to themselves for their own purposes. It would be foolish to take anything they say too seriously."
I nodded. "You're probably right. Still, this is pretty bad if you think about it. Not only are the Injectors after me, but so is Icon. And all because of this tiny little watch I got in the mail for my sixteenth birthday."
"You don't seem particularly upset about it," said TW.
"Why should I be?" I said. I puffed out my chest. "I'm Trickshot. I can take care of myself."
"You certainly took very good care of yourself against Lethal Injection," TW observed, "which is why, of course, the costume had to remove literal poison from your body."
"So what?" I said, folding my arms in front of my chest. "I didn't know what I was up against. Next time I fight that guy, I'll know all of his tricks and he won't be able to pull a fast one on me."
"If you fight him again," said TW. "Perhaps the Injectors won't send him after you again."
"Why not?" I said. "He's the only Injector who has even been a challenge to me so far. He's probably already looking for me again even as we speak."
"I still wouldn't suggest actively seeking him out," said TW. "You should resume your training before you do something reckless like this again. Otherwise, your next encounter with Lethal or any of the other Injectors won't end any better than this one."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," I said, waving off TW's concerns. "I'm more worried about what my parents may have done when they realized I'm missing than whether I'll be able to beat those Injector idiots."
TW rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "You are very frustrating to work with. I am trying to help you learn how to control your powers, but you are so reckless that I often wonder what the point is."
"Sorry for not being the perfect little student," I said. "I just want to defeat the Injectors, and maybe Icon, too, but definitely the Injectors. I've already got a pretty good hang of my powers. I doubt I need much more training."
"Oh, you are going to need far more training than you have already received if you are going to be able to defend Rumsfeld from the threat Gregory warned of," said TW. "I don't care how much talent you may have for these powers. If you are not going to learn how to use them, then you might as well not use them at all."
I sighed. "Listen, TW, I know that you're just trying to follow the last order Grandfather gave to you, but you don't really seem to understand why I am the way I am. I'm not against training. I just prefer on the job training against actual bad guys versus what we were doing in the warehouse, you know?"
"You need both," said TW. "But fine. If you want to go and put your life in danger because you don't think you need proper training, then so be it."
With that, TW flashed away, leaving me alone on the rooftop wondering what I said to make TW so upset with me. I tried to talk with him in my mind, but he wouldn't answer any of my questions. I might as well have been talking to myself for all the good it did.
But whatever. I had no idea that an AI could get so emotional, but it didn't really matter. Maybe TW just needed a time out until he calmed down and could act a bit more rationally. Besides, I was getting tired of talking to him, especially with the knowledge that if I didn't get back home soon, my parents would probably tear apart the whole city looking for me and maybe even take down the Injectors themselves if they thought they had me.
So I flew into the air and headed north, just as TW said, though I could not help but feel a little guilty about the way I spoke to him. I just hoped that TW would not stay angry at me forever, because as much as he annoyed me, I really was going to need his help to master my powers in the coming weeks and months.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Luckily, I ran into no other problems on my way back home. That was partly because I didn't fly all the way back. Yes, it was fairly early in the morning, but with the sun rising and people on the streets of Rumsfeld going to work and school, I would risk being spotted flying to my parents' house by hundreds of people. And if anyone saw me land in my parents' back yard, my secret identity would be toast.
Instead, I landed in a discreet back alley, took off my costume, and took a combination of walking and public transportation to get back to my neighborhood. Though I got a few odd looks from random people on the streets or on the bus due to the fact that school was in session, no one really paid that much attention to me. To the average person, I was just an ordinary teenage boy traveling on the bus back home. Not a single person I saw even suspected I was Trickshot, which was exactly how I wanted it.
As I suspected, my parents were worried sick when I stepped through the front door and announced that I was back. Mom nearly hugged the life out of me, while Dad demanded to know where I had been overnight and if I had been in danger. They told me that they had called the police to report I was missing as soon as they noticed that my bed was empty and that they had spent all morning calling up friends around the city to find out if anyone had seen me or knew where I was.
I told my parents exactly what I told TW I was going to tell them: namely, that 'Christina Madison' had kidnapped me in the middle of the night and took me to an abandoned apartment complex on the south side of Rumsfeld, where she intended to hold me hostage for money. Of course, I managed to escape through one of the windows when Christina wasn't looking and managed to make my way back home not long after that.
Thankfully, my parents believed every word I said. Dad even promised to call up the police and tell them to call off the search now that I was back home safe and sound. Dad also said he would tell the police about Christina and where she had kidnapped me. I didn't object to that, mostly because I hoped that Christina would still be out cold by the time the police arrived and would therefore be unable to put up a fight when they tried to arrest her.
So I went up to my room to rest and made my parents promise to leave me alone so I could get some shut eye, because I hadn't gotten any sleep last night. Dad, however, insisted on standing guard outside my room just in case Christina tried to get me again. It seemed unnecessary to me, because I
didn't think that Christina would try to kidnap me again so soon after her first attempt, but I didn't object to it. If it made Dad feel better, then I was not against it.
In truth, however, I didn't really need to sleep. I only went back to my room because I needed to do some research. More specifically, I needed to do some research on Icon, because I was curious to learn more about these people. I guess I could have asked TW, but he still wasn't in the mood to talk and I wasn't sure when he would get over his hurt feelings, so I did an Internet search to find out about them.
Sadly, my Internet search didn't show up a whole lot of results. There was the Wikipedia article about iconography, a website for a local business called Golden Icons which specialized in making golden statues for sporting events, and various other things with the word 'icon' somewhere in their title, but I didn't find anything on the actual organization itself. Guess I shouldn't have been surprised. If Icon was as secretive as TW said it was, then it only made sense that I wouldn't be able to find out about it from a public Internet search.
So I slept well that night and the following morning found myself sitting in the passenger's seat of the car, with Dad at the wheel, taking me to school himself this morning. I insisted that I didn't need him to drive me and that I would be okay just taking the bus, but Dad still insisted that I would be safer driving with him. I guess Dad was still worried about the bus attack, as well as Christina, even though the Injectors probably weren't going to attack the bus again and Christina was either in police custody or on the run, depending on what the police found when they raided her apartment.
But Dad was impossible to argue with once he made up his mind, so I just sat quietly in the passenger's seat of our four door sedan, staring out the window at the houses as we drove by them quickly. Dad drove much more carefully than usual, his eyes darting this way and that as he tried to keep an eye on everywhere at once, probably keeping an eye out for any Injectors who might be nearby.