by Lucas Flint
“This suit is pretty fancy,” I said, patting my suit. “I always knew that superheroes get cool costumes, but I didn’t know just how cool they were.”
“They’re a necessary part of the business,” said Adams. “In the old days, most costumes were simple homemade things that needed constant repair from the fights that superheroes got into. Super Apparel was the first company to begin to actively market to superheroes and now the superhero costume business is a thriving industry much like any other. Some superheroes even own or have stock in certain companies.”
“Does Rubberman own a superhero costume company?” I said.
“No, he does not,” said Adams. “He has, however, considered starting his own at some point, although given all of the other projects he has on his plate at the moment, I think it unlikely that he will turn his attention to that any time soon.”
“Right,” I said. “Well, what do I do now? Are we going to see the other levels of the Elastic Cave?”
“Not yet,” said Adams. “Most of your work will be on Level One, so you don’t need to see the other two levels right now. Mr. Pullman specifically told me that you do not need to see them yet.”
“But if I’m going to be working here, then shouldn’t I get to see them?” I said. “You know, to make me familiar with the Cave’s layout and stuff?”
“You will see them in time, Mr. Fry, but for now, you must limit your activities to Level One,” said Adams, “until you receive permission from Mr. Pullman to see the next two Levels.”
I sighed in disappointment, but then said, “Okay, so what are we going to do instead?”
Adams opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a voice from the other side of the room said, “We’re going to get you started on your training.”
I looked over and saw Rubberman walking toward us. His proportions were normal now, although he did seem slightly taller than he should have been, as if he was stretching himself a little. I wondered if Rubberman was naturally short and he used his powers to make himself look taller. That’s what I’d do if I had his powers; it’d probably help me get more attention from the girls.
“Mr. Pullman?” said Adams in surprise. “What are you doing out of your study already? Mr. Fry’s training session is not scheduled until after lunch.”
Rubberman waved off Adams’ surprise. “I got my work done early, Adams, so I decided to get started on Alex’s training right away. That way, Alex will have the rest of the day to learn about the other things he will need to do while working here. Besides, I’ve been sitting in front of a computer all morning and really need to get some exercise in so I don’t become as stiff as a board.”
“What other things do you need me to do?” I said interestedly.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” said Rubberman. “By the way, what do you think about your costume? It looks like it fits.”
“Yeah, it does,” I said. I put my hands on my helmet. “But I don’t understand why I need a helmet.”
“To protect your secret identity and to keep your head safe in the heat of battle, of course,” said Rubberman. “Remember, if someone finds out about your secret identity, you will have your license revoked, so make sure that you never leave this Cave without it.“
“Why don’t you wear a helmet, then?” I said. “Doesn’t that leave your head exposed?”
Rubberman punched the side of his own head, causing his head to rock back and forth for a second. “I’m a rubber man, so I can handle pain better than you. And speaking of fighting, let’s get your training session started. I want to see how well you can fight and where you need to improve if you’re going to fight criminals and supervillains with me some day.”
CHAPTER FOUR
In contrast to the rest of the Cave, the Rubber Room was totally bare. It was nothing more than a large, wide-open room with bright florescent lights shining down on us. The floor was soft under my feet; it wasn’t exactly rubber, but they clearly had used some kind of padded material for the floor, as well as for the walls and ceiling, from what I could tell.
The floor had a large square painted on it in the center. Two small boxes had been painted on either end of the floor, boxes that Rubberman and I stepped into, which kept us an equal distance apart. According to Rubberman, he had designed this square in order to help us stand in the most optimal places for the training sessions. I wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘optimal,’ but I figured Rubberman knew what he was talking about, so I didn’t question him about it.
As for Adams, he stood off to the side in a small metal box protruding out of the wall near the entrance. That was apparently where visitors could watch training sessions; the box was designed to handle all sorts of attacks, because superhero training sessions had a tendency to cause a lot of collateral damage even when the superhero in question was being careful about using his or her powers. I could tell that the box had been through some pretty tough times, if the dents and scratches along its surface were any clue. I had no idea where the bullet holes or burned spots were from, however, because I was pretty sure that Rubberman didn’t use a gun or own a flamethrower (unless he had some other powers he wasn’t telling me about, that is).
“Okay, Alex,” said Rubberman, putting his hands on his hips and drawing my attention to him. “Or I should say Beams, since that’s your sidekick name.”
I grimaced. “I still don’t like it.”
“You’ll just have to get used to it,” Rubberman replied, “although I’ll call you Alex for this training session. Out in public, though, we go by our superhero names only.”
“Because we don’t want our licenses revoked,” I said. “Right?”
“Partly,” said Rubberman. “A superhero’s identity doesn’t need to be secret, but a sidekick’s does, according to the law. Also, it really helps for brand recognition.”
“Right,” I said. “Brand recognition. Gotcha. So what will we do today?”
“We’re going to test your powers first,” said Rubberman. “You didn’t show me them during your job interview, but I understand that you can shoot laser beams from your eyes.”
“Yeah,” I said. “They’re pretty powerful, too. I almost blew up a car with them once.”
“And how long have you had them, exactly?” said Rubberman. “I know you told me during your interview, but I can’t recall it at the moment.”
“Six months,” I said after a short hesitation. “I haven’t used them very much, though, because they’re so destructive.”
“Six months,” Rubberman repeated approvingly. “Interesting. Most sidekicks don’t have powers, so I’m curious to know why you decided to become a sidekick and not your own superhero with powers like those.”
“I’m sixteen,” I said with a shrug. “I’m too young to start a business. Besides, I just want to save up for a car, since I’ll be going to college when I turn eighteen and I’ll need some wheels to get around.”
“You’re never too young to start a business,” said Rubberman, wagging a finger at me in a joking manner. “When I was your age, I was already on my second business. But I understand. The superhero business is a hard one to break into and not everyone is cut out for it. Heck, even being a sidekick is difficult and not for everyone.”
Rubberman said that last sentence with a note of sadness. I wondered if he was thinking about his previous sidekick, which made me wonder what the heck happened to that guy. Rubberman had mentioned firing him because he was ‘lazy,’ but that didn’t seem like something to get sad about.
Regardless, I said, “Now that we’re done discussing my life choices, can we get onto the training now?”
“Not yet,” said Rubberman. “How much training have you had with your eye beams?”
I shuffled my feet. “Uh, like I said, I haven’t used them much and I don’t know anyone who could train me, so I’ve never had any real formal training using my eye beams.”
“I figured as much,” said Rubberman. “Most superheroes usual
ly learn their powers on their own without any guidance or mentors. At least in the early days of the industry, that was the case, but many superheroes today started out as sidekicks, just like you, and learned the business from older and wiser people than they.”
“Really?” I said. “I didn’t know that.”
“Sure,” said Rubberman. “That wasn’t how I got started, but many of the big players got their start that way. Mr. Star, for example, used to be the sidekick of Phantom before striking out on his own and making it big, although some sidekicks merely inherit an already-existing business and use the superhero name of their mentor. For brand recognition, you understand, and because it’s easier than starting their own.”
I nodded, but then a thought occurred to me. “Does that mean that I could become the next Rubberman someday?”
Maybe I was imagining things, but Rubberman did not look very pleased when I said that. “Perhaps. I have no interest in a successor at the moment, but maybe in the future I will. It depends on whether you do a good job as a sidekick or not.”
I nodded again, but I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to become the next Rubberman. He was a really rich and successful superhero, after all; if I took over his business, maybe I wouldn’t need to go to college at all. Maybe I would be so rich that I could even just sit back and relax and never have to work another day in my life. I didn’t become a sidekick with that goal in mind, but if that was a genuine possibility, then I had to give it some serious thought. If I played my cards right, I could become Rubberman’s successor.
“Now, I would like to see a demonstration of your powers first,” said Rubberman. “I want you to blast a target with your eye beams.”
“Target?” I said. I looked around at the bare room. “You don’t mean Adams, do you?”
“Of course not,” said Rubberman. “Here, let me show you what I want you to hit.”
Rubberman pulled a remote control out of his pocket and pressed one of the many buttons on it. Immediately, a portion of the ceiling slid away, revealing a hole, from which a simple red and white target board lowered. It came down in front of the wall to my right, hanging from a robotic arm very still.
“Just shoot your lasers at that,” said Rubberman, gesturing at the target. “Don’t worry about hurting anything. I’ve got a million of those target boards in storage, so if you end up utterly destroying it, I can easily replace it.”
I gulped. I distinctly remembered what happened the last time I had fired my eye beams. The stench of burning metal, the huge explosion, the cries of shock from my family … No one had gotten killed, thankfully, but it had been such a terrifying experience that I wasn’t so sure I wanted to use them again. Of course, maybe I should have thought about that before I became a sidekick.
It was too late to quit now, however; and besides, that had happened because I didn’t have control over my powers. And what better way to gain control over my powers than through steady practice? Dad always said that practice makes perfect, after all.
I turned to face the target. Although I hadn’t used my powers in a long time, I still remembered how to use them. I focused intently on the target, staring at it so hard that I forgot about everything else.
Heat began to build up in my eyes; it was an uncomfortable feeling at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I wasn’t sure why my eyes didn’t burn up when I used my powers; I figured that the serum I drank must have made other changes to my body to make sure that I wouldn’t go blind the minute I tried to shoot lasers from my eyes.
Finally, the heat became unbearable, so with a shout, I unleashed a blast of energy from my eyes at the target. I heard a loud roar all around me, followed by the target literally exploding. And not only did the target explode, but the entire robotic arm holding it up blew up as well, sending chunks of metal and wiring flying everywhere. The explosion tore through the wall behind it and the floor below it, leaving smoking craters on both.
I had put my hands over my head when the explosion happened, but when I looked at my body, I saw that I had only gotten some dust and ash on me. Other than that, I had not been hurt, although there were a handful of small cuts along the costume that exposed my skin, though none of them were big enough for me to worry about.
I heard a grunt and looked over at Rubberman. He was still standing where he had been moments ago; however, his body was now stretched and twisted in all kinds of weird ways. He looked kind of like a human pretzel now, but I realized he must have contorted his body like that to dodge the debris from the explosion.
I didn’t know how to read his expression. He looked shocked, but also maybe a little angry. Was he really so surprised at this that he couldn’t speak? I thought he would have seen far more impressive displays of powers from other superheroes before, but I really was that special.
“Uh, I’m sorry,” I said. I glanced at the smoking remains of the robotic limb, which hung limply from the ceiling. “You wouldn’t also happen to have a million extra robotic limbs lying around, right?”
Rubberman suddenly shook his head, like he was trying to regain his bearings. As his body returned to its normal proportions, he said, “With that kind of power, I’m surprised that you almost blew up a car. Any car hit with that much energy wouldn’t be much better off than the robotic limb.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking down at my feet. “I didn’t mean to destroy the entire thing. I just—”
“Was that at full blast?” said Rubberman, interrupting me as if I hadn’t said a thing. He sounded less angry and more curious.
That made me think it was safe to look up at him. Rubberman had his hands on his waist, but other than that he didn’t look upset. He stroked his chin with one hand, as if my powers had piqued his curiosity. Maybe I wasn’t going to get fired after all.
“Yes,” I said. I rubbed the back of my head. “I don’t know if the refracting visor made it worse or not.”
“Why did you fire it at full power like that?” said Rubberman. “Can’t you control the strength of your blasts?”
“No, I can’t,” I said. I tapped the side of my helmet. “Like I said, I haven’t had much practice. I don’t really know how to control it.”
Rubberman continued stroking his chin. “Interesting. Not surprising, but interesting.”
“Not surprising?” I said. “What do you mean?”
“Most people don’t know how to control their powers at first,” said Rubberman. “When I first got my powers, I would sometimes twist my arm so much that I wouldn’t be able to untwist it without severe effort. Thankfully, I had a mentor who helped me figure it out.”
“But you said that you didn’t start out in the superhero business as a sidekick,” I said.
“You can have a mentor without being a sidekick, you know,” said Rubberman. “Anyway, it looks like we’ll need to figure out how to control your powers first. Specifically, we’ll have to work on helping you control the intensity of the blasts; I can see several situations where being able to shoot a pinpoint beam of energy at a target could be useful.”
“Am I going to get paid for this training?” I said.
Rubberman nodded. “Yes. And because this is going to be extra training, I will pay you time and a half for every hour I train you. We’ll devote about an hour each day to training your powers; the other hours we will spend on other things.”
I couldn’t believe it. First day at work and I was already making time and a half? James would be jealous.
“Let’s try that again,” said Rubberman as the robotic arm retracted back into the ceiling; I was surprised it was still functioning after that. “For the next hour or so, I will have you shoot targets, but you should try to control the intensity. Make each blast slightly weaker than the one before it.”
“Won’t that end up causing damage to the Rubber Room, though?” I said.
“That’s the point of the Rubber Room,” said Rubberman. “Besides, Adams is very good at cleaning up
after a training session, so when you come back to work on Monday, it will look like—”
Rubberman was interrupted by a loud ringing noise coming from his person. He immediately pulled a phone in a Rubberman-branded case out of his pocket, glanced at the number, and then answered it, saying, “Hello, Chief Williams, what’s the problem?”
I couldn’t hear what the voice coming from the phone was saying, but based on Rubberman’s darkening expression, I doubted it was anything good.
“I understand, officer,” said Rubberman. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Don’t let any of your officers directly engage him. He will kill them.”
On that ominous note, Rubberman hung up the phone and looked at me with an unusually serious expression. “Alex, I’m sorry, but we’ll have to postpone your training. I have to go.”
Rubberman was already heading toward the door, so I quickly followed him as I said, “What? Why? What was the call about?”
Rubberman stopped and turned to look at me, his expression even more serious than before. “A supervillain is attacking Golden City and I have to stop him. Alone.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Alone?” I said as Rubberman, Adams, and I exited the Rubber Room and emerged into Level One. “Why can’t I come with you? You might need backup. That’s what sidekicks are for, after all.”
“Too risky,” said Rubberman, shaking his head as he walked across the room toward the elevator. “You’re not ready for prime time yet, Alex. You will need to stay here while I go deal with this guy.”
“But my eye beams are pretty powerful,” I said as we stopped in front of the elevator. I gestured at my visor. “I could blow him into kingdom come easy.”
“That is precisely what we are worried about,” said Adams, causing me to look at him in confusion.
“What Adams means, Alex, is that you need to stay here,” said Rubberman as he pressed a button labeled ‘LEVEL TWO.’ “Fighting supervillains isn’t anything like the movies make it out. There’s collateral damage, pedestrians, laws regulating use of force, and a whole host of other things you need to take into consideration when fighting even a generic street thug. And the laws for sidekicks are even stricter.”