Chapter Nine
Shawn hummed to himself as he strolled down the sidewalk.
Today at the coffee shop, all his patience and planning had finally paid off.
When he’d picked up his coffee at the counter, he’d found a doodle from Nikki—a giraffe wearing five neckties—and a series of ten digits.
He’d stared at the numbers for half a minute, recognizing the format but not daring to hope.
Swallowing, he met her gaze. She looked at him, her blue eyes solemn, not mocking.
“Is ... this what I hope it is?” He tapped his finger against the inscription on the cup.
“My phone number,” she’d said simply. “You have it now.”
A grin captured his face until he felt he had to look like a crazy person, but he didn’t care.
“Awesome. I ... awesome!” After their awkward not-date three days before, he’d taken a step back, returning to his routine of showing up at the coffee shop, paying for drawings, and making polite but non-pushy conversation.
He could tell she wasn’t upset with him, but up until this moment, he hadn’t thought she was interested in taking things to the next level. Now, though, now he had digits!
He’d had to rush off to his last class, and by the time he’d returned to the coffee shop, he found she’d already gone home for the night.
No worries. He now had a gateway to Nikki in his pocket, and he planned to make full use of it.
He’d still picked up an Americano, enduring the teasing of Nikki’s co-workers about it not being as good since Nikki hadn’t made it.
He didn’t mind. In fact, he didn’t care if the whole world found out he was crushing on Nikki.
Of course, he’d also only drank about half the coffee.
The remaining half now sloshed in his cup as he swung his arms.
Feeling too restless to turn in for the night, he instead walked around the neighborhood until well after dark, trying to think of the perfect first text to send Nikki. Something fun and flirty, not aggressive, of course. A little open ended so she could easily dodge the advance if she wanted.
He now paused a few blocks from his apartment building, staring up at the dark night sky. He inhaled the cold air.
The starburst signal appeared above city hall, and Shawn’s coffee hit the sidewalk.
“Oh, come on, not now,” he moaned. He pulled out his smart phone and checked the time. Almost 9 p.m. He had a test tomorrow, and he’d planned to spend this evening cramming in one last good study session then maybe some text-flirting with Nikki.
He touched his chest. Since the first villain attack, he’d taken to wearing his DOSA uniform beneath his civilian clothes. That was just in case Apparition and Mythcreant popped up to cause trouble for Nikki, though. Not so that Mayor Pendleton could summon him like an errand boy.
He pulled out his phone. No texts from the mayor, and yet the stupid Surge Signal was undeniably on. He wondered if he should call in his DOSA back up, make them deal with whatever it was.
No, it’s time to tell the mayor where he can shove that thing.
Darting into a side street, he unzipped his hoodie and kicked off his sweatpants, revealing his dark blue jumpsuit. He shoved his civilian clothes into his backpack before pulling out his mask.
Outfit change accomplished, he wedged his backpack into a space behind a dumpster and kicked off the ground into the sky.
The air swooshed through his hair as he glided towards the source of the signal. Hopefully he could get through this fast. Even if he didn’t get time to study, he wanted to text Nikki before it was too late. After all, midnight texts were creepy, but ten? Eleven even? Nah, that was just friendly.
The town beneath him lay quiet and calm. No sirens. No screaming. No signs of an in-progress villain attack. Maybe the signal was a mistake? He paused on the rooftop of the building next to city hall and pulled out his phone again. No texts or calls. This was odd.
What if this is a trap? He craned his neck, examining the rooftop. There! A single figure paced next to the Surge Signal. Shawn grimaced. Yep, that was Mayor Pendleton all right.
Practicing his “DOSA employees aren’t Uber drivers. You can’t just summon one whenever you feel like it,” speech in his head, Shawn hopped the alleyway between the two buildings and landed a few yards from the mayor.
“Look, I told you not to light that thing.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “If you really have a supervillain problem, I’m not going in without DOSA backup, and for that you need to use official DOSA channels—”
The mayor stared at him. Was this man dense?
Shawn came a little closer, raising his voice to be sure the mayor heard. “You need to get rid of this thing.” He motioned towards the spotlight. “I don’t care how much it cost you, it’s ridiculous, and I’m not going to keep running every time you shine it in the sky, all right?”
The mayor tilted his head to one side. Somewhere in the distance a motorcycle buzzed through the streets. Then silence fell again.
Shawn cleared his throat. “Glad we had this talk.”
The mayor giggled. Not the low-voiced giggle of a man, but a high-pitched squeak. He clapped his hand over his mouth, eyes widening.
Shawn backed up a step. “What the—”
“Stop, don’t leave! I just want to talk!” The mayor held up his—her?—hand. Simultaneously, his appearance wavered before solidifying into the form of a young woman with black violet hair.
Apparition!
Shawn threw out his hands. A blast of energy hurtled from his fingertips, straight for the supervillain. She gasped and jumped, bouncing off the top of the Surge Signal. The signal swiveled beneath her to shine right in Shawn’s face. He grunted as the light attacked his eyes, blinding him.
He ducked out of the bright light and spun to face her again. She dropped to the ground and picked up something ...
Crap, is that a gun?
Shawn leaped into the air, but a net of wires exploded from her weapon and wrapped around him. The energy rushing through his veins short circuited, and he crashed to the ground in a humiliating heap.
She stomped towards him. “I said I just want to talk! Why don’t men ever listen?”
“Sorry if my first response to an ambush isn’t, ‘oh, goodie, it’s time for a chat.’” Shawn struggled against the netting. He tried to pull up his powers but was overwhelmed with a sickening sensation. His head spun as he tried to suss it out.
Some sort of disruptor tech. So ... no powers here. Need to find another way to free myself.
A pair of booted feet settled before his face, and he twisted to stare up at Apparition.
Talk. I can talk. I’m good at talking.
“Uh, hey, so what exactly did you want to talk about?” He laughed uncomfortably.
“You’re in danger,” she said. “There’s a supervillain stalking you.”
“Yeah, and I think she might’ve just caught me.” He frowned. Was this some sort of weird cat-and-mouse game?
“No, not me,” she replied. “Mythcreant. He uprooted us just to come here and hunt you down.”
Shawn nodded slowly. It fit with his observations. His father had even seemed to suspect it. Of course, it still didn’t make sense.
“What’s his problem with me?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” She fidgeted, bits of mist shooting from her hands and curling around her fingers as they tapped against her thighs.
“At first I was going along with it because he’s the boss, you know?
He’s always called the shots, but I’ve come to realize I don’t want to hurt you.
In fact, I kind of the opposite of want to hurt you.
” Her cheeks reddened. “I want to ... I want ...”
“Untie me and let me go?” he prodded.
Her nose wrinkled. “Could you stop getting stuck on the whole ‘tied up’ thing?”
“I mean, it’s kind of a big deal.” He glanced meaningfully down at the wires holding his arms in place.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a baby. My dad used to tie me to things and time how long it took me to escape. When I was six. You’re going to be fine.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Holidays must’ve been really interesting at your house.” He squirmed into a sitting position, still awkward but better than lying on the floor staring up at her like a drowned worm.
“We didn’t really do holidays,” she mumbled.
Shawn froze. Something in her tone struck him as familiar—unnervingly familiar. He searched her face. There was something he was missing here. Something important.
“Okay, so you don’t want to hurt me, but Mythcreant does, so you lured me here using that stupid spotlight and—now what? Seems if you just wanted to warn me, you could’ve found an easier way to do it.”
“I don’t just want to warn you.” Her voice and posture tensed. “I ... I’m going to show you something and ask you not to freak out, okay?”
“Sure.” It wasn’t like this night could get any weirder.
She stepped back slightly. “You promise? Open mind, don’t jump to conclusions—”
“I get it. Let’s get this over with.” Even if she wasn’t about to attack him, every muscle in his body itched over how vulnerable he was right now. If Mythcreant wanted to take him out, now was the perfect opportunity.
Apparition closed her eyes, exhaled, and shimmered. Her hair seemed to catch fire from the roots as a brilliant red overcame the black and purple. Her features shifted revealing a waifish face with big, sad blue eyes and a smattering of freckles.
Shawn’s jaw clenched. “Yeah, you can shift into people I care about. You already showed me that, remember?”
“I’m not shifting into someone you care about.” Her words came out clipped as if they hurt to say.
Oh, man, she even sounded like Nikki.
“I didn’t shift at all. I unshifted. This is me, the real me.”
Her words hit Shawn like a slap in the face. He stared numbly at her for a moment before anger heated his chest. “I don’t believe you.”