My Dear Supervillain

Ron extracted her face from the desk. What a hangover… Whatever else she did last night, calling Ranvir Radovan was a really dumb thing to do. Maybe she'd gotten something off her chest, but dang, calling a superhero to vent? And after that, she stumbled home and watched soap operas, neglecting her homework, until she conked out on the couch. At least she'd had the presence of mind this morning to bring an audio recorder to class. There's no way she'd make it all the way through lectures today.

I'm not doing well this quarter… Damn you, Mystic.

The clock struck 11:30. Just 45 minutes to go. Ron needed to go home and sleep…

“Psst! Ladrona!” somebody whispered in her ear. Ron looked up to see May, her dumpy little classmate, sitting at her side. “You look ready to pass out! Need a jolt?”

Ron's head fell back onto the desk. “You'd better be talking about caffeine or B vitamins.”

“I'm talking about a jolt.” May touched Ron's hand. Ron jumped up with a squeak as a weak electric current passed through her body. Her hair instantly puffed up. May smiled and pulled her hand away, cutting off the current. “Are you awake yet?”

Ron shook herself and tried to fix her puffed-up hair. “Pain doesn't cure hangovers,” she sniffed. It hadn't hurt that much, but it certainly didn't make her feel any better. “Jeez. You should know better than to use superpowers in public.”

May got out a piece of gum with her left hand and scribbled some notes with her right. “It's not like I can generate enough electricity to be a hero or villain, so why should I hide it? So I can hold a light bulb in my hand and have it light up for me. Big deal.” She fell silent and focused on the professor.

Ron tried to focus on the lecture but failed. Her mind was wandering all over the place. After class, she had plans to go join the protest. They were gonna picket against the EnerCrystal industry's plans to build mines in America. The last mine wiped out the last of the marsupials, and they wanted to build another? They'd have to dig it out from under Ron's dead body…

The professor was talking about criminal law, of course. But what part of it…?

Ron's head hit the desk. She was out again.

“Ring, ring, phone call, ring, ring, phone call, ring, ring, phone call…”

“Answer the call,” Leo commanded the terminal. He scrubbed furiously at the dirty pan in the sink. Forget everything. Forget everything.

The voice of the caller filled the room. “Hey, Leonardo.” Leo didn't have to glance at the screen to see who it was. That voice belonged to Ranvir, and judging by his serious tone, he must've heard about what happened with the Sparkle-chan girls.

“End transmission,” Leo snapped at the terminal. The sound cut off instantly. “Fark… I gotta remember to ask for caller ID before answering.” Leo stuffed the pan into his barely operational dishwasher.

The house terminal began singing again. “Rings, ring, phone call, ring, ring, phone call, ring, ring, phone call…”

Three guesses who that was. “Answer it,” Leo snarled, whirling to face the image of Ranvir on the phone screen. “What?!”

Ranvir's stare seemed awful heavy. “How's life?”

“I'm alive,” Leo pointed out. “And sometimes I wish you weren't! Vanishing off the face of the Earth isn't enough to—” Leo choked on his own tight vocal cords. “Why are you calling me?”

“I'm worried about you.”

“Why? I could destroy this whole city if I wanted to! And all I have to do is raise my voice…” A muscle jumped in Ranvir's cheek. “Lucky for the people of Antiopolis, I have higher priorities.” Leo held up a dirty plate in demonstration. “Washing dishes and flipping burgers, for example. See? I'm doing normal, rational things, like any normal, rational person. I'm doing fine.” Leo put more dishes in the dishwasher.

Ranvir frowned at him. “You look terrible.”

“Well! If that's how you feel, you should've dumped me a long time ago!” Leo slammed the dishwasher shut, kicked it, and turned his back on Ranvir. “End transmi—”

“It wasn't your fault,” Ranvir said quickly. Leo glanced back and swallowed thickly. “There are always accidents in hero work. If powers weren't dangerous, villains wouldn't have to be stopped, now, would they?”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Leo whispered.

“I see. Then there must be some other guy called Wailing Wonder who killed Green Sparkle-chan in an act of self defense yesterday afternoon.” Leo made a funny sound that could've been a laugh. “I watched the news footage. It wasn't your fault, Leo, and you can't let this drag you down.” Leo couldn't look at Ranvir. “You always knew your powers were great. It was really just a matter of time until something like this happened.” Ranvir sighed and smiled at the back of Leo's scruffy blond head. If he were really there, he'd mess up Leo's hair, just because it felt nice between his fingers. “I had a similar experience once. There was a burning skyscraper, there were people stuck inside on the top story, and a flying man was just passing by… You do the math. But my cape caught on fire and I ended up dropping the person I was trying to save.”

Leo glared at Ranvir through the corner of his eye. That's not even close to what happened to me…

“So, believe me when I say I know what you're going through. For a long time after the accident, I couldn't even look at my turban without feeling sick. I thought I was a failure, that I didn't deserve powers and didn't deserve to call myself a hero. It took a long time for me to feel confident enough to try again, but I'm glad I did. I'd like to think I made Antiopolis a better place to live.”

“I bet that person's family and friends didn't swear to get bloody revenge on you.” Ranvir's eyebrows shot up at that. “The Sparkle-chans are really mad at me. Not just because I squished Green, but also because Nightshade and I ruined their little act with Dungman. I overheard Princess Sapphire Sakura Sparkle-chan complaining about how much his hospital bills and bail will cost her. But she still plans on having a nice staged battle against Dungman some day, even though they'll have to find a new Green Sparkle-chan to replace the one I broke…”

Ranvir stroked his goatee anxiously. “Do you mean to tell me that those magical girls are supervillains?”

“Yeah. I was a bit surprised too when I overheard Princess's plans. They want to give me a reason to scream.”

Ranvir groaned and fell onto his chair. “This is more serious than I thought. Magical girls are EnerCrystal mascots. If you reveal that they're villains, you'll have the wealthiest and most powerful corporation in the known universe trying to take you down.”

“Ya think?” Leo glared at his grubby counters and began to scrub at them with a metal brush. “It doesn't really matter. Nightshade hates me, and now the Sparkle-chan girls do too, so I've probably already made myself an enemy of EnerCrystal. But I'll stop all those villains and more, you'll see. I'll find a way.” Leo lifted a paper off the counter and paused. It was a coupon for a month of free training at a local gym… “That's it! Training. I need to train my powers!”

“Slow down, Leo,” Ranvir pleaded.

“No, really, I should do it!” Leo's mind was suddenly abuzz. “All I ever learned from you was how to be a good sidekick. A few morals here and there. How to mend costumes. But I know I can do more with my voice than just scream and break things! If I could just find a secure place where I could practice—”

Ranvir jumped to his feet. “No, Leo. There is no secure place for you to practice. You'd bring the building down on yourself.”

“So maybe I could rent a boat and practice on the ocean?”

“And cause tsunamis on every continent around you?” Leo swore and tried to think of any secure places to practice, but nothing really came to mind. “It's foolish to consider this, Leo. Even against villains, you always held back. I don't know what you can do at maximum volume, but it can't be pretty.” Leo almost smiled. A small part of him was proud of the dangers he posed. “Just save your lovely singing voice for Nightshade. Go ahead and practice on her if you like, but make sure you don't get buried in the process. You don't want to cause any more deaths, do you?” Leo bit his lip and scrubbed the counter, deep in thought. Ranvir broke out in a cold sweat. “Leo, tell me you don't want to kill people.”

A very odd smile formed on Leo's face. “You know what? Maybe I do. Nightshade, Princess Sapphire Sakura Sparkle-chan, and you… Yeah, there are a few people on my hit list. So I suggest you stay there on Ganymede, where I can't scream your head off.” After a moment's reflection Leo added, “While I'm plotting murder, we could sure use a new manager at Gwendy's. Hmm, and the country could use a new president, too.”

“That's trauma talking, not you,” Ranvir said sharply. “You're just upset, and you're feeling guilty about Green Sparkle-chan, and you're full of doubt and regret. I'm sure you hate yourself, but you're not a murderer. You were only involved in an accident, one where you'd be dead if you hadn't acted first! Are you even listening to me? You are not a murderer.”

Leo set down his rag and stared at Ranvir's face in the phone. “What makes you think that?”

Ranvir frowned. “I think I would've noticed if you were a murderer.”

Leo frowned back. “Don't you remember when we first met?”

“How could I forget?” Ranvir laughed. “What a battle! Morpho had transformed into an evil copy of myself and we were duking it out at Central Square. He was even better with the sword than myself, and I thought I wasn't gonna make it… But you showed up out of nowhere and screamed his illusion away, and I knew right then and there that you were meant to be my sidekick!”

Leo groaned and turned on the coffee pot. “That was the second time we met. The first was a couple months before that.” Ranvir looked lost. “You really don't remember? Just forget it. Forget I said anything at all. Forget I exist.”

“Tell me, Leo.” Leo scowled and poured a cup of coffee. “I'm not dropping this. You can't imply that you've committed murder and expect me to forget it.”

Leo added sugar and stirred his coffee pensively. There were a lot of things he'd never told Ranvir, a lot of things he'd never told anyone. He had more powers than just screaming and blowing things over. He knew why Valerie's sickness had yet to claim her life. And there was darkness in his past; he wasn't the innocent little sidekick he'd pretended to be after meeting Ranvir. He'd always kept his mouth shut because the truth could be dangerous. He never dug up the past. But he thought for sure that Ranvir had remembered him from the first time they met. When used his powers to help Ranvir in his duel against Morpho, he thought Ranvir had made a connection between the destructive wail and the way they'd first met… But it appeared not.

Leo took a slow sip of his coffee. “Zolberg High School, eight years ago, November 12^th. The building collapsed with all the students inside. Remember that?”

Ranvir stared skywards and thought hard. “Yes. That was about a year after I became a superhero… You were there?”

“You pulled me out of the rubble. Out of the epicenter of the rubble. All the support beams and furniture had been blown away from me. You didn't notice? You didn't find that suspicious?”

Ranvir sat back down in his chair and tried to wrap his mind around Leo's actions. “You wouldn't have knocked down your own school. You told me yourself that high school was the only time in your life when you had friends.”

“That's true. I loved my school, I loved my friends, I loved my teachers… And I loved Casey Grissel, too, even if he didn't love me back.” Leo smiled brightly even though his stomach was doing back flips. Oh God, I can't believe I have to tell him this. I can't believe I'm actually saying this. “When you pulled me out of the rubble, I was crying, and nobody could blame me for that. Seven hundred sixteen students died, over a thousand were injured… and they would've gone home safe and happy if Casey Grissel hadn't called me a sick fag and punched me in the guts. I had no idea at the time that telling him to drop dead would actually make him do it. That was the day I discovered my powers, the hard way.”

Ranvir buried his head in his hands. Why didn't I connect the dots? “You… you didn't tell anyone?”

“I'm not stupid, Ranvir. I didn't want to go through the modern witchcraft trials, trying to prove I'm not a supervillain.” Leo looked around at his kitchen. It was spotless, to Leo's dismay. He wanted something to clean, something to distract himself from this conversation. “They were both accidents— Green Sparkle-chan and the school. I managed to go eight years without an accident, but yeah, it was only a matter of time. I'd like to make sure it doesn't happen again. I need to find some way to train my powers.” With nothing else to look at, Leo focused back on Ranvir. “You're not going to rat me out, are you? I'm trying to be a hero, not a villain.”

“I…” Ranvir tangled his fingers in his hair. “I don't know what to think now.” The unbidden thoughts reeled through his head. Leo's too much like Nightshade.

“Crikey, Ranvir. I thought you already knew these things, but I guess you didn't recognize me when I saved your butt.” Leo rested against the counter and stared determinedly at his shoelaces. “I can't honestly call myself a hero yet, since you're the only person I've ever saved. But I'm trying! I've been trying so hard…” Ranvir was having difficulty concentrating on Leo's words. He was too busy weighing his former sidekick's actions. “Look, all you need to know is this: I'm fine, and I'm gonna stop the villains, and I don't need your help. You already made the decision not to be part of my life, so stay out. End transmission.”

The screen went black.

Leo stomped into his room. Something skidded under his feet. Glancing down, Leo saw the ring Ranvir gave him when they parted. Leo took the little ring in his hand. So shiny… I have to get over him. I have to forget him. Leo's hand burned beneath the ring, like a vampire touching a crucifix. I can't keep this anymore. What do I do with it? I can't just get rid of it, but I can't stay like this forever! He cursed his own weakness and took the ring to the one place where it wouldn't be disturbed.

He hid it under the pillow on Valerie's dusty bed. “And now, for the hard part… Forgetting it ever happened.” His throat felt awfully tight as he trudged out of the room. He couldn't even look at the door. “Computer, password lock Valerie's room. Set the password to… Ladrona.”

“Wake up!”

“Muh…?”

“C'mon, Ladrona, class is over!”

“Zuh… class?” May grabbed Ron's hand and flooded her with electricity. “GAAAAH!” Ron pulled away and aimed a slap at May's giggling face, but the culprit ducked away with a twinkly laugh. Still shaking with shock, Ron glanced below her to make sure the shadows hadn't reacted to her pain. “Argh! May! Don't do that! People die when I'm in pain!”

May only rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I'm sure they do. Class is over, by the way.” Ron rubbed her tired eyes and groaned as she realized she'd smeared her makeup all over her face. May smiled apologetically. “You've been doing really bad this quarter. Maybe you should drop a couple classes and get your life together.”

“It's as 'together' as it's ever gonna get…” Ron put her stuff away and followed May out of class. “Thanks for the agonizing electrocution, by the way. What d'ya say we walk into a dark alley so I can return the favor?”

May smiled obliviously. “If you're talking about the Dark Alley Café , I'm game. I love mocha.”

Ron had completely forgotten about that place. “Ugh, fine. But I warn you, their mocha sucks.” She had a couple hours before the protest would start, so getting coffee wasn't a bad idea. Besides, apart from the occasional zapping, May was fun to be around.

The two wandered away from the university, gossiping cheerfully about celebrity affairs. At least, that's what May was doing. Ron mostly listened as May rattled on about her favorite media icons. “So Anya goes on tour, right, and while she's in California she hooks up with Mikey Tortle, a married man. But they broke up before the week was over. Then Anya goes to Nebraska and hooks up with some lesbian called Lixie Prewett, who's also married. And as soon as Anya gets to New York, BAM! Mikey and Lixie divorce their wives and marry eachother! The nerve! So now Anya's single and she gained twenty pounds, and her music's sucked ever since.”

Ron yawned. “If my ex married my current romantic interest, I'd be too busy plotting murder to sing.” That, and she'd be very alarmed, considering that her ex was dead.

“Oh, totally,” May continued. “Did you hear about Dawn Shian's baby? It's one of those ironic miracles. Born completely paralyzed, but he's developing telekinesis, so he can move anyway! Isn't that a funny twist?” May continued to babble away about celebrities. Ron yawned and daydreamed of caffeine. Five more blocks to the café … she wasn't awake enough for May's celebrity trivia. “Hey Ladrona, where are those funny rumbling noises coming from?” Ron's head hung tiredly. I'll never make it to the café… “Seriously, Ladrona, they're getting louder…”

“Is it your stomach rumbling?” Ron sighed. She felt sleepier than ever. Did it suddenly get warmer?

May grabbed Ron by the arm and threw her to the pavement. “OW!” Ron jumped back onto her feet and glowered at May, who lay flat on the ground with her hands shielding the back of her neck. “What do you think you're doing?!” Something was making Ron's hair stand on end. The air was crackling all around her.

“Get down!” May squealed. She grabbed Ron by the ankle.

Pain suddenly shot through every nerve in Ron's body. She didn't have time to scream before she fell, convulsing, to the sidewalk. Sparks danced before her eyes, and she couldn't tell if she was facing the sky or the pavement, but everything was getting whiter and whiter and it hurt to touch the air and it hurt to move and it hurt to hold still. Ron couldn't think clearly, but she knew this had to be a violent electric shock, and she knew that only May could be responsible.

Shadows punched May right off the ground and slammed her into the wall of the shop beside them. Ron choked in a breath of air as the blinding pain ceased, but her muscles still spasmed beyond her control. She couldn't get her fingers to uncurl. She did note, however, that she was facing the sky. “Y—you're a vicious, lying bitch, May,” Ron grated out. “Not enough electricity to be a hero? I think you've got all the voltage you need.” All Ron could see was the sky and the top of a building, but she could feel May kicking and struggling as the shadows began to crush her body into the wall, focusing on her ribs.

“Let me go!” May sobbed hysterically. Ron could vaguely hear the sounds of panicking people all around as she pressed May harder. “It wasn't me!”

Ron regained the muscle control to uncurl her fingers. Now, to try and sit up again… “Why are you trying to kill me?”

“It—wasn't—me!” There was a sudden crackling noise all around them. Ron sat up just in time to see a middle-aged woman in a yellow hero suit jogging past, hurling lightning bolts all around. What was she aiming at? Ron looked more carefully. The heroine seemed to be aiming her lightning bolts at a mass of heat waves that rolled down the street. So that's what electrocuted me. I was zapped by a hero chasing an invisible villain.

May made a crunchy gurgling noise. Ron glanced back to her classmate, whose face was purple. Ron tried to let go of May, but the shadows didn't respond. May wasn't kicking anymore… The crunching sound came again. It was May's ribs! Ron jumped onto her feet and focused on the shadows, willing them to release the plump scholar. “Drop her, drop her, drop her!” Ron commanded herself, anxiously repeating the mantra. The shadows receded only a little bit. “Argh… May!” Ron stumbled up to her and tried to manually pull the shadows away, but her fingers went through the shadows like air. “Drop her… drop her…!” May's bugged-out eyes were rolling back into her head. “DROP HER!” Ron yelled desperately.

The shadows vanished. May crumpled to the sidewalk. Ron fell beside her and felt for a pulse…

There was a blast of heat in Ron's face. She glanced up and saw the lightning-chucking superhero charging a big blast through a blur of heat waves. The invisible villain was practically on top of Ron and May! “WAIT!” Ron waved her arms frantically at the heroine. “Don't shoot!”

Too late.

There was a split second of pain before Ron's world of color suddenly flashed white and fell into darkness.

Leo banged his head on the window. “Ma'am—”

“I'm not paying for your poisonous sandwich!”

“Ma'am—”

“I told you I'm deathly allergic to bread, beef, cheese, and mayonnaise!”

“Ma'am—”

“You won't get my money, you, you CRIMINAL!”

“Ma'am—”

“Let me talk to you manager!”

“Ma'am, he's not—”

“No excuses! Your manager, NOW!”

Leo took a deep breath. The manager wasn't even here today. He wasn't even the one that made the stupid sandwich! What to do…? The enraged customer couldn't see him through the wall. Leo glanced around to make sure nobody was paying attention to him, cleared his throat, and focused on his manager…

“This is Kevin speaking. How can I help you?” Leo asked in a perfect imitation of his manager's voice. Copying voices, and any other noises at all, came along with his super powers. It was another one of those things that Ranvir didn't know about him; that he could sound like anyone, from the president to Godzilla.

“Your little minions tried to poison me!” the woman snarled. “I expressly told them I was allergic to bread, beef, cheese, and mayonnaise!”

Leo kept his Kevin voice and sighed. “Miss, there are no other ingredients in our burgers. We can replace your order with chili at no charge, if you like.”

The customer snorted loudly. “That'll work, I guess…” Leo smiled. Disaster averted!

When the lady drove away, Leo was happy to assume his own voice once more. A new customer was at the window. “Welcome to Gwendy's! May I take your order?”

“BURGER!”

… Fark.

Ron's eyes drifted open. A white ceiling… Ron stared at it, unthinking, half conscious. Her body ached dully. There was something wrong with the ceiling. Ron blinked and tried to figure out what was different. The light. The light was coming from the left, and the shadow of the curtain wasn't ridged. This isn't my bedroom!

Ron sat up and found herself shackled to a hospital bed with a bubble-shaped forcefield around her. “Oh, NO…” She also observed that her body was completely covered in swirling shadows, that she was currently Nightshade. “No, no, NO…”

“She's awake,” someone said. Ron looked to her left and saw a nurse standing on the other side of the forcefield. In the chair next to her, a police officer peered at Nightshade over his coffee. Officer Simon Chambers, Nightshade realized with a sinking heart. This is very, very bad.

“Morning, Nightshade,” Simon greeted her. He nodded to the nurse, who scurried out of the room in a hurry. That left only a cop and a supervillain in the room. Officer Simon tugged off his hat and fanned himself idly. “I thought I'd never meet you, dude. I was so sure Wailing Wonder would get t'ya first.”

“Too bad, officer,” Nightshade croaked. Her throat was very dry. “How is she?”

Officer Simon frowned. “The hero that shocked you? She's doing great. She even got two villains for the price of one.”

“Not her… May. The girl I was with.”

“Ohhhhhhh… The girl you crushed.” Officer Simon took an exceptionally large gulp of coffee. “You crushed her pretty good, dude.”

“Is she alive?” Nightshade persisted. The cop chugged the last of his coffee and poured a refill from his thermos. Nightshade knew that meant bad news. That makes fifteen murders. Nightshade tried to think without emotion, but it was like swimming against the tide and water began to flow from her eyes. “Fifteen murders. Fifteen goddamn murders,” Nightshade said tightly.

“Is that so?” Officer Simon asked quietly. “We thought it was eleven. Can you name—”

“Fifteen!” Nightshade cried. “Fifteen murders! Is no one safe? I barely knew her, and she was so—” Nightshade choked on her own tongue and tried to keep her voice lower. “… She… she was so nice to me. But she had electricity powers, so when I got shocked, I thought she was the one trying to kill me, and— and—” She couldn't finish that sentence. She was glad Officer Simon couldn't see her tears, but he could probably tell she was crying anyway. “I can't plead self defense, can I? You're gonna execute me just because my powers look evil.”

“No way, dude. If you're getting executed, fifteen counts of murder and 34 charges of theft and 48 charges of terrorism will be the reason.”

Nightshade blinked away her tears and sniffed angrily at the forcefield around her. “I want a lawyer,” she whispered.

Officer Simon touched a panel on the wall. The forcefield dissolved into the air. Nightshade blinked in confusion as the cop pulled up his chair to sit beside her bed. “I'd offer you a donut if your hands weren't shackled.” Nightshade couldn't believe this guy. First his nonsense at the fair, now this? Just how low would he drop his guard?

“Officer… I could make it sixteen murders.”

“If you wanna sound innocent, you gotta try a little harder,” Officer Simon informed her. He sank his teeth into his donut and chewed it thoughtfully. “Besides, you can't kill me.”

“Just watch me!” Nightshade's shadows broke the shackles almost effortlessly. They reared up and hurled themselves toward the cop, who only took another bite of donut as he was enveloped in darkness.

“That tickles,” Officer Simon pointed out. Nightshade groaned and tried to concentrate on crushing him, but nothing was happening! Nothing at all! “Seriously, dude, you're gonna make me choke on my donut.” Inspired, Nightshade tried jamming the donut down the cop's windpipe, but not a crumb would budge out of place.

“Why—?!” Nightshade gasped. “Why won't it work?!” She withdrew the shadows from the unharmed officer and tried knocking the chair out from under him. Her shadows passed harmlessly around the chair legs. “What's wrong with me…?”

“Nothing.” Officer Simon yawned and used Nightshade's hospital bed as a footrest. “Nothing but the regular side effects of being struck by lightening. If it's any consolation, I can't directly affect you either… But that's got more to do with regulations than actual powers.” Officer Simon held out a donut for her. Nightshade swiped it out of his hand and sniffed it suspiciously. “Dude, if we were gonna poison you, we'd have done it when you were unconscious… I was hoping we could talk about your upcoming adventures.”

Nightshade was too confused and horrified by her predicament for this. “What are you?”

“I'm a Dungeon Master,” Officer Simon stated calmly, as if that explained anything. Nightshade quirked an eyebrow in confusion. “Think of it this way… I'm a storyteller, telling the story of reality itself. But it's also my job to be a sort of referee, to keep characters like you on the right track so the story progresses at a reasonable pace and stays interesting for all the parties involved.”

Nightshade's eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me you're God?”

The cop set down his donuts and stood to stretch. He looked more serious now than she'd seen him before. “No way, dude. I'm not God. I'm not the only Dungeon Master, either. We can't control everything. Fate and chance can still destroy the things I've worked so hard for. Dude, my plans are already falling apart. One bad roll of the dice, and here you are, locked up in a hospital! What kind of Dungeon Master would let the game end before it even began?” Nightshade took a small bite of donut and listened carefully, trying to figure out just what this weirdo was talking about. Simon Chambers slumped back into his chair. “I know, I know, it doesn't make much sense. But you play a crucial role in my plans, and I can't let you be executed. The game starts now. Gathering the party will be the fun part, but once the four of you assemble, you'll each have a part to play. You have to go home, and you're going to meet another party member on your way there. It's too bad I have to start this campaign by breaking the rules. Want another donut for the road?”

Despite her confusion, Nightshade picked up some key words in Officer Simon's inane babbling. “You're letting me go?!”

“Me? Of course not! How could I let you escape when I've been at home watching television with my wife all day?” Simon winked. “She's totally cool, dude. She'll say anything I want her to. She's an NPC.”

“Whatever that means…” The cop rolled his eyes, moved his chair back to its old position, and headed for the exit. “You're not going to turn the forcefield back on? That's very incriminating. The nurse knows you were here.”

“Hmm? The nurse is also under my control, and I never turned the forcefield off. I don't have the authorization codes. Lucky for you, its batteries have run out at a very convenient time. Good luck, dude.” The cop vanished out the door, leaving a stunned Nightshade sitting on a hospital bed and clinging to a donut.

Leo tossed his green suspenders onto his orange shorts. He was more annoyed than exhausted. Normally, after work, he would read comics and wait for Ranvir to either get home or call for sidekick backup. But Ranvir was gone, and Leo was out of unread comics. He still hadn't thought up a way to train his powers without killing people.

If only I could figure out some sort of system for catching villains in the act! I'd be off fighting crime and getting my name on the news. He had no idea how to do it. He couldn't fly around and survey the city from above. He didn't have a satellite watching for him. He didn't have teammates patrolling around with his number on autodial. He didn't have a car. He didn't even have a working hoverdisk. Maybe I could join one of those hero groups that have a specialist finding the villains… Like the Herd of Heroes, or the Masked Mob, or perhaps the exclusively gay Love League… If he were a woman, he'd have already joined the Pink Brigade, half of whose merchandise proceeds were donated to breast cancer research.

Leo plunked himself onto the couch next to the giant purple gorilla he'd won at the fair. There wasn't enough room in Leo's room for George, as the gorilla had been tentatively named. “G'day, George,” Leo greeted his gorilla with false cheer. “Have you had fun staring at the wall all day?” George didn't answer, thank goodness. “Now, what am I gonna do? I'm all out of comics, I've got no boyfriend to cook for, I'm at a dead end in the hero business…” Leo looked at the gorilla and recalled the other toys he'd won at the fair. “That's right! I've gotta give Valerie her gifts! Thanks for the advice, George.” He gave George a hug and went to gather some toys into the Santa Sack.

Leo stuffed in the robot, the fish, the dancing bear… He was about to stuff in the big bunny, but he hesitated. There really were a lot of toys, more than Valerie could keep in her hospital room. Some of these couldn't go. Maybe he could keep a few more for himself, but…

Leo snuck into Ron's nearly empty bedroom and placed a few toys on Ron's pillow. That should make her smile… Leo gave the toys a rare smile of his own before putting on his sneakers and heading out the door.

Nightshade waited about ten minutes before getting out of the hospital bed. She'd been thinking about how to get out. Officer Simon had lowered the forcefield, and she already broke her shackles, but that didn't guarantee her safe escape. This room had no windows to leap out of, and she didn't know where the nearest exit would be. The only possible escape involved her walking right out the door, which would probably trigger some sort of alarm. Oh well, villains do as villains must! Nightshade headed to the door. Out of spite, she carved a few harsh words into the wall before fleeing her sterile prison quarters. A quiet beep was the only sound as the door shut behind her. Maybe the door didn't trigger an alarm after all!

A passing nurse, carrying a little tray loaded with tiny cups of juice, took one look at Nightshade and shrieked, “SECURITY!” Nightshade took the liberty of bashing her skull with the tray and took off running, hopefully towards an exit of some sort. There were no signs to guide her. The hallways were blocked by forcefields at fifty foot intervals. This hospital was designed like a prison, designed for treating dangerous individuals like Nightshade.

“FREEZE!” a deep voice boomed from down the hall. Security goons… Nightshade glanced back and saw that they were armed with stun guns.

“Oh, please,” she groaned. “Is that all you got?” She ensnared their feet with her shadows and allowed herself a wicked chuckle as they fell flat on their faces. It looks like no more security goons are on their way… A doctor walked out of a nearby room, glanced up at Nightshade, and locked himself back from whence he came.

Nightshade chose a random door and dove through it, shutting the door behind her. She found herself in a small room with a strong musty smell. This looked like a patient's temporary living quarters, and it looked like the patient had been here for a long time, if the pile of books by the foot of the bed were anything to go by. Someone lay comatose on that bed, hooked up to all manner of mysterious machines, breathing in shallow, rattling breaths. It was just a little girl with messy blond hair. Something seemed awful familiar about her… Nightshade dragged her eyes away to more important things, like the fact that this room had a window.

Nightshade gathered up her shadows into a giant fist and punched at the window. The shadows went right through it. For a moment, Nightshade thought it was the same effect she'd seen with Officer Simon, that her shadows were suddenly ineffective… But then she remembered that her powers had a major drawback. The shadows passed through glass and transparent things just like light. While she could reach through a window to unlock a door, she couldn't actually break glass with her powers! She searched the window for a latch or opening and found none. To her further dismay, she found that the glass was bullet-proof and reinforced with a sturdy wire mesh.

“Are you Nightshade?”

Nightshade whirled around. Nobody was in the room with her… Nobody but the little girl. She's not as comatose as I thought. “I am Nightshade,” the supervillain said stiffly. “And if you call security, I'll break the window open with your skull.”

“Really?” The girl's lips moved, but the rest of her was still as death, eyes unopened.

“Sweetheart, people can do some really scary things when their lives are in danger.” The girl opened her soft brown eyes and watched as Nightshade scratched at the window frame in vain.

“Are you really in danger?”

“Yes, I am! If I don't get out of here, I'll be executed!” Ron tried to dig a shadow wedge between the glass and the wall, but she couldn't force the two apart. “And it just happens that I really don't wanna die yet!” Ron kicked the wall in frustration.

A loud knock came at the door. Nightshade scurried into the corner and hid behind a curtain as a security goon poked his nose into the room. “Hey, you! Girly! Seen any supervillains?”

Nightshade crossed her fingers. Don't turn me in, kid. Don't make me hurt you.

“Not today,” the girl said quietly. She coughed meekly. “Could you open the window for me? It's really musty in here…” The security goon grunted and pushed a few buttons on the key pad by the door, and he made his way out.

The window slid open. Nightshade had a clear shot towards freedom! She scampered to the window and swung her left leg over the ledge.

“Wait,” the little girl coughed. Nightshade paused. “I helped you, so you gotta help me.”

Nightshade looked at the city below. Her head reeled— it was way too far to the ground! Fighting back her sudden vertigo, Nightshade turned back to the little girl. “Kid, I'm a villain, not a hero. And right now I'm too busy running for my life to help anybody.” She tried to pluck up her courage to completely step over the edge, but it was difficult. This window was at least ten stories high. When she faced Mystic, she was too high on victory to care about heights, but this time her senses were holding her back.

“But Nightshade, our goals are the same. You're Wailing Wonder's arch nemesis!” Nightshade bit her lip. This girl was distracting her. “If anyone can beat some sense into the Wailing Wonder, it's you. You're crazy strong, I know you can nail him! But you're also kinda pretty, so I thought…” The little girl trailed off.

“What exactly do you want me to do?” Nightshade asked.

“I want you to convince Wailing Wonder to be a supervillain. Either that, or kill him. Slowly.”

“What?!” Nightshade could hardly believe what she'd heard. “That's just vicious, kid! You've been watching way too much television! What did Wailing Wonder ever do to you?!”

“It's his fault I've been stuck here for years.” The girl pouted angrily. “Weren't you planning on killing him anyway? Isn't that what supervillains do?” She suddenly burst into a bout of coughing. It sounded like there was a lot of fluid in her lungs.

Nightshade took a deep breath and swung her other leg over the windowsill. She dangled over the edge by her shadows, sweating like a pig, trying to steel herself for a long drop. “You shouldn't wish such things on anyone, even if they hurt you.”

The girl stopped coughing and cleared her throat. “I overheard the doctors telling my brother something about me having only two months to live.”

“… Oh. I'm sorry, sweetheart.” Nightshade finally let go of the window, but instantly panicked and grabbed onto it again before she fell. Dang it! She straightened her hair and pretended she'd done that on purpose. “Er, anyway, thanks for getting the window open for me. What's your name, kid?”

The girl's brown eyes fell shut again. “Valerie Peller.”

Nightshade felt a cold rage stirring in her blood. This was Leo's beloved sister. Leo mentioned that she was sixteen, but she looked like she was only eleven! And she'd been here over four years, dying a slow death, because of the Wailing Wonder? “I'll kill him,” Nightshade whispered coldly. “Don't you worry about that.” Emboldened by rage, she let go of the window and dropped to the ground, escaping the hospital and justice once more.

Valerie fell asleep with a smile on her lips.

When Ron got home, she could hardly contain her anger and confusion. She paced in the kitchen, trying to sort out fact from presumption. According to Leo, Valerie had been sick in the hospital for about four years. He never specified what ailed her. According to Valerie, Wailing Wonder was the reason she'd been hospitalized. No, those weren't her exact words… Wailing Wonder was the reason she was stuck in the hospital all those years. That didn't add up at all. How could Wailing Wonder make someone chronically ill? But it didn't make sense for Valerie to lie about it, either.

It had to be a plot for revenge, but what was the trigger? Somehow, that whiny little sidekick must've done something horrible to Valerie Peller. It had to be horrible if she wanted him dead. Dead, or a supervillain. Now, that was even more confusing. Ron couldn't see any way Valerie could possibly benefit from Wailing Wonder joining the dark side.

Ron realized with a start that her shadow was shaking. “Calm down,” she commanded herself. “Calm down, Ronnie, calm down… I am calm… I am in control of the things that matter the most…” She remembered May's unfortunate fate and forced the past out of her mind, not allowing emotion to dominate her. “I am in control. I am in control of myself, I am in control of my powers… I am calm…” Her shadows still wobbled like a kid hyped up on caffeine and sugar. “Huh. Maybe I am in need of tea and a nap.”

“Room 217! Peller? Wake up, Peller!” Valerie opened her eyes at the nurse's call. She stood over Valerie, blocking her light, with a huge smile painted onto her face. “You've got a visitor, miss Peller! Isn't that sweet?”

“Hey, Val,” the familiar voice of Leo echoed to her. He was seated at her left, looking as exhausted and scruffy and stressed out as ever.

“Hey, Leo,” Valerie croaked.

The sexy nurse smiled back and forth between them, a gesture as fake as the smile of a doll. “I'll leave you two alone.” She bustled out, wagging her foxy tail behind her.

Valerie refused to look at Leo. She would've turned her back on him, if she didn't have all these needles sticking into her flesh all over her body. Leo tried several times to break the silence, but words didn't want to form in his throat. He stared at his humble shoes and pulled the Santa Sack from his pocket.

“Well,” Leo finally said awkwardly, “I, er… missed you.”

“Get out,” Valerie snarled.

“I brought you some presents.”

“Is that your idea of an apology?” Valerie's frail fingers curled up into a sad parody of a fist. “You think you can just walk in and be buddy-buddy with me again after you threatened to shut off my life support?”

“You know I wouldn't actually do it…”

Valerie still refused to look at him. “You were going to pull the plug on me. You hate me, I know you do! You never visit anymore! It's been months! The only human contact I ever get is when the nurse comes in every two hours and asks if I want any orange juice! Or when the doctors come in and tell me my next operation is being postponed because they're still waiting for your payment from the last one… What the hell have you been doing that's so much more important than my life?”

“I've been busy,” Leo snapped in self defense. “Busy trying to pay your bills. I've been working my ass off for you!”

“And busy getting your ass handed to you by Nightshade!” Valerie finally turned to watch him. They shared their father's eyes. “If you really wanna be a hero, save me. You've got the power. You can rob a bank and never have to worry about hospital bills again.” Valerie coughed thickly into her blankets. “Nightshade would probably help you if you asked her.”

Leo swallowed thickly. “No.”

“Just do it, Leo. Find Nightshade and ask her, 'Please help me to rob a bank. ' I'm sure she'd do it.”

“I can't do that.”

“Yes, you can. And you will, because somewhere deep down, you still care about me.”

Leo's head hurt. This was the reason he didn't visit Valerie anymore, the reason why he'd threatened to cut off her life support. Every time they spoke, it was the same argument over and over, and Valerie seemed more convinced every day that the funds for her operations couldn't be obtained through legal means. Every plea for help was a plea for him to break his moral code, and a large part of him was afraid that he'd give in. “I'll find a way to get the money somehow, but I'm not gonna go robbing banks…”

Valerie turned away from him again. Her breath rattled as she whispered, “I'm running out of time.”

“You're not going to die,” Leo said firmly. “I'll find a way, alright? We'll get through this.”

“You've been saying that for years! Admit it, you've given up on earning money the honest way. You're not even trying anymore!”

Leo grabbed Valerie by the chin and forced her to look at him. “I haven't given up on anything. You're the one that's given up on me, on my ability to help you. I am not a thief. I'm not gonna compromise everything I believe in just because you've given up on me. Once I'm a respected superhero, I'll probably be able to get some cash out of it. I'll sell action figures, or something like that. Things will work out in the end. You'll see.”

Tears were welling up in Valerie's eyes, but they weren't tears of hope or even sadness… Leo could see the hate in her youthful features. “You will never be a respected superhero!” Valerie suddenly choked. She lurched up into a sitting position, pulling out some of her intravenous needles in the process, coughing spasmodically. Leo reached out to steady her and got punched in the face for his efforts. Valerie couldn't stop coughing into her hands.

Leo clutched his bloody nose and glared at his sister, waiting for her to stop coughing so he could berate her. She didn't stop. Leo glanced at the clock and watched seconds tick by. He found himself quite concerned after two minutes of ceaseless coughing. “Uh, Val…?” He tugged her hand away from her mouth and saw that it was full of a red-tinged frothy slime. Valerie snapped back her hand and kept on coughing. Her skin was looking a little blue… Leo's heart jumped up into his throat. He dashed to the door and called out to a passing nurse.

“Problem?” The nurse snapped waspishly.

Leo glanced back at his sister. “She's coughing up bloody fluids again and she's turning blue!”

The nurse grumbled something obscene. “Looks like we'll have to start flushing her lungs twice daily instead of just once. This won't be cheap.” Leo grimaced, but he allowed the nurse to release the locks on Valerie's bed wheels and take the coughing teen away.

“Leo,” Valerie wheezed as she was wheeled past him. “You— you ARE gonna save me, r-right?” She was gone before Leo could think of an answer.

Leo was left sitting in an empty room; empty except for a menagerie of machines, a pile of books, and a window with a view of distant skyscrapers. A chilly breeze blew in the evening rain.

“I'm trying,” Leo said to no one.

Ron was in the middle of a bowl of noodles when Leo tromped in the front door, treading water. “Hey, Leo,” Ron greeted him with a noodley slurp.

“G'day,” Leo mumbled. He kicked off his soggy shoes and collapsed onto the couch, using George the gorilla as a pillow. All he wanted to do was watch TV and forget about Valerie, but his mind was all about money. It was getting more and more expensive to keep Valerie alive, but Leo didn't have the time or energy to get a second job…

At the same time, a thought struck Ron. I could just ask Leo if Wailing Wonder has anything to do with Valerie! Trying to sound casual, Ron asked, “Hey Leo… What do you know about the Wailing Wonder?”

If she'd been watching Leo's face, she might've noticed his eyes bugging out. “He's, er… He used to be Mystic's sidekick. He's got a sonic wail and he wears a lot of blue and yellow.” It took a lot of effort to keep his voice from getting squeaky. “Why do you ask?”

“I dunno.” Gotta come up with a good excuse! “You just seem to act funny whenever he's mentioned, so I thought you guys might have a history.”

“We don't,” Leo said firmly.

Ron poured out some of the excess water from her noodles. “Did he have a history with Valerie?” She was watching him carefully this time, and now she noticed how very tense he'd become.

Leo stood and faced Ron with a rather hard expression on his face. “Look, Ronnie. I don't know what you think you know, but there's nothing to know. Wailing Wonder is a superhero. I'm just a fry cook. Valerie's just a sick girl with problems. We've got nothing to do with him. Nothing! Got it?” Ron could feel the tension radiating from Leo. For the first time ever, she felt a little afraid of her house mate. There was something entirely wrong about his reaction to her questioning.

“There's no need to get angry,” Ron said quickly.

“There's no need to accuse me and Val of anything, either!”

“I wasn't accusing you of anything…”

Leo instantly went from defensive to calm and collected. “Okay, good. We're on the same page.”

Ron nodded and watched Leo settle back onto the couch. She knew she'd already pressed him too far for comfort, but her curiosity was trying to melt holes in her brain. “So… what's wrong with Valerie, anyway?”

“Val has—! Argh!” Leo buried himself in George's fluff. “I don't wanna talk about her, okay? Let's watch a movie.”

Ron made an educated guess. “You guys are fighting!”

“… Yeah.” Leo's head emerged from George's purple fluff. The bags under his eyes seemed darker than usual. “She doesn't think I can pay for her operations, and the thing is, I don't think I can either…”

Ron saw a button and pushed it. “Does she think Wailing Wonder can help?”

“What is your obsession with Wailing Wonder?! I told you, he's got nothing to do with us! Nothing to do with anything! Television, power on! Volume 35!” Ron covered her ears as the news reports boomed through the house.

Well, this conversation is over… Ron seized her noodles and fled to her room. Leo is definitely hiding something. He knows something about Wailing Wonder. Maybe what happened at the fair wasn't the first time Wailing Wonder had popped up and rescued Leo? Maybe he knew Wailing Wonder personally? It sure sounded like he hated the superhero. What if…

Ron nearly dropped her noodles. What if Wailing Wonder is Leo's ex-boyfriend? That would explain so much! It explained why Leo suddenly needed a house mate, as soon as Wailing Wonder struck out on his own to be a superhero. A bitter breakup would explain Leo's angry denial of involvement with the superhero. It even explained Valerie's murderous intentions! Oh, Leo, I always knew you had bad taste…

Ron suddenly noticed the stuffed animals arranged on her bed. “Oh, Leo…!” Shock instantly became glee as Ron scooped up the big bunny plushie and bounded out to the couch. Leo gave her a baleful stare, but Ron was too psyched up to care. “Thank you sooooooooooo much!” she squealed. “You have no idea how badly I needed something to hug! Oh, thank you, thank you!” Words were failing her, so she pressed a kiss to Leo's stubble-ridden cheek and danced back to her room, bunny in hand.

Leo touched the kiss mark on his face. Ron had to go and smear her lipstick all over him, didn't she? “Yeugh… women.” Leo wiped off the makeup with his shirt.

Still, he couldn't help it but smile. At least I did one thing right today. I made Ronnie smile.