Behind the Scenes

“BRI!” I screamed through the hallways. Sabrina Wilson is the best and worst person I have ever met. I don’t know how to describe her, except as happy. Constantly happy. Unless she was shooting lasers out of her eyes. (Literally) It wasn’t pretty. “LILITH!” She screamed back. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I used the new gadget you wired yesterday. The flamethrower is awesome! What should I name it?” Bri always names my gadgets. I just shrugged and looked at her.

“Anyhow, I haven’t seen you in ages!” Bri said.

I looked at her weirdly. “You saw me yesterday.”

“But not like Sabrina. As Daybreak. Completely different. PLUS, today is the last day of school! Completely different, because this is the last time I get to see you all summer.”

“Last time? I thought you were here all summer.”

We walked down through the rows of lockers.

“Well about that... Lili... I need to tell you something... ”

Sabrina turns to me apprehensively.

“What Bri?”

“I...um...”

“Just spit it out.”

“I’m going to Italy for the whole summer! We’re leaving tomorrow!”

“WHAT? Then what’s going to happen here? It will be chaos without a hero!”

“Well... I was hoping you could do it.”

“Bri, you know I’m better at making gadgets.”

“But you have powers!”

“But I don’t have a costume!”

Sabrina smiled deviously. What did she have in mind now?

“Well... I put one in the lair for you. I knew this would happen. You can easily get it. You have a key.”

“Seriously Bri?”

By that time, we had reached her biology classroom and my chemistry classroom. Seriously though, how did Sabrina expect me to save a city? I know how to fight, but… I mean, this is all new. I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there. I dashed out of the building right as the bell rang, and ran over to Sabrina’s house. Fumbling with my keyring, I slid the smallest one into the lock and dashed inside.

“HI LORNA!” I angled my shout upwards towards the 2nd floor of her house. Her mom honestly couldn’t care less when I was here anymore. She found out about Bri’s powers a long time ago. “I’M HEADING TO THE BASEMENT!”

Reaching her basement, I sifted through dusty boxes and found the secret iron door I installed last year. (Long story, but it was a pain. It was the best we could do. I mean, not everyone has access to secret underground lairs made of solid titanium with the latest tech everywhere. I sure didn’t.)

Peering inside, I saw the basic camera system I had hooked up to her wifi, Bri’s laser-proof training area, and my desk area littered with spare parts. Walking over, I picked up my most recent project and examined it. I was aiming for a freeze ray, (Cliche, I know. Don’t judge. It’s useful.) but it turned out more like a cold breeze gun. Oh well.

Weaving through the rest of the basement, I reached Bri’s desk and saw the outfit Bri left for me, laying on top of it. It was a dark blue, black, and purple, a sharp contrast to Bri’s suit. Riffling through, I saw that it was a black leather jacket with a hood, and cat ears attached to it. I also found leather pants and boots. Cool. Staring at the outfit for a second, I grabbed it and walked back upstairs over to the bathroom to try it on.

Just as I finished putting on the costume, my phone started vibrating from the counter. Rolling my eyes, I picked it up. “Bri, what could you be texting now?” I sighed, but then saw the heading of the message.

Crime alert. I swiped open my phone, zooming in on the location. Honestly, people would expect a superhero to have their own complex system of alerts. Bri and I have multiple apps where civilians can report crimes. It’s just easier that way.

Hurrying out the door, I soared through the sky. My power is not flight, but I copied Sabrina’s before she left. Sadly, I can only hold one power at a time, but flight is useful.

Following the GPS, I landed at the edge of the city garden. Seeing one of the older villains, Thorn, I started to run over. Before I could do anything, however, someone blurred in from behind Thorn and punched her in the head. Huh?

Walking over to the mystery person, I asked, “Who are you?”

He turned to me and smiled. His costume was black with some silver accents. “My name is Shadow Walker. Actually, who are you? I heard about Daybreak, but judging by your costume, you are not her.”

I looked down at my costume. “I think I am just going to call you Shadow. It’s shorter. I’m Copycat. Daybreak is on vacation. My power is to copy someone’s abilities through touch. Currently, I have Daybreak’s power. That’s the quick summary.”

“I wish I had something like that. Ok, here it goes. My name is Shadow Walker, I am new in town, and I can become invisible and walk through walls.”

“Like that invisible man from Hotel Transylvania?”

“Well, I can also make other things invisible. Do you go to Evergreen High School?” he asked.

“yeah... I do. But I am NOT telling you who I am.”

“Well, it was worth a shot.”

“I have to go, my mom is going to be worried.”

“Me too then. Until next time.”

“Until next time.”

He melted into the wall. I stared at the spot he used to be in. “Wow,” I whispered. Then I turned around and went home.

Evergreen is a very... green high school. And not in the save the world way. No, most of the kids here don’t care as much about the environment. However, the walls are green, the floors are green, the doors are green... Everything is green. It gets kinda annoying.

I sat staring at the walls during Algebra, periodically checking my watch. 2:52. Ugh. 8 more minutes.

All of a sudden, the doors swung open, and a kid walked in. The teacher turned and smiled.

“Class, this is Evergreen’s transfer student, Ian. Go sit wherever you want.”

The class turned to watch where he was going to sit. We rarely got new students, and there were a lot of empty seats in the classroom. Plus, most of the school was made up of girls. Needless to say, our school had constant drama. I was surprised when Ian slid into the seat next to me. Usually, that’s where Sabrina sits. The teacher finished her lecture and we all got up to leave. As I was packing up my bag, Ian tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

I continued to pack up my bag. Then I realized he was talking to me and looked over. “Lilith Hawthorne, nice to meet you.”

“Ian Green.”

“Like the school?”

“Yep. This school is probably the greenest school I have ever been to.”

I snorted, then covered my mouth. But it was true.

“Well see you tomorrow Lilith.”

“You too Ian.”

I checked my phone and clicked on the video someone posted. One of the neighborhood banks was robbed. I sighed when I finished watching it. Bystanders reported a flash of orange wings in the air. All of the signs pointed to Monarch. Honestly, her name could have used some creativity, but I guess once supes were found, all of the good names had been taken. (There were a lot of superhero comics.) It all seemed strange though. Monarch’s powers were very well suited to stealing, but usually, she committed bigger crimes, like bombing. Something was off.

Her powers were super hearing, smell, wings, and silence. Complete silence. She could tiptoe around and nobody would hear her. I rolled off of my bed with a thump, then got costumed up and walked to a secret drawer in my closet. It had a bunch of weapons I invented for Bri. Riffling through it quickly, I pulled out the newly-completed freeze ray, and a power gun. I never dared to make any more of those, since they were so, well, powerful. Hence the name. Fingerprint trigger activated, I could infuse whatever power I was holding into it, creating a weaponized version of it. Depending on the power of course. Looking at the power gun, I held my finger on one of the infusers and put in Bri’s laser eye beam power. That would be useful. Then, I ran out of the door and took flight.

Running in from behind, I shot a laser beam at her shoulder. Shame. I quite liked her costume. But there are always casualties in battle. I was just grateful that it wasn’t a person. Monarch pulled her wings out and tried to fly away. I switched out my guns and froze her wings, sending her plummeting to the ground. Taking out a pair of power restraining handcuffs, I left her cuffed to the nearest streetlamp. Briefly hearing people cheering for me in the background, I flew onto the top of the nearest building to recoup.

“You handled that nicely.”

I turned around, unholstering my power gun.

“Whoah, don’t attack,” Shadow said.

Oops. I sheathed it away again at my hip.

“What do those do? I have never seen those before.”

“Freeze-ray and power gun. Not the most original names, but you know. I did build them. Once, I borrowed the Brain’s (Yes, that was the villain’s name...) power and used it to help me. I have a bunch more. You can borrow some if you want.”

“Really? Ok. What about this? Since I doubt you would want to share your secret hideout with someone you just met, can you show me the ropes at some of this crime-fighting stuff some time? I’m kind of new to it.”

I considered it. My mom didn’t care if I was home. I practically lived at Bri’s house half the year. I sighed, remembering she was on vacation with her Dad. “Sure.”

“Great! Now I have to go, so bye.” Shadow bounced over and hugged me then disappeared.

What was that about?