"Hey, Henry?" asked Ray.
Henry was still taking in how awesome the Man Cave was, turning in circles, but he quickly flipped to face his new boss.
"Uh, okay, so," Ray mumbled. He hated having this talk with a new sidekick. Henry, however, didn't need to know that Captain Man had ever had another sidekick. If Ray could help it, he would never know.
" Look, kid, you should know being a superhero is dangerous. "
Henry nodded enthusiastically. Ray hated it. Hated how excited the kid was for the danger he was about to be put through. Ray Manchester might be a rather childlike individual, but he still knew the risks of being a superhero. He was also still a responsible enough person to inform his new sidekick of the dangers.
"No offense, kid, but you're a well, a kid, a minor. I need you to make a decision about what to tell your family if you, well, um," Henry noticed how his hero was not talking his mouth off like usual. This must be serious. Meanwhile, Ray was berating himself. Spit it out, Ray! " Die. "
Henry nodded furiously again, before stopping short. "Wait, what?"
Ray sighed. The look as some of the excitement drained out of Henry's eyes was killing him.
"I'm indestructible, so I can't get hurt, and I make it look easy. But, kid, it's not. And you don't have any powers at all. You need to decide on a way to explain to your parents why you're gone if you do die. Not that that's likely. Either you can lie, say you ran away or committed suicide, or something like that, or you could tell them the truth. In video. Because you would be dead. It wouldn't matter anymore about keeping your identity a secret. Or you could still back out. But I'd have to wipe a few of your memories." All, actually, but that was another thing the kid didn't need to know.
Henry contemplated. He was pretty scared of this, now that he thought about it. But he put on a brave face. "Of course I won't back out, uh, sir, Captain Man, sir."
Ray groaned. "Oh, no, no, no, "he said. "Not down here, you don't. You'll blow my cover. Just Ray."
"Okay, Ray," answered Henry, getting more confident. " I want my parents to know that I was your sidekick, if I die. They can be proud knowing I went down doing something worth fighting for. "
Ray nodded sharply, proud. The kid had guts. "Okay, Sidekick, get your gum, we've got a video to make.
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The video remained locked up on DVD in the Man Cave safe for years. There was never any need for it. Them everything went horribly wrong.
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Charlotte was sitting looking at criminal files when she heard the tubes. " Hey, you guys, how'd it go? " she asked without turning around.
"Charlotte," croaked a voice painfully. Charlotte spun around. There was Ray, looking much more disheveled than usual, and Henry . . . She gasped.
He looked awful. He had a black eye, broken ribs from the look of it, and a bullet wound spewing dark blood right under his heart. His tube went up, and Henry collapsed into Ray's waiting arms, unconscious.
Charlotte screamed. " Hen! " She ran for him. Ray stopped her. "Look, kid, he's in a critical condition! We need Shuaz!"
Charlotte sprinted toward the elevator, hurried up it, burst through the back room's beaded curtain, pointed at a bewildered Jasper to GET DOWNSTAIRS RIGHT NOW, ran through Junk n' Stuff and to the nearest park, where Shuaz could usually be found digging up worms.
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Everyone stood in the Man Cave infirmary watching as Shuaz did his best to help Henry.
"What happened?" Jasper asked. Ray, who by now had shed his Captain Man uniform, shook his head.
"Don't want to talk about it," he replied gruffly.
Shuaz finished examining and bandaging Henry to the best of his ability, but didn't say a word.
"Well?" cried everyone in unison.
Shuaz turned to look at them with tear stained eyes. " He won't make it, " he choked. "There eas nothing I can do. I guess he has about 5 minutes tops."
Just then Henry started to moan.
Charlotte's heart was breaking. Henry was her best friend, and she had dared hope he would become more someday.
Jasper, of all people, noticed. He was losing a best friend too, and he noticed. One look was all it took.
"Everyone out," he said firmly, then a little embarrassedly pointed at Charlotte. " Leave the two of them alone for a sec. This is Henry's last chance at . . . whatever it is that boys and girls have in high school. And I bet Charlotte's too. "
Everyone murmured softly, like it was someone's funeral. Then Charlotte remembered that it was practically Henry's. All the others also noticed the loss in Charlotte's expression, and quietly exited.
Henry moaned again, and his eyes fluttered open. "Char?" he whispered hoarsely.
"Hen." She did her best to hold back her tears in front of her friend. " You'll be alright. "
Henry struggled up a bit. "No, Char. I'm dieing. You can tell, I can tell, and I bet Shuaz could tell. Don't lie to me. But can I say something?"
Charlotte let the sobs out. "You're dieing," she finally agreed tearfully. "Say whatever you want. Do whatever you want."
Henry reached up his hand and weakly pulled her closer to him. " This sounds cheesy, especially right now, but I love you, Charlotte. "
And then he kissed her. It was soft, and gentle, and perfect. She returned it, and before long, both their faces were covered in tears.
Henry slowly pulled away. " I'm only sorry I didn't do it sooner. I chased after Chloe and Veronica and Bianca hoping to find . . . something. If I'd looked right in front of me, maybe we could have kissed more than once. "
"Well, just because you're dieing doesn't mean we can't do it one more time. Then we need to call in the others." She leaned in and kissed him again, this time fierce. Henry gasped. " I love you too, Hen. At least I can say I was your last kiss. " Henry gaped at her.
Charlotte quickly turned away to hide her blush. " Guys, come in! And hurry! Henry doesn't have much time left! "
Everyone rushed in.
"Okay, people, I have some things I want to say, so don't interrupt." Henry was being very calm for a dieing person.
"Ray, you first." Henry's boss turned, a panicked look frozen on his face. " You're like the older brother I never had. This is not your fault. I just wasn't fast enough. Which is kind of ironic." Henry laughed a little, but then stopped. It hurt. A lot. " I'm still glad I was your sidekick. It was worth it. Don't stop being Captain Man because of me. Get a new sidekick,even. "
Ray clenched his jaw at the idea of having ANYONE besides Henry as his sidekick. But then he slowly nodded.
Henry moved on. "Shuaz, it's not your fault either. No one could have done anything. We have the best equipment here. You did everything you could. Thank you.
Shuaz wiped tears from his eyes. "Goodbye, Henry."
"Jasper, you're my best friend, even if you're a bucketeer. I'll miss you wherever I'm going."
Jasper leaned down and gently hugged Henry. "I'll miss you, too," he choked. Then Jasper backed out of the way so Charlotte was in Henry's sight line.
Henry was running out of time. The shock was wearing off, and his chest was hurting more and more. There were black spots in front of his eyes, and the light was constantly getting dimmer.
"Char," he croaked. " I love you. Show . . . my family . . . the . . . tape. "
And the light faded from Henry's eyes.
Charlotte quietly sobbed, while Jasper wrapped his arm around her. Ray was just staring at the ceiling in shock. Then he looked down. " I'm going to finish the poor kid's final wish. Charlotte, where's the DVD?"
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Before long, they were all ready. Charlotte and Jasper would go over to Henry's house first, so that no one would suspect that they already knew of Henry's death, or knew anything about Captain Man. Henry's secret could be let out because he was dead, but no one else's could. Then Captain Man would come over and share the video, and the truth. Shuaz would stay at the Man Cave and watch over Henry's body. They all sadly left the room. Shuaz couldn't bring himself to change anything, but simply shut Henry's eyes and pulled the sheet over his chest. If Shuaz hadn't known better, Henry could have been asleep.
A/N Sorry, this is REALLY sappy; I had an idea but wasn't sure how to write it. Also, sorry, this isn't the next Shadowed Frost chapter. I'll work on that next, I promise! Please review, and flames are welcome. Just try to write the truth. There will be a second chapter about Henry's parents watching the tape. Also please tell me if you find any typos, because I typed this up on my tablet that has horrible spell check and autocorrect. And yes, I killed Henry. Wait, I did WHAT?!