Greetings everyone.
I hope I managed to do this chapter justice. There were so many sidekicks and not enough room to write them all in. Also I don't know about you guys but this first person point of view is really sending me through the wringer. I rewrote the part where Morgan and Warren meet six times already and I still twitch every time I read it. Who knew that writing about a horse in first person would be so difficult? Not me that's for sure.
Once again I send out my sincere thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. I won't lie. Every bit of criticism you give me goes a very long way. Thanks a million folks.
Oh and before I forget. I played on aspin's advice and edited the prologue. It's shorter but I think it works. Tell me what you think.
Also here's a tid-bit of information that I just discovered. On the Sky High soundtrack Steven Strait aka Warren Peace is the one who sings "One thing leads to another." I've listened to this thing a hundred times over and only now has it hit me that that's his voice.
Happy Reading.
That night I could barely sleep. Part of me couldn't believe that I actually had a shot at a achieving the one thing that I've always wanted to do. I spent the entire night brooding over the idea that this was all just some hoax. I wouldn't let myself get my hopes up because I knew that even if I did manage to find a sidekick, there was no way that I'd actually make it into the Herolympics. It was just too good to be true.
I wasn't immune to disappointment. Having been surrounded by it for a good part of my life there was one thing that I had learned and it was to always expect the worst. That way when things didn't turn out I could always fall back on the I-told-you-so mentality. It made dealing with reality a little easier.
I left my house at seven that morning. It was a Sunday and I made sure to leave as quietly as possible so that I wouldn't wake my mother up. The last thing I needed right then was for my mother to give me an encouragement speech. I didn't want her to expect the impossible in case things didn't fall through. I hated to see her get upset over me so I figured that it would be better this way.
Which was why I also never told her where I was going in the first place.
I arrived at the Agency at a quarter past eight. I had spent the better part of the past hour driving around Maxville, thinking things over and mentally preparing myself for one hell of a stressful day. When I finally pulled into the parking lot I couldn't believe the number of cars that were already there, never mind the huge line of anxious sidekicks that were lined-up outside the entrance doors.
"Oh man." I muttered to myself as I slowly eyed the line-up. The line wrapped round the building with more sidekicks arriving by the minute. It was quite obvious that it was going to be a very long day.
After finding a parking spot at the farthest corner of the lot, I waited by my car for Will and his father to arrive. You couldn't imagine how badly I wanted to just drive off and not look back. I could feel the eyes of various sidekicks staring at me as I did my damn best to appear bored by it all. Thankfully it worked because none of them came up to me to ask me why I was there.
"Warren you came!"
I looked up just as Layla came running towards me with a mega-watt smile on her face. Behind her Will grinned and waved at me while his father stopped to talk to a guy that looked like an older version of Coach Boomer.
"I said I would didn't I?" Came my short reply.
"Isn't this exciting? Look at all the people. I never knew that this many would show up. We'll find you a sidekick for sure. I can feel it." Layla beamed as she gave me an awkward one-armed hug.
I'm not a morning person by nature but I let Layla get away with the hug because her positive vibe made it easier for me to deal with my rising anxiety level. Maybe it was her abnormal cheerfulness that did it, but whatever it was the idea of roasting something had suddenly become less appealing. I counted it as a good sign.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her as I glanced at Will. "I thought that you and Will weren't talking to each other."
"Well Will and I managed to sort out our differences." She said with a small, nervous giggle.
"Ah, so did you use poison ivy or was it the rose bushes this time?" My knowing look made her turn an interesting shade of scarlet.
Will rolled his eyes as he handed me a coffee that he had picked up on the way and put his arm around Layla.
"Funny Warren. You know you wouldn't believe how many different shades of green there are. We figured that if we're going to be this year's homecoming King and Queen, I might as well let Layla choose the outfits. For some reason girls are better at clothes shopping than we are." He shrugged before giving me a look of thanks.
"Right." I peeled back the plastic cover of the paper coffee cup and took a sip. Black with three sugars. It looked like my advice paid off after all. "Thanks for the coffee."
"I made Will bring me along. You're going to need a female perspective in choosing a sidekick and I want to make sure these two don't end up convincing you to go along with whatever they say. A girl sidekick is just as good as any guy and I hope that you both remember it." Layla nudged her boyfriend sharply in the ribs as he sighed, having heard this statement three times already.
"With you here to remind us, how could we forget?" Steve Stronghold said as he came up behind the two and clapped them both on their shoulders. Layla jumped slightly in surprise as Will grinned from ear to ear and ducked under his father's arm before he jabbed him playfully in the shoulder.
"So are we going in?" Will asked as he danced out of his father's reach when Steve tried to grab him in a head-lock. Layla scooted to my left as the two Strongholds started to wrestle each other in the middle of the parking lot and I caught her looking at me with an uncertain expression on her face that I ignored as I downed half the coffee in one go.
"Let's get this over with before I change my mind." I coughed when some of the piping hot java scorched the roof of my mouth. "Those sidekicks look like they'd be more than willing to take a piece out of me in order to prove themselves."
"Hero support Warren, not sidekicks." Layla was quick to remind me.
"Whatever."
Great, now I was going to have to deal with a scorched tongue as well as a hundred and one sidekick wannabes. Could this day get any better?
Oh yeah.
Let's just say that if I had brought along a bottle of scotch it would have been empty before lunch.
After we got ourselves settled in an interviewing room, Steve Stronghold went out and herded in the first bunch of sidekicks. The first eight didn't even make it past the door before they got dragged out by staff security for being underage. The next five didn't even make it to the door before they were stopped for being over the age-limit. Twenty
minutes later the first potential candidate took a seat in front of us and ran screaming from the room once she realize who I was.
I was not amused.
"Maybe we should tell them who you are after we have all their information?" Will suggested as Layla poured a glass of water from the water cooler that sat in the corner and handed it to me. The water evaporated before I could even take a sip.
As I said, I was not amused.
"Here's one that looks interesting." Steve Stronghold said as he beckoned a sidekick to enter the room. Will and I exchanged a look as she walked into the room and sat down in the chair across the table. She was wearing a tight pink spandex suit with the female symbol embossed on her chest in flaming pink.
"Your name?" Steve asked as I sat back and tried not to smirk.
"Lisa Gibbons."
"Age?"
"19."
"And what alias do you go by?" Steve asked as he picked up his half-empty glass of water and adjusted his glasses.
"People know me as Catty H. ManHater, ManHater for short."
Will's father choked on the water he was drinking and ended up drenching the front of his shirt as Layla stifled a laugh. I had to bite my own tongue so that I wouldn't start snickering and Will looked utterly stunned as the girl nailed him with a glare filled with feminine angst.
"Excuse…me." Steve chortled as he put down the glass and adjusted his shirt collar. Lisa glared at him and said nothing. "So…Lisa, what do you do?" He asked.
"I stand up for women's rights and fight against male oppression."
"Um…what I meant was, what do you do? What are your powers?" Steve asked her as I lowered my head so that ManHater wouldn't see me grinning. I'm sorry but it was just too funny.
"Whenever I start ranting, men run. They can't stand the sound of my voice. But it only works on men." She seemed to be really pleased with herself when she said that. Not even the mighty Steve Stronghold could keep a straight face after that.
"Really? That's…interesting." Steve snickered as he pressed the back of his hand against his mouth in order to stifle the sound.
Big mistake.
The girl's face darkened like a storm cloud and she leapt to her feet with eyes a-blaze. Instantly Will, Steve and I went rigid in our seats as she glared at us and leaned across the desk so that she was practically face-to-face with Will's father. I had known Steve for three years and never once had I seen him shrink back from anything, but when that girl went up to him I swear he pushed his chair back. Mind you, we all did. Except Layla.
"Interesting? Is that what you think? Interesting? Well let me tell you something buster, it's more than just interesting! I've sent hordes of men like you packing with a single scream and that's something I'd like to see you try! It's men like you who belittle female pride and keep the women of this world in the shackles of the domestic realm while you…" She shrieked and the sound was like a hundred cats screeching and ten thousand rusty nails being dragged across a chalk board over and over again at the same time. My brain felt like it was being ripped out of my head through my ears.
Will and I dove under the table and clamped our hands over our ears in an attempt to block out the sound while Steve got the full blast and if it hadn't been for Layla who quickly stepped in, Will and I probably would have ran for the door. It was honestly the only logical thing to do at that time.
"Ah…wow. That was really something. Yeah, very impressive." Layla stammered as she grabbed the other girl by her arm and dragged her away from Steve, who looked about as shell-shocked as a dog that had just been beaten up by a spastic cat.
"Thank you. You won't believe how many deprived housewives have told me that." ManHater said with a smile as Layla opened the door and ushered her out of the room.
"Is it safe to come out yet?" Will asked quietly as he shook his head like a dog in an attempt to stop his ears from ringing.
"I think so." I checked to make sure that the coast was clear.
"Dad, are you okay?" Will asked as he peeked over the table top before scrambling to his feet.
Will's father didn't say anything.
"Dad?" Will snapped his fingers in front of his father's face.
"Whatever happens we must never, ever allow that girl meet your mother." All three of us looked at one another and nodded solemnly before a collective shudder ran down our spines. Talk about scary.
"Okay, was it just me or was that a little weird?" Layla commented as she walked back into the room and shut the door behind her. "Are you guys alright?" She asked us when she saw our faces. "You didn't like her?"
"How about we all take an early lunch break?" Steve suggested as he rose stiffly to his feet and picked up his glasses that had fallen to the floor.
"Great idea dad."
"Sure thing Steve."
Will and I were out of that room before Layla could say another word.
"Well I thought she was nice." Layla said to herself before she shrugged and trailed after us.
By the time we had all finished eating and regrouped for another session of interviews, we figured that the worst was over. After all, there were not many things that could top that last interview. Boy were we wrong.
First there was Dolphin Boy.
"Hey everyone. I'm Larry, 18 years old, a recent graduate of the Sky High Hero Support program and I can talk to dolphins! Eeek eeek eek! Sqweeeeeeeeek eek eek!"
"Thank you Larry. That's all we need for now." Steve said politely as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Oh! And I am also fluent in whale! One of my specialties is the orca dialect but I can do a humpback fairly well. Would you like to hear?"
"Ahhhh…" We all looked at each other. "No. No, it's okay. We're good. Thanks for the offer though. Maybe next time."
A small flame sparked to life on the tip of my thumb as I signaled to Will that this guy was toast.
"Oh. Okay." He replied before he saw the flame. "Oh my god! You're on fire! Fire, fire! No body panic! Everyone stay calm. Fire! Fire!"
Larry ran to the cooler, yanked off the large plastic bottle and before Steve or Will could explain to him that I was a pyro and was no in danger of being roasted alive, he threw the contents of the 8 liter water jug at me. It was a pity that he didn't save any for himself.
Then there was Disco Bob.
"How's it hanging brothers? I'm Bob. People call me Disco Bob. I'm 23 years but baby I look 20. And I looooooove to groove baby! Yeah!"
"Groove?" Will asked as he eyed Disco Bob's Elvis Presley style outfit, complete with fake jewels and platform boots.
"That's right. No one can beat Disco Bob on the dance floor. Yeah!"
Layla politely led him out of the room as he preformed his rendition of Stayin' Alive for us, complete with soundtrack.
After that, there was Mrs. Robinson.
"It says here on your application that you are twenty-six years old. You do know that the cut-off age for sidekicks, I mean hero support, is twenty-five." Will's father said as he cleared his voice.
The woman was dressed in a black evening gown, complete with pearls and a fox-fur wrap and she constantly kept winking at me. Trust me, she wasn't twenty-six. She looked like she was forty-six.
"Don't pay any attention to that silly form. Half the information on it is wrong anyways." She smiled as she twirled her strand of pearls and blew me a kiss.
"Okay. Next?"
The next guy caught us completely off guard. I think his name was Cannibal.
"'Sup."
"Hello." Steve said as the guy walked into the room. He had enough chains around his neck to make Jacob Marley feel good about himself.
"'Sup."
"So, who are you?" It was a generic enough question.
"Who'm I? Who'm I? What you talkin' 'bout man? I's knows who I am. Why's everyone got ta ask me who I's is? I know man, I know who's I am. Question is man, who you? Huh? Yeah, that right. I's askin' who you?"
"Umm. I'm Will and this is Layla and…"Will stepped in.
"Shut yo mouth boy. I ain't talkin' to you!"
"Okay, let's all just calm down here for a minute." Steve said with a tight smile. The other guy shifted in his seat and gave Will's father a similar smile; the only difference was that he had enough platinum in his mouth to make him look like that Jaws guy from an old James Bond movie.
I didn't like the way he looked at my friends and I let him know it. One flick of my wrist and that smile was long gone. From then on he was going to have permanent grills welded to his teeth.
The majority of the interviews from then on continued in that fashion. Sidekick after sidekick stepped into the room and took and seat, and sidekick after sidekick was escorted out by Layla or Will. We saw everyone. There were guys in chicken suits, women covered with live canaries, kids with speech impediments, shape-shifters that ranged from geckos to giraffes, plunger wielding ninjas, roller-skating contortionists, glittering mimes, and feather-wielding ticklers. There was even one kid who specialized in sonic burping. Half of them I couldn't stand and none of them were even close to what we were looking or hoping for. By four o'clock I was at the end of my patience and everyone wanted to call it quits.
"I can't believe it. We've interviewed ninety-eight people and not one is suitable for the position. Not one! Back in my day it was never this hard to get a sidekick. I don't know what they're teaching them at that school but whatever it is it's not enough." Steve vented as he slapped a bunch of filled-out application forms onto the desk.
"It's not the schools fault Mr. Stronghold. Finding the right hero support takes time. Don't worry, we have time. I'm sure we'll find someone next time." Layla tried to be optimistic but not even her positive attitude could do anything to change the dismal gloom that hung over us.
"Ninety-eight people in seven hours. And we still have one more hour to go." Will groaned as he plunked his head onto the table top and sat there, muttering to himself. "Right now I am really hating the word time."
"Maybe we should call it a day? We can come back during the week or on Saturday. No wait, Saturday's not good. How about next Sunday?" Layla suggested as she flopped out onto the chair that was next to Will's and poked him in the side when he yawned loudly.
"I can't. Josie and I are going to be in Prague for an important meeting about the security and location of the Herolympics." Steve said as he took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose while he paced the room.
"Don't forget I have a test for mad science that's worth thirty percent of my grade. If I don't pass this thing, Medula will kick me out of the class. Coming here is not an option for me, studying is however." Will murmured as Layla began to massage his shoulders.
"I'm working so that's out of the question." I muttered as I leaned against the back wall. "Let's just forget it. We're not going to find anyone."
"No, that is not an option here!" Will's father barked in a tone that made us all snap to attention. "We will find someone even if we have to stay here all night. Everyone take a five minute break. I'm going to talk to special services to see if they have anyone else worth looking at." With that he stormed out of the room and accidentally left his glasses on the table.
"Not again." Layla sighed as she took the glasses and went out into the hall in order give them back. Every time Steve stepped out of the room without his identity concealing disguise, he was always mobbed in the halls by sidekicks and potential heroes alike. Sometimes international fame was a real pain in the ass.
"I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be back." Will waved as he got up and left, leaving me alone with a pile of papers and a busted water cooler.
What was the use? There was no way that I was going to find a sidekick that didn't annoy the hell out of me or run screaming at the sight of me. The piles of papers in front of me proved that already. There was really no point in staying any longer. I knew that this would happen.
Once again, bitter disappointment set in.
"Screw it."
Without saying a word to anyone I left from the back entrance of the building in order to avoid running into Will or Layla. Behind the main building of the Agency were a few small test arenas where potential teams did a try-out run to see if they were compatible with each other. They looked like indoor riding rings or something to that effect. Throughout the day they were packed with people but now they were empty. From where I stood, even the parking lot looked empty. There was no one here. There was no one left.
"Damn it!" My foot lashed out and I kicked the wall repeatedly, cursing each time I landed a blow.
"It's not fair!"
And it wasn't. When was it ever fair for me? Not very often.
I knew that feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to do me any good or get me anywhere, but I couldn't have cared less. Once again Warren Peace got the short end of the stick. And I hated it. God, did I hate it.
"Shit." I sniffed, breathing hard as I stalked away from the main building. I didn't care where I went as long as it was as far away from that place as I could get. I hurried past the arenas as I headed towards the parking lot. There were noises coming from one of the last arenas but I didn't pay any attention to it. It was probably some lucky punk beating the whatnot out of his new sidekick in order to see how tough he was.
SHIT!
GET OFF ME YA SHMUCK!
A harsh yell and a sharp screech ripped through the empty arena area and it was soon followed by a loud commotion that I couldn't even put words to. It sounded like someone was being attacked by something and I had no idea what it was. I'd never heard sounds like that before.
"Get that thing away from me! This is insane! You're all insane! That thing is beyond insane! What kind of show are you runnin' here huh? You call that a sidekick! Lunatics! I'm outta here."
A guy stormed out of the last arena, madder than hell and for good reason. He looked like he had just been mugged by a bunch of street thugs. His clothes were torn and dirty, the seat of his jeans looked like they had been ripped off and his plaid boxers were showing. Also, he was limping barefoot.
"Don't go Johnny! Just give us anotha chance! I'm beggin' ya, she's not like this." An older man chased after him. The guy looked like he had just come off the boat straight from Jamaica. Pure Rastafarian from the long dread locks to the multicolored beanie he wore on his head.
"Yeah. I'm sure she's just all peaches and cream every other day of the week. Forget it Jolly. I'm having nothing to do with you or that…that nutcase. Have fun trying to find a hero who's stupid enough to listen to you!" Johnny laughed bitterly as he threw back the doors and entered the main building, making sure to slam them as hard as he could behind him.
The Rastafarian cursed something in Jamaican before he turned around and headed back to the arena, looking every bit as angry as the other guy had.
"Morgan! What did I tell ya before! You listenin' to me? Mo-gan! Ya really done it dis time girl! There's no one else ya know. No one! Do ya know what dat means?" The man shouted as he vanished into the arena.
I knew I should have just kept on going but after seeing what I had just seen, I couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation. It looked like I wasn't the only one who lucked out today.
"The guy was an idiot Jolly. A moron! I'm not going to spend the rest of my days carrying a moron on my back. If I wanted a moron I would have stuck with the ape guy!" A female voice snapped back but it was deeper than any girl's voice I had ever heard before.
"It don't matter if he was a moron! Now you da moron! You a sidekick Morgan, ya need a hero. Now der no more heros! Now what are we gonna do? Ya want to tell me what we're gonna do?" Jolly answered back.
"I say we kidnap some unsuspecting kid and force him to do what we say or else." A different voice spoke up. This one had a hint of a Cuban accent.
"No kidnappin' anybody! How many times must I tell ya people! Dis was our only chance! Ya know what da agency people say. If we don't get a hero by the end of today, they reject da application. Morgan, ya wanna spend da rest of your life runnin' in a circle?" Jolly ranted loudly, his voice carrying out into the open loud and clear.
"Like hell I will!" The female voice that I took to be Morgan growled.
"Well ya know what girl? Ya gonna be runnin' in dem circles! And jumpin' and doin' every other damn thing I can think of! It's been two months. Two months we've been here. And ya chased off everyone! What is da matter with ya girl? If ya father was here he'd be spittin' sea snails he would!"
The arguing continued as I started to walk towards the arena. Now the third voice spoke up and all three of them seemed to be yelling each others heads off. This was none of my business. I should have just turned around and walked away. But that Jamaican had said that Morgan was a sidekick. A sidekick that needed a hero. I didn't have a clue as to who or what Morgan was but a little voice in the back of my mind kept nudging me forward, saying that it wouldn't hurt to find out. After all, I didn't have anything to loose by it. I was already down at the bottom of the barrel as far as things were concerned.
Steeling myself for what I would encounter, I cautiously stepped into the arena and when I did the arguing stopped and I found three pairs of eyes staring at me. You could have heard a pin drop in that arena. The Jamaican man turned around so that he could face me and a short Hispanic looking man that I took to be the owner of the third voice gave me a once over before he spat a wad of chewing tobacco onto the floor.
But they weren't the ones I was looking at. Standing off to the side, nervously pawing away at the dirt was a horse. A small, scruffy looking, dirt covered brown and black horse.
And that horse looked right through me.
It wasn't anything magical or mystical or any of that crap you about read in storybooks. There were no trumpets sounding, no rays of sunshine coming down from the heavens, no James Earl Jones annunciation. I was standing in a half-lit, dirt filled arena, locked in a staring contest with a nothing-special looking animal. But the way that horse looked at me made me feel as if I were standing naked in a crowded room and everyone's attention was focused directly at me.
I swallowed hard.
"What the hell are you looking at pinhead?"
Those were the first words that she ever spoke to me and I knew from that moment on, I'd never forget them.
