As sixteen year old Adrien McCoy skated through the slums of Metropolis, the cheerfully sunny day belied his dark thoughts.
Just one more thing. One more task and I'm in. I'm a Shark.
He repeated "I'm a Shark" like a mantra, steering himself closer and closer to his destination. He was skipping last period, but it didn't matter. As if he'd ever need algebra. Once he completed this final task he'd have a home, a family. The Shark gang was the most elite in the city, rivaled only by the Scorpions.
Which was where he was headed.
He had already stolen an armload of black t-shirts and wristbands for the gang, his first task, and hacked his way into the school system to change the grades of the younger Shark members as his second. This was to be his final task and then he'd be in.
It was a nice thought. His dad had been a drunk, abusive to Adrien and his sister and mother. His mother was understandable. She was weak, didn't ever put up a fight. But his baby sister was another thing entirely.
A grimace overshadowed his youthful face, but his eyes were hard.
He had always protected Allison. His sister was five years younger than him and small for her age. But he'd never forget the day when he came home to findher beaten to death in the living room.
His mother had been screaming, his father bellowing for her to shut up. His sister was dead. Without another thought, Adrien had picked up a long carving knife from the kitchen and lunged at his father.
But he had been stopped by a firm grip. Superman was there, holding him back while bile rose in his throat and tears threatened his eyes. There were sirens and investigations and as soon as Superman let him go Adrien grabbed the money he had left, Allison's favorite pink ribbon and left home, never to return.
Time found him a year later working in a garage, about to be initiated into one of the most feared gangs in Metropolis. He wore Allison's ribbon tied on his wrist, though it was now nearly black.
All he had to do now was sneak into the Scorpion's hideaway, which fellow soon-to-be-member Tommy had already scoped out, and cause as much havoc as possible.
Sweat trickled down from Adrien's hair and stung his eyes, making him blink nervously. It was no big deal. He could do this. Go in, steal some guns, graffiti the wall and be out of there.
The Sharks had been planning an attack for later that night to silence the Scorpions once and for all. If Adrien messed this up… and the Scorpions weren't caught unaware… well he didn't want to think about the repercussions.
Without warning the address he was looking for loomed large ahead of him. Adrien kicked his skateboard against the wall of a nearby alley and cocked his head as he considered the building.
He was smart. Really smart. Allison had been too. Where they got those genes from his mixed up, pathetic parents, he'd never know, but as he surveyed the building, an idea came to him.
He knew they'd have a lookout at the front and back. But what about on the roof?
His eyes automatically swung to the roof of the building next to his quarry. They were the same height, not too far away from each other. It'd be a stretch but he could do it.
He had to.
With a steely glare in his blue eyes, Adrien started climbing the fire escape of the building next to the hideaway. When he reached the top he measured the distance between the buildings with his eyes.
About eight feet. Difficult, but doable.
With that, he backed up and took off running, his black converses slapping the pavement. He reached the edge of the building, bent his knees and jumped off.
The sensation of falling with naught but air below him was both disturbing and exhilarating, but he barely had time to think about it before he landed on the roof of the Scorpion's building with a resounding thud.
He landed on his feet, but they gave way from under him with the force of his fall and he toppled sideways.
Not particularly graceful, but at least he wasn't a mark on the pavement.
He was on his feet in another instant, scanning the rooftop for trouble.
All systems a go. He whispered under his breath to himself, feeling not unlike a secret agent.
Tommy had told him their arsenal was on the sixth floor.
Adrien quickly counted the floors and determined he was on the eighth. There was an open window on the sixth. Was he a lucky bastard or what?
Without another thought, he had swung his lithe body over the side of the building, his feet scrambling for a foothold on the grout. When he was finally settled, he tensed his muscles and jumped again, scraping his chin on the rough brick, but finally setting his feet on the windowsill.
He peered in, hoping to God that the first thing he would see wouldn't be the muzzle of a gun.
The room was empty, the guns laying innocently stacked on each other in the corner. Ammo clips were piled in another corner.
This was too perfect! He did it! He was in!
Had he not been so overwhelmed with excitement, he might have been slightly suspicious. But as it was, he was not and he gleefully pulled out a black spray can out of his cargo shorts.
"S…h…a…" he scrawled on the wall, his heart thumping excitedly in his chest.
Before he could scribble the final r, k and s, a resounding boom crashed through the room and a bullet embedded itself in his calf.
The pain was white hot, as if a knife had been plunged into an open wound. Adrien screamed in pain, feebly trying to jerk around, blood gushing from his leg.
"I didn't have to miss killing you in one shot," a boy said lazily from the other side of the room. He couldn't have been more than seventeen, but he held the gun steadily. "But I wanted to see you struggle."
Before Adrien could reply, a blue blur streaked through the room and carried the wounded sixteen-year-old out.
Superman looked at the boy cradled in his arms and sighed. He was so young. After the first few moments in the air, he had passed out from the pain and in sleep he hardly looked his full sixteen years.
He sped toward the hospital, relinquishing his hold on the boy only until he was safely in a gurney and wheeled to the emergency room.
As Adrien McCoy painfully opened his eyes, he saw Superman winking at him before speeding off. With that last image embedded in his mind, he fell back into blissful sleep.
Miles away, a full grown Shark member watched the preceding events occur before sighing in resignation.
The boss wasn't going to be happy to hear that the Scorpions were tipped off. He radioed in the news and in a building not too far away, the leader of the Sharks slammed his fist on the desk in anger.
Once again that God forsaken Superman had ruined his plans. He didn't have half the city under his control for nothing, Gang leader Garrett Jackman thought angrily. He was going to bring that Superman down, if only he could find a weakness…
Sorry this chapter had no Lois or Clark, other than his brief appearance toward the end. But no worries, they will both appear in the next and for many to come! Hope you guys are getting interested. I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible.
Laura