Super

3 - A Hero Unmasked

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

― Martin Luther King Jr.

Where the Invisible Hand's voice had been deep and silky, Gold Thrush's voice was light and airy. Where the super villain's face was framed by a short, wavy mop of mussed liquorice locks with eyes as startlingly blue as forget-me-nots, Gold had long spikes of strawberry-blonde hair swept up and to the right and wide hazel eyes. Where Gold was all sweet, charismatic dork, the Invisible Hand was a smug, yet alluring mystery. The biggest difference, though, was their facial expressions – or what I could see of them. Where Gold was all smiles and grins, IH was just smirks and patronising chuckles.

I noticed all of this as Gold completely relaxed around me. I was happy that he didn't feel as on edge as before. No longer in the company of four other teenagers/young adults with super powers, Gold lowered his guard and exposed his true self, which was a fun-loving, sweet, dork of a guy.

"Damn this mask," Gold sighed, tugging at the knot to loosen it a little and sending me a guilty smile. "You know I'd take it off, right? But I just–"

"Don't trust me," I finished for him, "I know."

"No it's not that, it's just..." He blew out a hot breath, dislodging a blonde strand from his forehead, and said, "I can't take the risk. What if the Invisible Hand shows up again? With the whole invisibility thing he's got going on, we would never know he was here."

After about twenty minutes, we decided we couldn't sleep and, with my mom having finally gone to bed, snuck into the kitchen for a snack. Gold leapt agilely up on to the kitchen counter and began rummaging through the cupboards on top (where my mom kept her secret stash of Oreos) as I paced around the island in the middle. Gold hovered on his back for a while, munching on cream-filled goodness as I sat at the island counter with my chin in my palms. Eventually noticing something was wrong, he floated down into the chair next to me, like a feather on the wind.

"Something's bothering you." It wasn't a question.

"Ardie," I explained. Gold cocked his head and I turned to him, shocked. "You–you don't know?"

"Who's Ardie?" He asked, further proving my point. Gold hadn't known Ardie's name. So maybe they don't know each other after all... I shook my head.

"Nevermind," I said quickly, "just a friend from school."

"Is he... more than a friend?" Gold frowned, "because if he's done something wrong, I can totally–"

"No!" I interrupted, shaking my head, "no he's just a friend. He would never do anything wrong though," I smiled wistfully. Poor Ardie was only sixteen and he'd have to put himself in harm's way just to try to capture the Invisible Hand. Then again, he put himself in harm's way every day: he was a super, after all. "He's always hyper, like, to the extent that his parents banned him from coffee. And sugar. And some sweet fruits. He's the sweetest guy, but it's like he's got ADHD or something," I mused.

Gold nodded like he understood, "sounds like Lodestone," he murmured. I bit my lip and said nothing, praying he wouldn't make the connection. I wouldn't be responsible for nearly slipping up on two super's identities today.

"You know," I said thoughtfully, "if the Invisible Hand popped in for another visit tonight, we'd have no idea. Then he'd kind of suspect something if he found you here, wouldn't he?"

Gold shook his head; "he's not going to visit you three times in one night. Although..." He looked at the time blinking on the microwave: 5:03. "It's technically not night anymore, is it?"