Opposite Heroes

Chapter 1. Fighting in the Stree... er, Hallway

A loud noise blared at Josh, while a flashing red light shone in his eyes. He groaned and sat up, feeling extremely sore. The entire world was blurry, and he felt exhausted. Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, he saw a twisting black shape. He leaned closer to get a better look, and the thing promptly stopped moving. A small part twisted, and two gray, soulless eye-like circles instantly appeared. It coiled and leapt, moving unbelievably fast for something that small, and landed on his chest. Cold fear entered Josh’s heart as it walked up to his face. It raised a shadowy blob resembling a human hand to strike Josh, and…

Playfully tweaked him on the nose.

Josh recoiled as the shadow made high pitched squeals, which can take a while to realize the noise is laughter. Josh frowned, and said, “That wasn’t exactly funny, Alexander.”

Alexander, Josh’s shadow, just grinned. “It was absolutely hilarious! Just the way your heart skips a beat! It makes my day every time!” And the shadow rolled over again in its fit of laughter.

“It would be funnier if he didn’t do it every morning.” Josh thought as he rolled off his bed. Too late, he realized his skateboard was below him. He fell onto it, exclaiming in pain as his cheek scraped the rough surface. Well, he was already having a great day, so why not? He stood up, rubbing his cheek at the same time.

Josh had black hair that never seemed to lie down, even with generous amounts of gel applied. He had blue eyes and was also abnormally tall. He was dressed in red-and-blue-diamond pajama bottoms and a top. His skin seemed to tan almost without effort. His sister or brother could get a similar tan lying out in the sun for half-an-hour, while he could get the same with ten minutes of basketball. And he was a big sports jockey, earning one of the spots as a cool kid at school. He could outplay his brother any day, although he suspected all the gossip he heard about him having a crush on Katrina Melona was Ben’s form of revenge. He also was a good fencer, rising to the top of his class almost the day he joined. And he was as stunning as an archer as he was good at swordplay. Josh looked up at the black shape in front of him.

“That was really stupid of you.” Alex stated, enlarging and twisting into the recognizably human shape of Josh. “I always feel sorry for the other shadows. They have to copy every motion of their owner, even if it’s stupid. Just like that little stunt you pulled there.” He dodged back as Josh took a swipe at him. Josh’s hand barely brushed him, and he shivered as the shadow’s energy pulsed through his body. He impulsively pulled in his arms to stem the cold.

Alex drifted closer and placed a thoughtful finger on his chin. “You, sir, need a cup of hot chocolate and a hot breakfast. I’ll go ask Aria.” He floated into the hallway, only to suddenly backpedal as a large body and a black shape sailed through the air. Both were in uncontrollable fits of laughter.

“Did you see her face?

            “It was the deepest shade of red ever!”

            “And that pout! We trolled her good!”

And they both dissolved into laughter again. Josh sighed. He wouldn’t have even needed to look over to know that it was Ben and his shadow, Josiah.

Ben was a youth with blond hair and green eyes, and a mischievous attitude. Today, he was dressed in a black t-shirt with game controllers and the words “control the world” and a pair of jeans. Ben was famous at school for being the prankster. Still, he was generally accepted as one of the “cool” kids at school, despite his love for the, uh, nerdy. Whether he’s played a game or not, he could tell you at least 5 facts and 2 memes from any game you ask about. And he was also a massive “geek” for the internet, looking up video game playthroughs and random memes. Yet no one messes with “BB Gun”, the nickname everyone at school gave him. Ben was notorious for his quick trigger finger, and could hit a bulls-eye with any gun handed to him. One of his trademark pranks utilized his most prized possession, the “Ben Brighton Pistol”, which he altered to have a lot less power. Although he had an entire arsenal of modified, low-power BB guns, his pistol was his first mod, and he treasured it. Ben can act tough, but on the inside, he couldn’t hurt a fly. But maybe a spider; He was all game for those.