True Sidekick - *Sequel to Hero by Day

Chapter 8 - The story of a villain

"If those superheroes could do more to save a city than any politician ever did, then I'd put my faith behind them, and not a money driven, power hungry old white guy who wants to do the same exact things the guy before him did."

~ Elise Howerton (Delinquent)

:Dylan:

Only the strong prevailed in this world, and it was time to let Aden Dashner know that.

I was about to tell him, in fact, when I saw him walk up to Oliver Storm.

Oliver was a junior with a white knight complex. He thought he was so cool with his movie-star looks and Mr. Save-the-world-attitude. Everyone fell at his feet, but not me. I knew the truth about this world. Nice guys wouldn't last forever. Some people couldn't be saved, only taught a lesson.

Aden was always weak, ever since we were little. Our fathers were best friends, and his own father liked me better than him, like he should. Aden was a geek who read up on supers as a past time. I mean – unless you were planning on jumping in a vat of toxic waste to try and get powers, what was the point of researching the supers?

(Maybe he should actually try jumping in a vat of toxic waste. I mean, he would have a better chance of dying than actually becoming a super.)

I ducked behind the freshman tree when Aden walked over to Oliver Storm. I would just have to wait until Oliver was gone. He might've been a self-righteous know-it-all, but Oliver Storm was still a junior with very much influence on the student body.

"Look," Oliver voiced. "Aden, when I told you that you could come to me if something strange happened after your accident, I didn't mean if you got angry and smashed a sink with something heavy-"

"That's the thing." Aden cut him off. "I did it with my bare hands. Do I look like the kind of kid who can break a sink in two with his bare hands?"

I sucked in my breath. Mrs. Solace was looking everywhere for the bandit who broke the bathroom sink. And now to find out that it was Aden who did it? I could get him in so much trouble he'd be grounded until his grandkids had grandkids.

But break it with his bare hands?

"Has anything else like this happened since the accident?"

"Well, I carried a forty pound box like it weighed nothing. I also accidently broke my mother's favorite statue on the front lawn. I kind of was testing my own strength and punched it in two. She thinks some burglar broke it for fun."

What? Aden was as thin as a piece of paper. He shouldn't be able to lift anything. His own backpack was so heavy to him that he slouched. And now he was claiming superhuman strength? Something was definitely fishy.

"I think I have something to show you. Would you mind coming back to my work with me? There's something I have that I think might help you out." Oliver offered.

Hmm.

Oliver wanted Aden to come to him if anything strange happened to him after his accident. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which accident he was talking about.

At our families' weekly night out, he yelled at his father. Aden stormed out and left his book behind. I, finding a prime opportunity to mess with Aden, took the book and followed him outside. I ran out into the street with it after taunting Aden. Then, all of a sudden, he's pushing me and the world goes dark for a moment.

When I opened my eyes, I was pinned under a slab of sheet metal. A truck had crashed it seemed, and right into Aden.

The green substance it had been carrying in barrels had leaked, covering Aden, who was pinned underneath the bulk of the truck. Some of it had gotten on me as well, but not as much. It mixed with the blood on me from various small cuts, ruining my nice shirt for good. Not to mention that it smelled like rotten eggs.