True Sidekick - *Sequel to Hero by Day

Chapter 15 Publicity stunts are no fun

"You wouldn't have survived, much less come out the other end a hero, somebody who wants to do good, if you didn't have a light inside of you."

~ Oliver Queen (The Green Arrow)

:Aden:

I was starting to feel what Oliver meant when he said he had no social life out of school.

When I wasn't busy saving the day, I was finishing up homework and sleeping when I could. I barely had time to hang out with Tyler anymore, but all we did when we hung out was play video games, so I guess he understood.

Tyler was also a bit busy lately. He's been taking more of his karate or Tai Kwan Do classes (honestly, I couldn't remember which one it was). He was a black belt to the extreme because he'd been taking those classes since he was little. He never said why he loved them so much, but it was a good way to get his anger and frustration out.

(Maybe I should start taking those classes.)

(Though it would be kind of hard to explain when I accidently break the punching bag with one punch.)

(Yeah, no karate.)

I had found a rare moment of free time after school on Friday when my mother announced we would be having our weekly dinner with the Danvers at our own house instead of at one of the prestigious restaurants around Washington DC.

I mean – I already had to spend enough time with Dylan and his thugs at school, but at home too? I was saving the city with all of my spare time – shouldn't karma reward me with something better than this?

But, all the same, I would still have to sit through an hour of let's-make-Aden-feel-worse-about-himself time.

But this time something else happened.

My father was talking all about his business, per usual, but then he said something that peeked my interest. ". . . An interview with this new super would bring our ratings through the roof! I don't know how another newspaper or show hasn't gotten this interview yet."

"What?"

My father sighed. "Don't you listen, Aden? White Lightning got a sidekick not too long ago. And, of you haven't noticed, not too long after Captain impossible died. The public is dying to know anything about this new super, Kratos. How did he get his powers? How did he become White Lightning's sidekick? How is he related to White Lightning outside of super work? An interview with this new character would be great for Dash Corp."

I was shocked. Why was my dad, a hater of supers and their ideologies, wanting an interview that would make the supers look better?

"Harold," Dylan's father started, "won't an interview with this new super fool the public into thinking that they're all heroes?"

He shrugged. "The company needs a big story to sell. Right now the millennials love their heroes. They also love the media. Combine them together and you get money."

I panicked a bit. My father wanted an interview with Kratos. My father wanted an interview with his son, though he didn't know it.

"Now, I've been spreading the word around. Since those damn supers keep their identities secret, I have no way of asking them for an interview. They do have a hotline, but what are the chances they actually listen to that? What I'm asking for is a way to contact these characters."

Mr. Danvers furrowed his eyebrows. "But if you got the word around, surely Kratos would've seen it by now."

"Yes, but what are the chances this super knows ay of the elite in DC?"