True Sidekick - *Sequel to Hero by Day

Chapter 16 - Comic Books are Real

"Hey, Spidey – I've always wondered: who do you think is the lamest villain you fight? I'll concede I'm pretty much my own worst enemy. Plus, I fought a cow once."

~ Wade Wilson (Deadpool)

:Oliver:

"Are you seeing this? Tell me you're seeing this!" I yelled at Aden, pushing the paper in his face.

"I see it!" He yelled back, ripping the paper from my hand and throwing it forcefully against the wall.

I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye with a condescending glare. "Aden, you could've exposed us! You could've died for crying out loud!"

"I'm fine. Nothing bad happened." He argued.

"Well it could've!"

Aden had gone and been interviewed by his father last night, and if that wasn't bad enough, Inferno had attacked him as well and almost killed Aden.

Aden had used some of the blue liquid Cody gave me after Andromeda first attacked to heal a nasty burn he got in his side. He also did it without telling me, leaving me to discover his healed injury and the news story by his father when I arrived in the Man Cave in the morning.

The paper was printed out from one of Dash Corp's many websites. The main picture was of Kratos holding Inferno back with a statue as Inferno was on fire, taken from the security cameras at Dash Corp. At the bottom, after the interview questions and firsthand account from Aden's father, there was a video from the security cameras of Kratos and Inferno fighting. It was short, but super fights were the most viewed videos on YouTube now. It had already racked up ten million views since last night.

"You went out and talked with your father. Besides the fact that he could've recognized you, which would've been detrimental, he was also interviewing you. I haven't prepared you for something like this. You could've said something that revealed who we were! Just the fact that you came for an interview is enough for him to suspect everyone he knows!"

Aden scoffed. "Please, he'll never figure out that his disappointment of a son is an actual superhero. He thinks I spend my nights playing World of Warcraft in my room or reading fantasy books. Trust me, he'll never know who I am."

I sighed. "What about Inferno? You said he knew who you were."

"Well, it sure seemed like it." He shook his head, "he can't know, can he? I mean – he was baiting me, telling me that he would tell my father who I was, like he knew that he was my father. But, how?"

"Maybe he does know you, like in real life." Eric offered, pausing his game of World of Warcraft.

"What?"

"Well, weren't you in that accident with another kid? Dylan Danvers? What if he is Inferno?" He offered.

Aden furrowed his eyebrows. "No, Dylan is a jerk, but a super villain? A super villain out to kill Olly and I? He's not that crazy."

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly. "He seemed pretty rude when I met him, pretty good super villain material if you asked me. Plus, didn't you say he was at dinner at your house last night? He would've heard your dad talking about wanting an interview. He would've known where to find you."

Aden sat down, his face blank of emotions. "But . . . if he was Inferno, and he is intent on killing both of us, then why doesn't he do it at school or when I'm at home? I mean – wouldn't that be the best way to get rid of us?"