Shadow

Return of Strawberry Man

     Breaking into the Agency was a lot like talking to your crush— hard to do and ending with lots of perspiration. I would know. I've done both the breaking and entering and the conversing.

    "How did you even get these layouts?" I whispered to my earpiece. "There's rooms on here that I never even knew about." Way back when I told Cole I wanted cool accessories, I didn't imagine all this. Honestly, I'd have been thrilled with an Apple Watch. Or a watch in general. Maybe then I could be on time.

    A brand new addition to my mask allowed Ally, the blonde chick from the Society, to project images in front of my left eye. Like a 3-D blueprint for me to follow. Or Google Maps for my brain.

    The other new accessory was a sort of memory foam earpiece that molded perfectly into the cartilage of my ear. I would be able to hear her and burrito dude giving Blaze and I directions, warnings, and time limits to get to certain locations, along with the occasional irrelevant input from Phantom or Cameron. I was worried about Cameron.

    Phantom wasn't exactly a great influence on her.

    "Stole some of them, insider information for others, sonar for more," Ally responded. "Basically, a whole lot of illegal stuff that could get us into a whole lot of trouble. But that's okay, 'cause people already hate us anyway."

    "You can say that again," Blaze muttered from right next to me. We were both hiding in the upper branches of the trees surrounding the Agency, decked out in our Super suits. My boots hid my metal appendage perfectly, so the people of Cryptic City would never know. More importantly, they would never suspect Kiera Knight of being Shadow. I was in the clear.

    "Okay," Ally said, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this."

    I couldn't help the grin that spread across my lips. Finally. It was my time for revenge on the Agency. They hurt all those other Supers. Now, it was their turn. We were going to win this war if it was the last thing I did.

    "How about breaking and entering the old fashioned way?"

    Blaze paled beneath his mask. "You mean through a vent." It was a statement, not a question. I snorted.

    "Yeah," Ally said, chuckling nervously.

    Blaze scoffed and stepped across to another branch of the tree without fear. I guess that's how it would be if you could fly. "We couldn't just teleport in?"

    I scowled. "Don't volunteer me for things."

    "It's not like I'm volunteering you for human sacrifice, Shadow."

    "Are you sure? Have you met Agent Crap?"

    "Guys," Ally interrupted. "Blaze, teleporting in blindly would probably not be the best option. Plus, Shadow produces a flash of light when she teleports, contradictory to her name."

    "It's all your fault," Blaze grumbled childishly and kicked the trunk.

    I rolled my eyes. "This is as much my fault as was the fajita incident."

    "Fajitas?" the burrito dude questioned. Forgot he was there, too.

    "There's also the sewers you could trudge through," Ally mused. "After spending so much time down here with the Society, you guys should be used to it anyway."

    "Maybe that'll get rid of your crappy attitude," I shot at Cole with a smirk.

    He made a face back at me. You know the one I'm talking about— the one where the person can't think of a comeback quick enough so they just make what they think are mimicking expressions but are really just amusing. That face.