Friend and Foe

Chapter Three

I tried to do what Dad said. Not worry. But for the next two weeks, leading up to the end of the semester, I couldn't get it out of my head. And I couldn't help feeling more than a little bit guilty for forcing Mum to take the kid on.

It was all that was in my mind as I sat on the ledge of the roof, looking out over the city. I was so stuck in my own head that I almost didn't notice Magnet sit down next to me, kicking his legs back and forth.

"Long time. No see," he commented, nudging me with his shoulder.

"I've been busy," I told him with a shrug.

"With what?"

"Curiosity killed the cat, Magnet," I said, avoiding the question.

"And you know, satisfaction brought it back," he quipped. "Actually, there are many proverbs that people only use half off. Blood is thicker than water is a great example, the original..."

Magnet was the perfect example of why you shouldn't give a teenage boy a spandex suit and the power to choose a superhero name. He'd been sixteen when they'd given him his powers and he'd though the appropriate name for him and his gifts was Babe Magnet. I refused to call him that since the get go, but that never stopped us from becoming a fierce crime fighting duo. We'd been partners for two years and, we'd been through hell and back together. They only thing we didn't know about each other was our secret identities.

He could manipulate metals from, small iron stones to massive steel supports. The realising of that ability had come when he'd almost brought The Bell Tower down into the quay. My ability for speed and strength had been realised the same time. I'd spent too much time wondering, in the early days, why they couldn't have told us what our powers were when they gave them to us instead of watching us fall on our faces a dozen times.

We had both grown into our powers since and despite being a bit disgruntled with boring powers (me), we'd become quite precocious with them (Magnet- he'd found all kinds of loop holes and uses for daily life whilst mine were quite useless).

"You're off in la la land, Wisp," Magnet said, making me jump suddenly.

"Just worrying. You know me. Its what I do best," I joked weakly.

"Want to talk about it?"

I sighed and shrugged, "Nah. We've got more important things to think about. Like where Mr Hearst is hiding."

Mr Hearst was The Joker, our Thanos (Okay he was closer to The Joker, but still). He was the main boss. We had been so close to getting him when he'd suddenly retreated again and since then, there hadn't been a single peep or minion from him. We were effectively back at the start.

Magnet shifted. "Yeah. But even if we did know, we can't do anything without the all clear from the guys upstairs."

"If they ignore us much longer, then they can't expect that we'll listen to them anymore," I told him.

"Whisper?" He looked amused as he asked his question, "Are you suggesting we go rogue?"

I shook my head. "I'm just suggesting that we are both adults and can look after ourselves."

"Okay," he said grinning. He reached out a hand to me. "If they ignore us for much longer, we take things into our own hands."

I took his offered hand and squeezed it firmly, giving a quick shake. "Two 'til the end."

"The end," he echoed.

***

I missed the thrill of fighting goons and henchmen. It made me feel powerful, out witting and overpowering grown, muscle building men. But there was also a liberating humbleness to helping the everyday Joe.

Magnet and I roamed the streets of the city, foiling petty crimes with our powers. Magnet loved disabling cars, he could break down the metal in the engine, cutting short, thieves' heists and speed demon's car chases. I had intervened on occasion in domestic abuse. My first time doing that had been quite scary. It wasn't how they portrayed it in the movies. I rescued a young man who had been beaten bloody by his girlfriend of three years. I'd almost cracked, being confronted by the violence, it was so different to the violence between Magnet and I and, the henchmen.

I climbed in my bedroom window near dawn and passed out quickly, knowing that my sleep would be brief before Mum would come knocking.

I woke hours later, sunlight streaming, bright, in my window. My alarm clock blinked the time at me. I jerked out from under my quilt, double checking the time, using my phone.

11:34 am

The house was silent as I tugged on a pair of jeans and strode though the house. I found a note on the bench in the kitchen, scribbled in my father's messy handwriting.

Parker,

There was a problem at your mother's office. We don't know how long we'll be gone.

Don't worry, it'll be fine. We've just got to talk to the cops and deal with a little damage.

Dad & Mum

Police? Damage? Well Dad, I was already worrying.

Under that in Mum's loopy script was a postscript.

P.S. Can you please take the mince out around lunch time if we're not back.

P.P.S. We'll talk about your sneaking in tonight.

I pulled out the mince before going back up to my room. Dad had told me not to worry, so, I was going to worry as Whisper. I brushed my hair and teeth before pulling on my black and silver suit.

The suit was a solid black made from a formfitting material though I had requested a few times, something less... well, something that left more to the imagination. I was tempted, on occasion, to wear a fat suit underneath. The silver was in the detailing, the stitching. My name, Whisper, was stitched across the back in a shiny silver lettering. I wore black, thick soled boots with silver laces and soft, suede gloves, black on the top, silver on the palm. My mask was black, falling down my cheeks and wrapping around my head in two bands, one under and above each ear, meeting at the back of my head in a thick band right under my ponytail. It had silver edging and sparkled slightly around the eyes.

I didn't put my mask or gloves on as I shrugged a coat on over my suit, instead they were shoved into my pocket until I got somewhere more discreet to change. It was one thing to climb in my window in the middle of the night in my suit when nobody was looking but another to wander out my front door at midday in full view. Unless I thought I could convince my neighbours that I was having an affair with the city's heroine.

I was ready for action.