Superhero Chapter 8
I can't sleep that night or the next few nights after. Visions of Scanman being shot in the head keep popping up in my head over and over again. I keep seeing his blood stains. It took all night for me to get those blood stains out of my hands. I've never seen someone die. You think as a Superhero that stuff like that happens all the time. That's not really the case. It has never been.
"Cammy! You look really handsome. You got a date?" Tristan asks as soon as he sees me.
I walk into the living room in my father's old suit that he gave me when I graduated high school. It's a pretty nice suit and even after getting it adjusted it's still way too big. My family was never really rich or anything like that but I never complained. My father always said it wasn't about money. I wondered what it was really about then.
My father is sitting in the living room reading a newspaper. He's really old school like that. You would think he's a normal guy by the way he is doing it, regardless of his massive size and his intense glare. Right now he was just a normal urban parent, ignoring his kids unless he hears something that works his nerve. Tristan mentioning me going on a date definitely seems to work his nerve. He lifts up his eyes from the newspaper.
I watch him slowly get up and peel back the curtain.
"Relax, it's not Aaron," I tell him, "And I'm not going on a date. I'm going to a funeral."
"Whose funeral?" Tristan asks.
"Tristan go outside and help your mother with her garden," my father responds, "I need to speak with your brother."
Tristan nods and leaves more like a soldier in training than a little kid. He doesn't turn back and say anything else even though I know he wants to. I look back at my dad and see him become more himself. By himself, I mean more like Vicious Vigor. The only thing that remains of my father is his soiled hands are brown at the tips probably from working hard at the construction site.
"Explain," he asks.
"Scanman was killed."
"By who?"
"You don't know?" I ask.
He shakes his head, "Why the hell would I know?"
I feel this knot in my stomach at that moment.
"Nevermind. The assassin took a shot at him and got it. He'd been acting weird. He'd gone missing. My team was sent on a mission. When we met up with him it was almost like he was losing it. And someone killed him before we could really get him any help."
"Weird how?"
"He kept looking at me...calling me the Chimera."
My father sits there for a moment and thinks, "Scanman has the ability to read powers. He could have just been describing you."
"How is that a description of me?"
"Chimera was one hybrid from Greek mythology, usually depicted with the head as a lion, with the head of a goat rising from it's back and a tail with a snake's head. But honestly, a chimera is a term to describe any mythical or fictional creature with parts taken from various animals. He probably wasn't acting weird. He was just simply describing you."
My father wasn't there. He hadn't seen the way that the Scanman acted.
"I suppose," I state, "I should head out. My friend is waiting on me."
"Fine. Oh and Cam. Scanman was one of the good ones," my father states, "He was so...close to Materias. He was his real confidante. If you can put a flower on his grave for me."
It's a strange thing my father just asked me to do. He hands me one of A strange sense of humanity and a strange confirmation that my father honestly had no idea about Scanman's death.
~
I get outside and see Power Up pulling up. He is out of his sexy Power outfit and looks kind of normal. Not to say that makes him look any less attractive. He has on all black, but his suit seems to fit almost perfectly when I open the car door and get into his Mercedes Benz. Power Up looks over at me when I get in but doesn't give me a smile or anything like he usually would.
"Thanks for coming to get me," I state.
He still doesn't look over, "Well your boyfriend told me that he's not allowed anywhere near your house so I figured I didn't have much of a choice."
"He's not my boyfriend Power."
"Whatever," Power Up states.
He attempts to turn on the music as we zoom through the streets. I can tell he's still bothered by how high he puts the music. I know this is a conversation that I'm going to have to have with him sooner or later.
"Listen, I'm sorry about the whole situation that we put you guys in the other day. It honestly wasn't my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable.
"Well regardless of your intention its very uncomfortable."
"You know how it is."
"Listen I'm not even disappointed with you," he tells me, "It's just White Frost makes it seem like this team is supposed to be above everything. We are supposed to work as a unit. But now you two are hooking up and all this chaos led to someone getting murdered."
"We can't blame ourselves for Scanman."
"We're heroes," he tells me, "If we can't take responsibility for saving people then who the hell can."
He has a point. He had a real point.
"Maybe you're right," I respond shaking my head, "But before we were heroes we were human. That comes with all the emotions. That comes with all the mistakes."
He nods.
"That comes with death too."
Power Up stays quiet the rest of the ride. It's really uncommon for him and I feel like shit. When we get there I wonder if the other superheroes are going to blame us for Scanman's death too but no one seems to be bringing that sort of energy around when we arrive at the funeral. Everyone just seems sad. Maybe they are used to losing people. Maybe they are immune to it. The only ones that seem to be on edge are the members of my team.
I sit next with the rest of the team feeling more than awkward stuck between Mister Motions and Ultrasound. White Frost is a few aisles up. He doesn't even speak. He's sitting right next to his father and turns back. His eyes make contact and I wonder why he didn't sit with us. I wonder if his father had something to do with what happened earlier.
That's when I hear Motions whisper over to me, "You going to fuck him at a funeral too?"
I turn away feeling red with embarrassment. This was not the time or the place. I bite my tongue feeling a little bit of anger but as soon as we get out of the funeral and start the procession to the grave I stop Mister Motions.
"What the fuck was that about back there?"
"You know what it's about."
I want to believe that Mister Motions isn't doing this because he's just jealous that he wasn't the one hooking up with White Frost, but honestly, I have to be the bigger person right now. We were a team and White Frost was clearly being doubted by his team members for us about to have sex while in the middle of a mission. It's clear that I have to fix this before it starts affecting the team.
"Listen, I want to apologize about that mission," I state, "And I was hoping that maybe, we can keep this in the team."
"You scared I'm going to tell Sunbeam, aren't you?" he asks, "Too late. Already did."
I turn at that moment and see White Frost. He's still standing next to his father. They are a really handsome father and son duo. I knew my father was handsome and I didn't think I was too bad looking but Sunbeam and his son just looked like brothers. They just have that similar, majestic leadership quality to them. My father was all doom and gloom and I was that young guy trying to catch up and find out what the fuck was going on. I just feel sick at that moment, feeling like I was going to be the cause of issues in their relationship. What if Sunbeam blamed me for Scanman's death?
"Why do you have to be such a dick?" I ask Motions, "Honestly, I'm here trying to apologize to you."
He shrugs, "My grandmother was loyal to your father. I'm sworn to follow him. That does not make me have to like you."
"What about the fact that we are on the same team?" I ask, "I don't want you to like me man. I just want to coexist without feeling like I have some enemy."
Mister Motions finds this amusing. He all but laughs in my face at that very moment. I'm really trying with this guy but he just has this negativity all around him that just reeks. He's just one of those guys who are nasty for the sake of being nasty and the fact that I was dating his ex-fiancé definitely wasn't helping this relationship.
Mister Motions leans into me. He leans real close. It's not the sexy way that White Frost would do it. No. This was different. He was trying his hardest to intimidate me.
"I'm not your enemy," he tells me, "Remember. You and I are villains. We are one in the same. The heroes are the enemy. What would White Frost do if he found out exactly who you were? What would he do if he found out you were the enemy?"
"Hey guys," a voice interrupts.
We are interrupted at that moment. I can hear Motions voice just echoing in my head. He wouldn't! It was just an empty threat. Or was it? What if he really got so pissed off at me that he forgot whatever loyalty his family owed my father. What if he ended up spilling the secret about me just to be spiteful? What the hell was I going to do in that situation?
I start to panic when I realize that a group of superheroes is approaching. I see Peter Palsy, Fem Fatale, Captain Radiance and a few others approach. Motions is used to this sort of thing because I see how his face lightens up. I'm not used to it though. These people were still out of reach to me. T hey were still like Gods. The older Superheroes gather around and I feel like an entry-level worker having small talk with the CEO of the company he worked for. Sunbeam and White Frost are the ones walking up to us next. In fact, it's Sunbeam who stands shoulder to shoulder with me. They both have that strong majestic glare. Sunbeam is clearly staying strong even with the death of his brother but I can see the look of sadness in his eyes.
"The team wanted to hear what we know about...what happened with Scanman," White Frost states.
I'm confused, "Didn't you tell them?"
White Frost nods, "I guess they want to hear it from someone else that was there."
All of a sudden I feel scared. White Frost had a lot to prove. If anyone knew how he felt right now I did. I can see by how he just struggles to keep his composure at that moment that he was under the fire. They were probably questioning his leadership abilities because of what happened. I feel like shit.
I can see all the eyes staring at me but the only ones that matter is White Frost.
"Scanman was acting weird. He wasn't making sense and it wasn't just what he said. It was how he said it. Almost like he lost his mind."
"Like Animous?" Fem Fatale asks.
Sunbeam interrupts, "He didn't know Animous Fem. Let the boy speak."
"Well then we were attacked," I state, "White Frost and I tried to fight back. White Frost was doing great, but I just hesitated and I dropped the ball."
There is a silence. If I have to take the fall for this that was all fine. I just didn't want White Frost going down for this. I'm hoping that he would just shut up and let it fly but White Frost doesn't.
"We were both out muscled. This person was trained. Powerful. Definitely a metahuman."
There is a pause.
"Vicious Vigor?" Sunbeam asks.
I shake my head, "No."
"Are you sure?" Brynhilder asks.
I feel like I'm getting drilled by the superheroes right now. The questions just keep coming one after the other. Each time I answer they seem to be trying to draw their own conclusions about what happened.
"This definitely wasn't Vicious Vigor," White Frost interrupts.
"Did you see who it was?" Captain Radiance asks.
"No."
White Frost and I look at each other. There is an awkwardness between us at that moment. It's real deep. I can tell. I can see the heaviness between us and I know that he can read how afraid I am at that moment.
"It's not your fault," Sunbeam states at that moment, "It's none of your faults. My brother was a good man. I don't know who killed him but I saw him slip into that darkness of losing it. I know he wouldn't have wanted to live like that. It seems like lately, our minds have been our biggest weakness."
It's a strange thing to say. I'm not doubting Sunbeam is sad. It's clear that he is but he seems so ready to just admit that maybe this was for the best. A few of the others nod in agreement but I just find it weird.
"We could have done better," Mister Motions interrupts the conversation, "If we were all there."
There is silence at that moment.
"That's right," Sunbeam states, "Where was the rest of your team son?"
Everyone looks over at White Frost.
"Um..."
White Frost had left out that part of the story. We would have all been able to take the assassin if we were all together but we weren't. A mistake had cost us detaining the killer of Scanman.
"It was all me," I interrupt, "I forced myself into a compromising situation with White Frost and it irritated the rest of the team. They left earlier."
Sunbeam looks confused.
"Compromising situation?"
"He was about to fuck your son," Mister Motions jumps at the chance to air me out. He stands there afterward with the biggest congratulatory smirk on his face. He's so happy that he is having this moment right now. A part of me wants to say something rude but I'm not going to stoop to his level. This wasn't about him. This was about White Frost.
"You ruined my mission because you were about to fuck my son?" Sunbeam asks.
"Dad it wasn't just him that wanted it," White Frost starts in.
I should have known he would try to jump into defending me. Him jumping in isn't met by the most positive reaction though.
Sunbeam quickly barks, "I was talking to Cam!"
"Sorry sir," White Frost quickly apologizes.
It reminds me so much of me. It reminds me so much of my brother Tristan. White Frost was just like us. Sure his father wasn't a supervillain, but he'd been trained to fear his father instead of just respect him.
"I have feelings for your son sir," I admit at that moment, "They are strong feelings. And I know it's getting in the way of the job. If that means that I need to not be on the team because of the feelings I have for Aaron then I'm willing to do that. I just don't think I can keep pretending like those feelings don't exist."
There is a pause.
Everyone gets quiet.
"Why would you quit the team for love?" Sunbeam asks.
"Excuse me?" I ask.
I hadn't said the word love. Sunbeam saying that makes White Frost and I just stare at one another. I'm confused by his whole statement though, not just love, but also the fact that Sunbeam leans over and puts his hand on my shoulder at that moment.
"I loved someone before. I loved someone I worked with," Sunbeam states, "Materias. And I wouldn't have sacrificed the love I felt for him for anyone or anything. That love made me who I am today. Son, do you have feelings for this boy?"
This is awkward. This is beyond awkward.
"Yeah," White Frost answers after a few awkward seconds, "Of course I do."
"Then maybe you should to be together," Sunbeam states rather bluntly, "Love isn't a weakness. Love isn't what was responsible for killing my brother. If anything your team is to blame for walking out because of irritation."
I'm shocked. I'm shocked because the rest of the team is in earshot to hear what Sunbeam is saying. Motions is right in the midst of it. He opens his mouth trying to find words to defend himself.
"It was during a mission..." Motions attempt to defend himself.
"And if Materias needed my love I'd give it to him whenever he asked," Sunbeam responds, "We are at team made of love. That's what drives us. That's why we wake up every day. If you can't understand that then maybe the Host of Heroes isn't the right place for you."
I'm amazed at that moment. I'm amazed that Sunbeam is actually sticking up for me. I look over at Power Up and Ultrasound. They seem to be understanding what Sunbeam was talking about.
It's Ultrasound who nods in agreement, "I think I can speak for all of us when I say it was our own jealousy. We should have been there for the team, regardless of our personal feelings."
Motions is the only one at that point who doesn't seem to agree. A part of me wants to gloat but I know better. If I push Motions over the edge he can tell who my father is. Right now he seems to be steaming so much that he is right on the edge.
Quickly I added, "We all could have done better."
Sunbeam smiles at me, "I'm glad you tried your best, Cam. Matter of fact, I think it's about time I stop calling you Cam. You are going to need an alias. Have you thought of one?"
I think at that moment. For the past few nights, there was one alias that I couldn't get out of my head. It kept popping up in the most inopportune moments.
"Yeah, I have."
"Well let's have it," he states.
"Call me Chimera."
~
I think Power Up is going to drive me home but I'm surprised when he feels so bad about what happened that he gives Aaron his car to drop me off. We are both so sure that even if my father is spying on us that he wouldn't know it was Aaron dropping me off.
After all that happened tonight I have to admit that I had mixed emotions. I didn't know Scanman but it was sad to see how his family and friends dealt with his death. The highlight of the night however was the fact that Sunbeam's father gave us his blessing. I wish I could say the same for my dad. I'm in the car just excited. I'm so excited that I don't realize Aaron's hand reaching over and holding my hand until we pull up to my block.
"Your father going to come out with a machine gun if he catches me?" I ask.
I shake my head, "He's at the site still. I text him a little earlier, just to be safe. I didn't want to have to go to two funerals today."
Aaron laughs at that moment. He is still holding my hand when he says, "I'll take that risk if that means you look this good at my funeral."
Our tongues collide at that moment. The tongue lashing is something serious. It's beyond something serious. Before I know it he's pulling me into the front seat of the car and I'm dry humping him with my pants on. He's grabbing onto my ass through my jeans and when that isn't enough he is slowly sliding my jeans down to get the full feature of my ass.
"You're so perfect," I find myself realizing, touching onto each one of his muscles.
"Stop...you're going to give me blue balls if you keep being so good to me."
"Who says you'll need blue balls?"
"We don't have enough space."
"We'll make some."
I don't know how I manage to get my jeans off, but I get them to wrap around my waist. My boxers are on still and I could hardly care. I find myself desperately reaching down, spitting into my palm and lubing up his dick. I didn't want this to be the first time we had interaction in the front of Power Up's car but at the same time, I hated waiting. I needed him and I needed him fast.
He doesn't stop me. In fact, he helps, spitting on his own palm and rubbing it on his dick. He manages to put a little of his power on it like he did before so it's really cool and slick. His dick slides right into me, forcing its way through my walls. I let out a deep moan. It's so deep that I started fogging up the windows. My heat and his cold make the whole car cloudy.
His tongue is deep in my mouth as he starts thrusting forward.
"You feel...so...fucking good..." he tells me, "You don't know how long I've been waiting for this."
I could admit that I've been waiting longer than him. I've been waiting longer than I actually knew who he was. I don't say any of those things. It's not because I'm embarrassed. It's because I literally can't. He is tonguing me down. He's so aggressive that he slams my back up against the horn and I swear we are going to wake all the neighbors on my block. I'm rocking back and forth as hard as I can. Part of me wants this to be aggressive but another part of me wants this to be fast. I'm going so hard. SO fucking hard.
I rock so hard that he finally cums, thrusting inside of me until his jizz squirms all around my asshole dripping down my leg and staining Power Up's leather seats.
"Fuck that was good," I state.
"Too good," he laughs, giving me a softer kiss this time with a lot more emotion, "Power is going to kill us."
"He has like 20 of these," I roll my eyes, "I'm sure he won't notice. I'm more worried about the neighbors seeing something and letting my dad know."
"You think they'll recognize you?"
"I have no doubt."
I laugh pulling up my underwear and making my way back to my seat. He looks over at me. His face is just perfect. He's acknowledging me with these wondering eyes. I can see how specific he looks. It's real as though he's trying to figure me out.
And I know exactly what he's trying to figure out.
"Before you leave, I need to ask you...about the assassin."
"We talked about it," I tell White Frost.
"You knew who killed my uncle. I care about you more than I can tell, but I saw how you looked at that person."
I pause.
"I did."
"Well, why don't you tell me the truth then?"
I shake my head, "I just need you to trust me. Please."
White Frost looks skeptical. I know if it was anyone else he wouldn't have pulled it. I remembered that day. I had the chance to stop the assassin. I was there. I had the assassin in my grasp. I let the assassin go. White Frost saw me do it. He was about to pursue but I stopped him.
And the worst part of all of that is that I couldn't give him any more of an explanation besides what I gave him. I couldn't tell him why we couldn't detain the assassin.
Looking at White Frost I know this will change our relationship.
"I don't know what you're going through, but Scanman was my uncle. I need to find his killer. I'll give you time to deal with whatever you have to deal with but sooner or later, we are going to have to have a serious talk about who that person is," White Frost states, "And I'm going after them."
"I know baby," I state, "Just not tonight, please."
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"What?"
"You called me baby so that I would get all gushy and drop the issue," he points out.
"Uh..."
"Because it worked," he states smiling and leaning over. He gives me one final kiss, "Goodnight baby."
"Goodnight."
I have to admit as I get out of the call and walk over to the house that calling him baby meant everything to me. I can feel his eyes on me as I walk into the house.
I close the door and smile.
I start walking over to my room still with him on my mind. That's when I notice something. I walk past Tristan's room. All his things are gone.
I can feel the person behind me.
"Where is he?"
"I sent him away," Mary states.
I hadn't heard her coming behind me. It seems like she is going with walking silent if she wanted to. I do see the shadow on the floor and it's definitely not my father's shadow. That only leaves one other person.
"My father was OK with that?" I ask.
"Now that your power has emerged he is so focused on you that he is likely to agree with anyone," Mary states, "Besides, he says a war is coming. It's best if Tristan spends time with his grandparents."
"Is that what Scanman was?" I ask, "The beginning of my father's war? Because he doesn't seem to know anything about the fact that you were the assassin who tried to kill Scanman."
I look back at Mary.
I remember pulling off that mask. She was a metahuman. Her saying she was a human was a lie. Sure humans could fight like she fought, but this was different. I didn't know what her power was, but I knew she was one. I could tell.
"No that was settling an old debt," she states.
"You killed a superhero," I state shaking my head, "The brother of the leader of the Host of Heroes. You have no idea. They are going to come after you. Everyone loved Scanman. I don't think my father wanted him dead. Wonder what he'll say when he finds out."
"He won't find out."
"Why the fuck not?" I ask.
Mary takes a step towards me, "I knew you would pull this. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And that's why I sent my son away for safe keeping. And unless you want your little brother to grow up never seeing you again then you'll keep my secret."
With that, Mary walked away knowing that I had no choice. She walked away knowing that I would keep her secret. What kind of woman used her own child as a bargaining chip? But Tristan meant the world to me. I don't doubt she would keep him out of my life if need be.
I had no choice but to keep her secret. It would be easy with my father but I had to figure out a way to keep it from White Frost...
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