The Sidekick Club

0.4

Ethan could never really figure out if his powers had cursed him with bad luck, or good.

On the one hand, bad luck seemed to follow him around like he was some sort of magnet. Whether he stumbled upon it himself, or it came to him, it was always breathing down the back of his neck.

On the other hand, good luck never failed to show up when the bad needed to be conquered.

To Ethan, it was like holding a stick of ignited dynamite in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

Ethan was particularly aware of this phenomenon when he dozed off during sixth period English. Normally, Mrs. Dukes would go bat shit crazy if she caught him with his head down, but fortunately for him, Mr. Stevens was substituting for her today. He had always liked Mr. Stevens. The old man always gave his class free days and tootsie rolls if they behaved.

Ethan could barely keep his eyes open for the first five minutes of class, and once he was out, he didn't wake up again until the bell rang.

Feeling better after his forty-or-so minute nap, Ethan stretched and stood to head to his next class: Senior Math. Senior Math was arguably his favorite class. Mr. Peterson rarely gave out homework and to put it simply, the material was really easy. That was the perfect combination for an active sidekick who had little time for homework, and, well, a social life of any kind.

Ethan sat at his desk and only had to wait an approximate thirty seconds for his best friend Noah Miller to plop down beside him.

The boy had dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a lopsided grin that made the girls in their grade go crazy. He was also prone to making sarcastic, yet hilarious, comments about innocent bystanders, but Ethan had grown almost as used to that as he had the boy's relentless flirting.

Ethan was the only one who knew Noah was gay, or bisexual rather, and although the aforementioned flirting had made him uncomfortable at first, he knew now that his best friend was only teasing him. Because although he loved his best friend, Ethan had made it very clear that he was into girls and only girls.

"How is it that even when you look like shit, you look absolutely delicious?" Noah leaned closer and asked in a low voice once he was settled in his seat.

"Luck, I guess?" Ethan shrugged with a smirk at his little inside joke. Noah didn't know about his powers. No one did. It was rule number one in the superhero rule book.

"Rough night?" he asked with a tone of sympathy as he took out yesterday's assignment.

"Long night," Ethan corrected him. He and Talon had been out until two in the morning patrolling the inner city last night. Having to get up for school the following morning was just cruel, in his opinion.

Noah was about to say something else, but was cut off when Ethan was poked by the girl sitting to his right.

"Have you guys seen the news?" she asked, holding a smartphone in her hands. Both Ethan and Noah shook their heads, their interest now captured by the girl's question. She handed her phone to Ethan, and Noah, along with a few others, crowded around him to watch the news clip.

Ethan turned up the volume as the reporter started to speak.

"Yesterday afternoon, the Westington Heights Central Bank underwent an alleged robbery. However, Chief of Police, Robert Laney, isn't convinced the money was what they were after."

The screen shifted to a shot of the Chief of Police, a man Ethan had met on several occasions, who was currently holding a microphone in his hands. He looked very solemn as he made his official statement. "Yesterday at approximately 4:23 pm, we received a call about several armed men holding hostages in the WHCB. Upon arrival, it became clear that the situation was far out of our control. Local hero Edison volunteered to go in alone to extract the assailants, but after some confusion and a thorough search of the area, it was discovered that he, along with all of the assailants and hostages, had disappeared. No money has been removed and nothing within the bank has been tampered with. We believe that this attack was not meant to be a bank robbery, but instead, an act of higher crime. As of yet, it is not clear what happened, or why."

The screen switched back to the reporter, who, after a second, picked up with, "Citizens have been advised not to panic. The WHPD has launched an investigation to uncover the mystery of where Edison and the others have disappeared to."

Ethan, sensing the video was drawing to a close, handed the smartphone back to the girl. She took it from him and moved to replay the video for another section of the class.

"Well shit," Noah said as he sat back to his seat. "Where do you think they went?"

Ethan didn't know, but he did know that this was bad news for him and his super powered friends. A hero had just gone missing, which meant he and his fellow supers were in danger.

His life, in the span of just a few minutes, had gotten a whole lot more complicated.