The Sidekick Club

1.5

"Samantha, honey," Sam's mother poked her head inside her daughter's room. "Would you like to come with me to the store?"

"No, I'm okay, Mom," she replied, not even looking away from her computer screen.

"Are you sure? You've been holed up in your room all week, and I just thought it might be nice to get some fresh air."

Samantha turned to her mother and gave the woman a small smile. "I'm fine, Mom. I just got a little behind on a school project, that's all."

"Oh," her mom smiled at her empathetically. "Well then keep up the good work, honey."

"Thanks, Mom," Sam said again as her mother left her room, leaving the door slightly ajar in her wake. Samantha glared at it for a few moments, hoping that she could somehow summon the force or something to magically close it. But, much to her annoyance, she had to stand up and hop across her messy floor to close it.

After huffing a strand of hair out of her eyes, she returned to her computer and continued researching everything she could about the incident at the mall.

All of the signs pointed towards the Vanisher, but he was honestly too stupid to think up a plan like the one that took Edison. He had to be a pawn. He had to be a puppet while someone else pulled the strings.

Samantha's eyes widened. There was only one villain that had the ability to make people do whatever he wanted. There was only one villain that could corrupt anyone's heart, mind, and soul. There was only one villain that could convince anyone to do something bad. To kidnap a hero. To rob a bank. To disappear.

Nefarious.

Samantha logged in to the database and started searching through the villains. Nefarious had been dark for almost a year. Everyone thought he was retiring, or dead, but maybe he was just taking the time to plan something big.

It could be him. He could be behind it all, but Sam was reluctant to take this information to the heroes. She was afraid they'd laugh in her face.

She was enough of a laughing stock already. She didn't need more bullets for them to fire. She knew she needed to be absolutely sure about this if-

Samantha's train of thought was cut off by the buzz of her phone. She opened up the lock screen to see Megan had sent her a picture of Pickles. His tongue hung out the side of his mouth and his bug eyes stared expectantly up at the camera. Megan was probably taunting him with treats or something.

Another text followed soon after.

We're going to the dog park. Come meet us!

Samantha sighed as she looked down at her phone. She really needed to figure this whole thing out.

I can't.

Why not? :(

I'm working on homework.

Samantha Ann Porter. We have almost all of the same classes and I know for a fact you didn't have any homework assigned yesterday.

Samantha sighed, knowing it would be useless to try to lie to her friend.

Fine. I'll be there in twenty minutes.

Goodie!

Samantha didn't have a dog, but because of Megan and Pickles, she was no stranger to the dog park.

Walking downstairs, Samantha scribbled out a note to her mother and left it on the kitchen island.

Megan yelled at me for overworking myself. Gone for a walk at the dog park. Be back soon.

With that, she picked up her bag and house keys and headed out the door.

It didn't take long to get to the dog park, and once she was there, she almost immediately spotted her blonde haired friend.

Megan waved her over when she spotted her as well.

Samantha walked closer to her best friend and her chunky beige pug. Lord that thing was ugly.

"You know what I could really go for?" Megan inquired as soon as Samantha was close enough to have a conversation.

"What?" Sam asked.

Megan sent her a mischievous grin. "Ice cream."

Samantha nodded in agreement and they began to scan the edges of the park for an ice cream stand.

Once they spotted one, they began making their way over to it.

"Mommy, I want the Superman one," a little boy pointed into the ice cream cart.

"How many scoops?" The ice cream man asked.

"Two," the little boy grinned and held up two fingers.

"A single is fine," the mother corrected.

"That'll be three dollars," the man said as he handed the cone to the boy.

The mother started rummaging through her purse, but a look of confusion crossed her face after a few moments. She patted down her pockets and then started to panic a bit. "I can't find my wallet."

Samantha was about to offer to pay for the ice cream when a blonde boy around her age walked up and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Excuse me ma'am, but I think you dropped this."

The woman looked at the item in the boy's hand and sighed in relief. It must've been her wallet. "Thank you..."

"Ethan," the boy supplied.

"Thank you, Ethan," she said as she smiled at the boy.

Samantha looked at Ethan and couldn't help but feel as though he looked familiar. She had seen him somewhere before, but where?

It wasn't until he started walking away that it hit her.

He was the boy in the video. The one that helped Talon and that girl. He could know something about what happened at the mall. He could be the missing link.

Forgetting completely about her best friend, the ice cream, and Pickles, Samantha called out, "Hey, wait!" and sprinted after the boy.

*
A/N

Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA for the last couple of weeks. I just finished up a two week long camp.

I'm just curious. Have any of your ships changed yet?

Your favorite characters?

Let me know what you think of this book. I really enjoy reading your comments!

Thanks!

-TheUncannyCannibal