You’ll help people, they said. You’ll get a Taser, they said, even if they also said you couldn’t use it whenever you wanted.”
Nick barely heard a single word from Officer Rookie. “And it’s not like I want to have to make a choice like this, you know? I mean, yes, it can be said that I’ve known Seth for practically my whole life whereas Shadow Star and I have only spoken once, for like, five minutes, but those five minutes were so … electric. There was something there, and it was awesome.” He sighed dreamily as he looked out the window again. “But on the flip side, Seth got weirdly muscular when I wasn’t looking. It’s like puberty hit him late, or whatever. Not that it matters. I thought he was perfect the way he was before. I mean, he wears ascots, Officer Rookie. If you saw him wearing one, you’d probably want to kiss him too.” Nick turned to glare at Officer Rookie. “Except he’s only sixteen, and you’re, like, thirty. That’s disgusting and illegal. Get that thought out of your head right now.”
“I’m not thirty,” Office Rookie said. “I’m twenty-four.”
What the f—? “That’s still illegal! Why are you arguing with me on this? You stay away from Seth!”
“I’m not trying to—you know what? No. I’m not going to get involved.”
Officer Rookie sighed dramatically as the heavy traffic slowed to a stop. “If I give you some advice, can we finish the rest of this ride in silence?”
“I have ADHD. I don’t do many things in silence.”
Officer Rookie muttered something under his breath. It didn’t sound complimentary. Rude. “Shadow Star is cool and all, okay? I get it. He’s an Extraordinary, and some of the things he can do are nuts. But he’s always going to put the needs of Nova City first. For whatever reason, he thinks it’s his job. And you won’t be able to compete with that.”
“But—”
“And you have your best friend, who sounds like a really great guy. Maybe he’s busier than he’s been before, but it sounds like you really care for him. And you know him well. Why would you still be vacillating between the two? The answer is obvious.”
“Huh. I’ve never thought of it that way before.” Nick narrowed his eyes. “What’s your play here, Officer Rookie? You trying to convince me one way or the other so you can go for the one I didn’t choose? So if you’re not trying to get with a teenager, you’ve got some kind of superhero kink and you—”
A streak of light appeared from above, meteor-bright and harsh.
Nick knew that light.
He heard shouts coming from outside the car, and he leaned his head out the open window.
There, high above the streets of Nova City, were Shadow Star and Pyro Storm.
Nick squeaked when a bright bloom of fire burst from Pyro Storm, hurtling directly toward Shadow Star. Shadow Star managed to leap off the roof of an apartment building, narrowly avoiding getting caught in the flames.
“Dammit,” Officer Rookie whispered. He picked up the receiver to the radio and barked something into it. He threw it back down, twisting to look at Nick. “You stay here, do you get me? I swear to god, if you get out of this car, I will find you, and I will mace you.”
Officer Rookie slammed the door to the cruiser, shouting at people to get back into their cars. Traffic was gridlocked, so it wasn’t as if they could actually go anywhere, but Nick knew it was safer in the vehicles than out.
Officer Rookie took off down the street, leaving a mostly naked, rancid boy in the back seat of his police cruiser.
All in all, it had been a very weird day.
And, it must be said, Nick did try to listen to Officer Rookie. He really did. He heard Cap’s voice in his head, telling him Dad loved him. He remembered the exhausted look on Dad’s face at the sight of him in the interrogation room.
The problem with all of that was Nicholas Bell happened to look up in time to see Pyro Storm lay a devastating kick right to Shadow Star’s head, knocking him off the side of the building and into a darkened alley.
“No!” Nick shouted as Shadow Star fell. He couldn’t see where he’d landed, but Pyro Storm disappeared into the same alley.
Nick made a choice.
He threw off the blanket and climbed out the window