Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2)(20)

*

“Look, my powers are really awesome, but there’s no way I can control water,” Bells says to Liam, one of the League lab techs on the assignment. He’s just read the mission parameters again and did a double-take at the ‘script.’ Bells eyes the large hose attached to the pump leading directly from the ocean. “Are you sure this is gonna work?”

“Don’t worry. The special effects crew will handle it,” Liam says, heavy hose in hand.

Bells nods, gesturing at the ocean in Jetstream’s signature move. It’s disorienting, being in Jetstream’s body. They’ve been filming all morning, hoping to catch the attention of Aerodraft, and Bells keeps catching glimpses of himself as Jetstream reflected in the camera lens. She’s a tall woman with broad shoulders and muscular forearms, and it’s intimidating, being asked to take on her form, but this is the most interesting assignment Bells has had from the League. He’s determined to prove he can do it. It was uncomfortable yesterday when he tried it out for the first time, but he reminded himself that it’s Jetstream’s body, not his. Combat training will involve a lot of shifting into other people. It’s comforting that the League sees that he can use his powers in situations more complicated that rescuing cats.

He holds his arms up again, and a hidden Liam shoots water out of the hose in powerful torrents.

“Jetstream! You’ve broken out of Corrections!” Aerodraft says, finally arriving on the scene. They run toward him and brandish their signature move, blasting a rush of air at him.

Bells ducks the attack and moves forward. The film crew runs to keep up, but he’s lost track of Liam.

“I can’t believe you,” Aerodraft says, throwing a punch.

Bells dodges the punch and aims a swift kick at them, and is pleased at himself for keeping up. Aerodraft tries the blasts again, and Bells soon runs out of steam. He can feel his strength flicker. He’s been shifted into Jetstream all morning, and it takes a lot out of him to maintain the woman’s commanding presence.

“You know you’re no match for me; you’re nearly tapped out already. Why were you blasting water at the ocean? Trying to disrupt the tidal power stations? You know we talked about this,” Aerodraft says.

Bells raises his eyebrows, but that’s probably not visible through the mask. Does Aerodraft not know that he’s not actually Jetstream?

He manages to keep the fight up for another few minutes and then, as instructed, falls back. Aerodraft blasts another gust of air at him, and Bells dodges it, but pretends to take it in the stomach. He falls to the ground. “You… got me…” he says, like a dying cowboy in an old holovid.

“Hah!” Aerodraft strikes a pose. “I just have to call the Authorities and the Associated League… oh, they’re here!” they say, as the uniformed officials step forward. “Bring out the tantalum cuffs!”

Bells freezes. Since when was this part of the act? If they put tantalum on him, he’ll go back to being Bells, and not only will the assignment tank, but his secret identity will be revealed. He doubles up, clutching his knees. “I’ll go quietly,” he says to Aerodraft. “I’m all tapped out; you don’t need those…”

One of the officials is actually Liam, who’s changed into a black tactical uniform with AUTHORITY emblazoned on the back.

“We’ll handle this,” Liam says. “Thank you for your hard work on apprehending this dangerous criminal.” Liam jerks his head at the film crew, who rush to Aerodraft’s side and clamor for an interview.

The officials lead a relieved Bells away, and he gets into their car and shifts into Barry.

Harris is already reviewing the footage. “This fight isn’t quite ten minutes,” he says, frowning.

“Hey, you try fighting Aerodraft. Wait, maybe you can’t, because I’m the only one who can look like Jetstream—unless you have another shapeshifter I don’t know about.” Bells clutches his heart, pretending to be hurt. “Harris! I thought we had something special.”

Harris doesn’t respond to the joke, just hands him a datachip with his hovertrain ticket back to Vegas and also his next assignment.

Bells is about to take off his mask when an incoming call flashes across the screen. He makes a quick gesture to accept.

“Fantastic job, son,” Kingston says.

“Oh, thanks,” Bells says. “Great training exercise, and a lot of fun too.”

“Is that the Central President?” Harris asks, eyes widening beside him. “Hello… sir— ”

“Keep this up, and there’s going to be a lot more work coming your way.” Kingston nods at him. “The League is proud to have you as an asset.”

True to Kingston’s word, Bells’ missions get much more interesting. There are fewer and fewer staged cat “rescues” and more and more morale missions and combat trainings. Bells gets better at impersonating villains, gets into the rhythm of his assignments with the League. The travel gets easier. Bells only has to pop into the Vegas center once a week for tune-ups on the suit and the motorcycle with Rebecca, and it’s fun getting to the different drop points in Andover to find what he needs for each assignment. In addition to his suit, there are instructions on where to be, whom to look like, and what to expect. The higher stakes assignments are always encrypted on paper.