A Guide to Being Super

Rule #19

On a whim (maybe it was the part of my brain that was secretly a thief or something), I tried the door handle and was shocked when the door opened with no complaint. If I hadn't been worried before, I was definitely worried now. Ike's front door was never unlocked. Even if someone was leaving the house for a second, like to check the mail, they locked the door behind them. It seemed unlikely that they would leave the door unlocked now.

"Hello?" I said, again taking a step into the entryway.

There was no one there.

Freaking out a little by this point, I tried to calm myself down by telling myself that Ike must be in his room watching Game of Thrones, most likely with the door closed. He had been oblivious this whole time and everything was fine. I would go upstairs, find him there, and give him loads of crap over getting so caught up in all the boobs they show on that show that he didn't hear me knocking. Everything was fine, it had to be.

And then I walked into the living room.

Everyone in Ike's family, from his parents to his siblings (except for Ike himself), was scattered around the living room. They were all slumped over like they were sleeping but I wasn't too sure if they really were sleeping or if it was even worse. I crept over to Ike's youngest brother, who was five, and pressed my fingers to his neck. I held my breath until I finally felt his pulse. Okay, they were sleeping. That was one nightmare over.

Still unsure of what to do (and completely freaking out), I tried to get my bearings. Would it be okay to wake them up? Would they even wake up? Should I call the police? Did superheroes even call the police? It wasn't like there was someone around that was taking credit for all of this who I could fight.

Then, as if she could read my mind (and maybe she could, the bitch would lie about her powers), Lena walked out of the kitchen all casual-like. She was wearing all black, like before, and her hair was tied into a braid that rested on her shoulder. She was looking at me like she already won.

"Hey, Matt," she said, leaning against the doorframe. "How's your day going."

"What the hell did you do?" I charged towards her but she moved a chair in my way before I could get to her, tripping me up.

"Let's not get hasty now."

"Oh fuck off."

She smiled. "Don't be like that. After all, they're just sleeping."

"For how long."

"Just for a little while. They weren't any use to me dead but I couldn't have them running after me either. So I had them take a little nap."

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IKE."

She looked around. "Oh, is he not here? I didn't notice."

"You know he's not here."

"I know now, I didn't before."

"Don't lie to me."

"Fine," she sighed. "I may know where he is."

"WHERE."

"Wow, someone is embracing their inner Neanderthal today. Somewhere safe."

"Lena, I swear to God if you hurt him-"

"You'll what, hurt me? How is that different than any other day?"

"What do you want," I growled.

"A fair fight."

"Here?"

She snorted. "Of course not here. You really are new at this, aren't you?"

"Then where."

"Somewhere else. I haven't decided yet."

"Have you decided what you're going to do with Ike yet?"

"Hmm... Not yet. But he is somewhere safe."

"Really?"

"Really. But I can't guarantee that he'll still be safe later on. Fate is a tricky thing."

She pushed past me and wandered around the living room looking at Ike's family. I stayed where I was, glaring at her back.

"Are you going to explain what's happening now?" I asked. "Since apparently I'm so new at this."

"I guess."

"Well?"

"It's sort of a long story," she said. "I'm sure your precious Daring Dan will tell you the whole thing, but the short of it is that it has been decided that you're trained enough to fight me. So we'll be fighting fairly soon."

"Do I have a choice in all of this?"

She laughed. "Matt, you never had a choice."

Smirking at me one last time, the bitch teleported away and left me alone with Ike's family, all still sleeping.

I slumped down in the chair Lena had thrown in front of me. "Well fuck."