Rule #11: Have a bunch of cool gadgets. Like Batman taught us, a hero isn't just their powers (or lack thereof), it's about what they do with those powers and the gadgets they have to help them. No matter what kinds of powers you have, gadgets can always help. So use them!
I was a perfect gentleman as I walked Faye home. Hey! You don't believe me? Well, I was! I may be a hormonal teenaged boy that thinks completely differently than a gentleman, but I can still act like one. It's my true superpower, you know. I can be anything I want to be, such as a gentleman, whenever the situation demands it. And walking home a pretty girl is the perfect time to be a gentleman.
Anyway, we walked together for about three-fourths of the distance we each had to walk to each of our houses. But around that three-fourths point our paths split up, she would keep walking and turn the corner farther down and I would turn left, so I had to say goodbye. She hadn't said much on our walk, it had mostly been small talk, and I was so nervous I didn't know what to do with myself. But Faye, like always, looked so poised and put together. Let me tell you, that didn't make me feel better at all.
I'm not going to go into the specifics of what was said when we said goodbye. Believe me, it was pretty boring. She basically just said that she was glad I had walked her home, that she'd see me tomorrow, and that was it. She just smiled one more time, she had such a lovely smile, and walked away. I don't even remember if I said goodbye, I was probably too nervous to even open my mouth without puking or something. All I remember was that it was horrible to have to watch her walk away. But I also couldn't help but look. I waited until she was around the corner to continue walking.
That was when I heard her scream.
Forgetting for a second (okay, let's be honest, it took me a few minutes) that I could, you know, FLY, I ran around the corner to see what was going on. But I was too late, I barely glimpsed Faye's pretty face as she was stuffed into a van by a bunch of goons in all black. Sure, guys, that didn't make you look suspicious at all. In my shock, all I could do was stand there as they drove away. Only then did I remember that I could fly (I may be powerful but I'm not the smartest, all right?).
Following the van was pretty easy, it was painted all black as well, but the hard part was not being seen. Like the idiot that I was, I didn't have my uniform with me and couldn't be seen flying around in my Matt-suit. Not to mention I still had my backpack. I considered flying to Dan's lair to get it but I also didn't want to risk losing the van. After all, I didn't have superspeed. So instead I flew as high as possible without losing sight of the van, hoping no one (especially a reporter) was looking up at the sky. My one hope was that if a reporter did look up, it would be Kelly Barnes and she would be able to tell Dan. But I couldn't depend on his help, Faye was in trouble and I had to help her.
I must have followed the van for at least half an hour before it finally stopped. By now we were on the outskirts of the city, out by the old abandoned amusement park (whoever planned this kidnapping sure didn't have any imagination). Finally, the van stopped and the goons out, tying Faye up. I watched and waited until they eventually drove away.
I know all of you would have sensed that this was a trap, all it needed was a sign that said so, but I flew in anyway. Which is how I was unable to notice that someone else was there with Faye. A redheaded woman that was also all in black. But unlike the goons, who were wearing typical robber clothes, her outfit was more spandex-y and she stood with much more confidence. Think Black Widow but with even worse intentions. She had to be a supervillain, I could feel it in my gut. (Dan would be so proud.)
Once again, I wished that I had had time to get and change into my uniform. It was my first time confronting a villain on my own and of course it had to be when I was wearing my ratty school clothes. But I couldn't let Faye get hurt because I had made poor styling choices so I threw down my backpack.
"Hey!" I yelled. "Let her go!"
Hearing me, the woman, who was actually more like a girl, turned around. Maybe I shouldn't have been, but I was shocked to see who it was.
It was Lena.
"What the fuck?" I said.
"I'm glad you made it, Matt," she said, smirking and placing one hand on her hip. I know I shouldn't have been noticing this but the spandex did make that motion look way more impressive.
"What is-"
"Going on? Of course, you're confused, you always are. Come closer and I'll explain."
I was, understandably, a little put out by the "you always are" comment but I didn't have time to be stubborn. So I walked closer, relieved to see that Faye looked scared but overall unharmed, and stared at Lena like she was an alien from outer space. At this point that would have made more sense.
"How- how is this possible?" I asked. "You're a... supervillain?"
Lena laughed, making me squirm. "Obviously. I believe you may know me better as Sinister Shadow."
All I could do was stand there, shocked. My first solo encounter with a villain was not going well, that was for sure. But come on, my supposed nemesis had turned out to be a bitchy girl from my class. That would surprise anyone.
"So you're-"
"The villain the heroes are all worked up about, yes. You see, Matty, my parents are villains as well. So when I reached the proper age, they sent me to the villain training school to be just like them. Only now I'm better than the whole bunch. Hence, I was the one the villains chose to destroy Cytropolis."
I snorted. "Only you would use the word 'hence' in an evil speech."
"Fuck off," she growled, taking me by surprise and throwing me against a nearby ride without even moving.
"What the-"
"I forgot to mention, I have telekinesis. I've gotta say, it's pretty sweet. Much better than strength or whatever the hell you have."
"Gee thanks."
She smiled sweetly. "Anytime. As I was saying, the villains chose me to represent them. And the heroes chose you to represent them. So I guess we're going to have to fight."
I stood up, trying to seem as calm as possible. "Wait, so my nemesis is a girl."
Lena rolled her eyes. "Wake up and smell the equality, asshole."
She wasn't wrong, it was a stupid thing to say. But, come on, I had a right to say something stupid in that moment. It was traumatizing!
"Are you done wrapping your head around this now?" she asked, looking bored.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Good."
"So, uh..." Why did I feel so awkward? I was supposed to fight her, not ask her to prom. "I guess we fight now."
Lena laughed, throwing her head back and sounding like a crazy witch. "Yeah, no."
"What?"
She turned away from me and walked over to Faye, smirking at her. Then she raised her hand, raising Faye up into the air.
"You see, Matt," she said, as she turned a squirming Faye around slowly. "We're not going to fight until much later."
"Why not?" I tried to step forward but she threw a horse from the merry-go-round in front of me.
"Because you're not trained enough yet. If we fought now I would surely win. True, I'm going to win in the end anyway but I want our fight to be a fair one. It's much more fun that way. Besides, I've spent so much time training and planning it would be a waste of time to not make it fair. "
"Then why am I even here?"
"It's simple: so you could know what you were up against."
"Then why have Faye be here."
Lena paused, still holding Faye up. She hesitated before saying: "Two reasons."
"And they are?"
"One, it was to make sure you came here. Everyone knows you have a soft spot for this one, but who knows why." She dropped Faye a few feet, almost giving me a heart attack, but raised her back up again. "Two, I wanted to make sure you wouldn't try to fight me even after I said I wouldn't fight you."
"How do you plan to do that?" I asked, trying to seem like I wasn't sweating like a pig and like my heart wasn't pounding.
"Long story short, you'll be too busy saving her to come after me."
With that, Lena and Faye both disappeared. I jumped over the merry-go-round horse and yelled after them but they were nowhere to be found. And then, up in the air, I heard Lena.
"You hoo! Matt!" She was on top of the old ferris wheel, still holding Faye in mid-air. I flew up to them, ready to strangle Lena.
"How did you-"
"Teleportation, my dear. Now aren't you going to try to grab your sweetheart?"
"Only if you don't drop her first."
"Damn, I'm getting predictable. See you at school."
Lena disappeared again, this time leaving Faye where she was. Or, almost where she was. As soon as Lena teleported, the hold she had on Faye evaporated and Faye began to fall. Immediately I flew and caught her, Superman style (see? I can be cool). By the time I had untied her and made sure she was okay there was no hope of finding Lena. Of course, there wasn't much hope in finding her before, but you know what I mean. All I could do then was take Faye home.
I flew her back, worried the entire time that she would start freaking out on me or immediately start texting her friends my secret. But when we landed she was gushing too much to think about telling anyone. So I took the opportunity and filled her in on everything (at least, the Cliff-Notes version of everything) that had happened and swore her to secrecy.
"You can't tell anyone, all right?" I said. "Especially not Ike."
"Why not?" Faye looked at me quizzically. "Isn't he your best friend?"
"He is, but he has to hear it from me. It'll hurt his feelings too much to hear it from anyone else."
"Oh."
"So you promise?"
"I promise. Thank you so much, Matt."
Then she was kissing me. I guess it shouldn't have been that surprising, I did save her life, but I was still taken by surprise. Unfortunately, I was surprised in two ways. One, that she kissed me and two, Faye was a really bad kisser. Like I didn't (and still don't) have a lot of experience in the area, but I knew enough to know that she was bad. It was disappointing to say the least.
Once she had finished slobbering all over me, sorry to put it that way but it's true, I sent her inside to go rest. I had to go fill in Dan and Rachel about everything that had happened and I didn't have time to babysit her, even if I would have killed for the chance before that day. I was proud of myself for not, you know, letting her die but I still felt disappointed. The whole encounter, from Lena refusing to fight me to Faye's kiss, hadn't been what I thought it would be. But I did save someone, which was good, and I guess I could console myself with that fact.