{Author's Note: Like, comment, subscribe, retweet, I don't know, uh, comment again? Give me comments, I love them :) Happy reading.}
Watching the same news clip for over an hour was beginning to get tiring. The reporter's voice only got more annoying the longer it played.
"-doesn't look like Captain Kilowatt is going to make it out of this one! Oh god! What the hell was that?! What- Something just knocked Repulser off the platform! Captain Kilowatt is back up! She's charging-! Repulser's twisting the platform! She's climbing back up! Wait! Someone's standing on that ledge! Who is that? Another of Repulser's minions? Oh-! No! He- He just blew Fuse off the platform! He's going... He's in the lake! Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Captain Kilowatt has a sidekick!"
With a click of a button, he paused the video, rubbing his head. If that sidekick had blasted him any harder, he might've broken his neck.
"Amateur." Fuse scoffed, staring at the screen. The quality of the recording was excellent but with the blinding glow of electricity radiating off Captain Kilowatt, it was impossible to see who was behind her.
Her sidekick was a hydrokinetic; that much was obvious. Getting shot in the face by a steam of high speed water was enough to let Fuse know. The problem was that Fuse had no idea how strong the sidekick was. He'd come out of nowhere and knocked both him and Repulser down easily.
"How come I've never heard of you before?" He mumbled, pressing play once more.
"With Fuse out of the way, Captain Kilowatt has nothing between her and Repulser. Oh, it looks like Repulser knows it too! And she's off! Looks like another round goes to Captain Kilowatt!"
"Pfft. Please. If that sidekick hadn't shown up, Kilowatt would've been toast."
"Fuse!"
He jumped in his chair, turning to face the door to his room. "Yeah, Mom?"
His door flew open and his mother waltzed into the room. "Well, what did you find?"
"I found out that locking the door can't stop you." He grumbled. His mother glared him down and he sighed. "Well, he's not half bad. I've been trying to find a frame of his face but Kilowatt did a good job covering him. He's pretty short from what I can tell. Probably a kid who just figured out he's kinetic."
"I could've figured as much." She rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't have tried to fight her by the lake if I knew that brat was going to show up."
"Isn't it kind of a good thing, though?" His mother looked as though she wanted to smack him so Fuse quickly elaborated. "This means Kilowatt sees me as a threat, right? She wouldn't have gotten a sidekick if she thought she could take us both down easy."
"It would've been better if she hadn't seen you as a threat and then gotten the shock of her life." She smirked.
Fuse tapped his fingers together, creating a spark of electricity between them. "Electrokinetic puns. I like it."
His mother waved him off. "Get back to work. Then make dinner."
"Can't you just make it with your mind or something? It's only fair. You left me in the middle of the lake for ten minutes. I almost drowned!" He bit his lip when she glared at him. "Kidding, kidding. Dinner. Yeah. I'll get right on it."
"Hmph." Without another word, Repulser left the room, the door slamming behind her without a touch.
This woman forgets I can barely swim... He thought, staring at the screen once again.
Covered in a haze of blinding light was the silhouette of Captain Kilowatt's first ever sidekick.
Fuse couldn't wait to meet him again.
"And we're back with our exclusive telephone interview with the one and only Captain Kilowatt! Miss Kilowatt, I think it's about time I ask the question that's been on everyone's mind since last week's squabble with Repulser!"
Fuse scoffed as he peeled a carrot with as much aggression as he could muster. "Yeah, it's not like I've been watching your show to look at your great hair, Lucille."
"I don't know, Lucy, I think we oughtta make 'em squirm a bit more." The voice of Captain Kilowatt rang through the tiny kitchen, making Fuse want to snap the carrot he peeled.
"Hahaha! Oh, Captain Kilowatt, you're so funny!"
"Ugh, Lucille, can you not flirt on-air?" Fuse grumbled, moving on to the next carrot on the counter. "I mean, I'm flattered in a way because it feels like you're flirting with me but I'm underage."
"So, Captain Kilowatt, the tabloids have been going crazy for information. I have to say, I have been too. Seeing you defeat Repulser so easily these past few weeks has been incredibly entertaining."
"Hey, she defeated me too! She defeated me more, in fact!" Fuse exclaimed, aiming his peeler at the small television screen threateningly. In the weeks since Captain Kilowatt had gotten herself a sidekick, Fuse definitely felt he was getting beaten up more frequently than required. The news didn't seem to take notice of it, though. He endured even if he was getting no recognition because he knew it was all part of his mother's master plan.
He just wasn't exactly sure what the plan was. More so why it required him to get blasted off his feet by a stream of water so often.
Captain Kilowatt's laughter brought him back to reality where he had whittled a good chunk out of a perfectly good carrot. He wiped his hands on his apron before shooting a glare at the screen in the corner.
"Your fault. You owe me a carrot."
Kilowatt carried on as though she hadn't heard him. "-can't take all the credit, Lucy."
"That's right! So, Captain Kilowatt, tell us... Just who is your mysterious new sidekick?"
Fuse leaned closer to the screen eagerly. "Yeah, tell us, Kilowatt."
"Well, first of all he's a he. I've seen some speculation that he's a girl so-"
"I already knew that, tell me something new!" Fuse exclaimed, propping an elbow against the counter.
"-he's a hydrokinetic and he's quite powerful-"
"Kilowatt, you're gonna make me short circuit." He deadpanned. "He's shot me off buildings enough to know that."
"-but of course, I'm sure everyone wants to know his name."
Fuse perked up instantly. "Yes, please!"
"That's what the fans are dying to know, Captain! Can I call you Captain?"
"She prefers Kilowatt." Fuse rolled his eyes. "Don't get off track!"
"I prefer Kilowatt." Kilowatt repeated.
"Yes, of course. So, Kilowatt, just what is your first ever sidekick's name?"
Fuse grabbed the sides of the television, leaning forward in anticipation. "What's his name?" He whispered, chewing on his lip in excitement.
"His name... Haha, it kind of sucks that I have to spoil all the fun and tell you."
"Tell her!" Fuse screamed, gripping the screen with white knuckles.
"His name... His name is-"
"FUSE!"
Fuse yelped and before he could stop himself, his kinesis came to life, sending arcs of electricity through his fingers, instantly frying the television between his hands.
Fuse gaped at the now black, smoking screen, feeling the electricity crack along his body as he scowled. "Oh son of a-!"
"FUSE!"
"WHAT?!" He shrieked towards the door where his mother's voice was coming from. "You just made me fry the TV, woman!"
"Get down here!"
"WHY?!" He bellowed. He waited a moment but didn't receive an answer. "Goddammit, I swear one'a these days...!" He tugged his apron over his head and tossed it onto the floor before thinking better of it and hanging it on a chair.
He thundered down the stairs, just barely remembering to duck before he could smack his head on the low ceiling. Everything in the house was small to begin with and being a six foot tall teen on a seemingly constant growth spurt wasn't helpful for adjusting to the tiny apartment above their repair shop.
Fuse gave the ceiling a good smack, careful not to allow any electricity to spark from his hand. "What?" He exclaimed as he entered the repair shop, ducking under the wires and tools that hung from the ceiling. He leaped over piles of broken machines and electronics, searching for the telltale colourful bandana of his mother.
"Come here and power this for me!" She hollered. Fuse scanned around before finally seeing her legs hanging out from under an odd-looking contraption.
"What's this thing?" He said, picking up the plug Repulser held out to him.
"Something a client's paying a lot of money for so power it already."
Fuse scoffed, pinching the metal prongs between his fingers before letting the electricity spark through his hands. "Why don't you just install more plugs down here?"
"And get the fire department after me?" Repulser belted out a laugh before smacking the underside of the machine. "Alright, that's enough."
Fuse quickly stopped the electrical flow, dropping the wire. "You made me break the TV."
"What?! What did you break the TV for?!"
"You startled me!" Fuse argued, stomping his foot. "I was just about to find out his name too!"
"The sidekick? Don't worry about him, I've got a plan."
"So you've told me. Does your plan involve getting me thrown into another lake?" He grumbled. "You know I can't swim yet you always make me fight the hydrokinetic."
"Water's fluid. It's hard for me to control. Besides, you're the sidekick, you fight the sidekick."
"That doesn't seem like it'll work out in the end."
Repulser finally jumped out from under the machine, wiping her hands on a rag. "We won't have to worry about that sidekick soon." She gave him a grin. "I figured out where his little hideout is."
Fuse nearly choked. "Seriously?! How?! When-" He shook his head. "Let's go get him, then!" He pounded his fist into his palm and a surge of energy flowed through him, making his hair momentarily stand on end.
"Calm down!" She spat. "We have to play this smarter than usual. We don't know who this kid is."
Fuse let out a sigh, forcing down the electricity and shoving his hands in the pockets of his shorts. "Well, what's the plan?"
Repulser smiled. "We're going to figure out his secret identity."
Fuse tapped the pencil against his chin, staring at the paper in front of him.
"A name..." He mumbled, biting down on his pencil. "A name...?"
He'd never had a secret identity before. He'd always just been Fuse. He'd never needed a secret identity.
"A name..." He scratched his head with the pencil. "A name..."
He wanted it to be good. He wanted it to mean something to him. He wanted it to be cool. Unfortunately, he had no idea what was considered cool by the normal citizens of the town.
Eventually, he sighed, touching the pencil to the paper. "A name..." He quickly signed before slamming down the pencil, staring at the look of the name. It wasn't a bad one, so far as he could tell.
"Mom!" He called, holding the paper gently, as though if he damaged it, he'd never get the chance to have a secret identity.
Repulser walked in and stood next to him, snatching the paper from his grasp. Fuse winced, awaiting the verdict.
"It's good." She nodded, seemingly uninterested.
He beamed, oblivious to her tone. "Really?"
"Well, it's not horrible." She amended, folding the paper and shoving it in her pocket. "I'll get the paperwork done by next week. Be prepared by then." Repulser turned on her heel, marching from his bedroom, her headscarf billowing in an unfelt wind.
"So dramatic..." Fuse muttered with a smile stuck to his face. "I'll be ready, for sure."
Fuse turned to the computer on his desk, practically shaking with excitement. "I should probably figure out his name first, huh?"
It didn't take much searching to find the name of Captain Kilowatt's legendary first sidekick. All the local hero blogs were going crazy for the kid, especially after Kilowatt's interview. Blurry photos and screenshots were posted everywhere along with speculations as to why he'd never been seen before.
Fuse studied the blurry photos, trying to piece together what the kid would look like without a mask and a glowing bodyguard. All he could seem to glean was that the sidekick was shorter than him.
"So, I'll be going to a building full of teens that will probably all be shorter than me and find the one that happens to be hydrokinetic. Easy."
During the solo battles between Fuse and Team Kilowatt when Repulser would slip away, she'd watch as Fuse got his butt kicked before discreetly following the sidekick after the battle. He never went home directly. Instead, the sidekick would ride a wave down to a high school by the pier and disappear inside. Repulser could never get too close lest she set off the alarm but the sidekick could waltz right on in.
He was a student with an ID card for that school.
Fuse swung his legs off the desk. He'd never been to a real school before. He'd always been taught at home by Repulser. There'd never been a reason for him to go since Captain Kilowatt was long since out of high school. All his interaction with kids his own age had been online on the hero blogs and that was usually because some loser was dissing Fuse's costume in a chatroom and he had to defend himself without giving away who he was. It was a homemade costume, what did the people expect of him?!
He was excited. Getting a secret identity and the chance to go to school all at once?! It was like Christmas! And all he had to do was look for Kilowatt's sidekick.
How hard could it be to catch the Angler?
Fuse flung his fists forward, sending arcs of electricity racing at Kilowatt. The woman easily dodged the attack, her black hair flipping out of her face.
"I never did like the pixie cut!" Fuse hollered, shooting another bolt of electricity. "And the shaved bit on the side? Are you trying to be hip with the kids, Kilowatt?" Fuse yelped when a jet of water went sailing over his head.
The Angler had arrived.
Finally! Fuse thought. Was there traffic or something? I've been waiting for ten minutes!
"Angler!" Fuse shouted, praying it was loud enough for Repulser to hear. "Where you at, buddy? I wanna see you!" Fuse hit the ground as another jet of water sailed over him. When he glanced up he could see the outline of the sidekick hiding once again behind the bright glow of Captain Kilowatt.
He jumped to his feet just in time to dodge another jet of water before firing his own strike of electricity in Angler's direction. Unfortunately, Kilowatt extended her arm and absorbed his attack before firing it right back at Fuse.
"I hate it when you do that! It's cheating!" Fuse exclaimed. Just as Kilowatt seemed ready to blast him across town, a huge ball of bricks came sailing out of the air, knocking Kilowatt down the road. Fuse let out a laugh, silently thanking his mother before turning his gaze back towards the sidekick.
He could finally see the face of the Angler.
Well, the mask of the Angler. It was well designed and high quality, covering his whole head apart from his eyes and mouth. Definitely professionally made, unlike Fuse's mask. It had sharp-looking spikes running down the mask towards Angler's back and a smooth gem set in the center of the forehead.
Fuse tried desperately to memorize everything he saw but his plans were quickly foiled when Angler narrowed his eyes and extended his arms, sending a huge jet of water out of the nearby storm drain and crashing into Fuse, sending him sailing down the street.
Fuse coughed up a mouthful of water, crawling up from the ground. He'd skinned both his knees, ripping right through his pants.
"You suck!" Fuse moved to shoot the sidekick with electricity but the Angler was gone. He looked around frantically and saw the sidekick surfing on his own wave, sailing down the street. Fuse started running after him but stopped short when he saw Kilowatt standing in the street, a pile of crushed bricks next to her.
Fuse's eyes widened. "Damn..." Kilowatt clenched her hands into fists and electricity began sparking along her body. Fuse quickly raised his hands. "Okay, okay! You win this one! Same time next week?" Kilowatt shot the bolts of energy at him and he sprinted off, laughing as he ran.
Fuse ran on for a while, periodically checking back for Kilowatt. She usually never laid chase as long as neither of them had done any property damage. Repulser was pretty much the only one of them that could really damage property anyway and since she hadn't been around for the fight, Kilowatt had no real reason to chase Fuse.
Fuse leaped a fence, landing in a construction site that had locked up for the night. He slowed his pace as he maneuvered through the site, catching his breath as he neared the far corner of the fenced off area where a high pile of wood obscured the street from view.
Fuse picked up the backpack he'd hidden underneath the pile of wood, unzipping it and pulling out his hoodie. He changed his shoes and shoved his mask into the bag, leaving his track pants on. They were far too generic to be recognized.
Fuse hefted his backpack and climbed the pile of wood, leaping back over the fence, landing in a crouch.
"Took ya long enough." Repulser scoffed, examining her fingernails.
"Gimme a break." Fuse grumbled. "While you were flouncing around as your secret identity, I was stuck fighting Kilowatt alone."
"If you can't hold her off for that long, I can always replace you." She chuckled but Fuse didn't think it was funny.
"Did you get them?" He asked instead of admitting that he didn't want to be replaced.
She grinned and a camera floated by her head. "Obviously."
Fuse held out his hands and the camera plopped into it. "Are they good?" He asked even though he was already turning on the camera to view the photos.
"You couldn't have done better." She spat in defense. "The kid was moving and my powers were stretched."
"I wasn't accusing." He said, viewing the first photo on the small screen.
There he was. Angler. In all his glory.
In a blurry as hell picture.
He quickly viewed all the photos, soon passing all those of Angler and moving into the territory of the ones he'd taken at Christmas. Not one of them was clear.
"These are the worst photos I've ever seen," Fuse said flatly. "Did you even let it focus before taking the picture?!"
"Listen here! I worked with what I had! I'd like to see you do better!"
He scoffed, shoving the camera into the pocket of his hoodie. It wasn't worth arguing over. The deed was done. Fuse had worked his butt off to fend off Kilowatt for nothing but a blurry picture of a kid in a mask. If it was this hard just to get a photo of his costume, how hard would it be to find the person wearing it?
Maybe finding Angler's secret identity wasn't going to be such a cakewalk.