I felt myself being nudged gently. My eyes didn't open, so they poked me again, right were I had hit my arm on the bus. Suddenly, the events of the crash surged back to me and I awoke with a start. My breathing was heavy from the sudden remembrance, but it slowed again once I looked around.

I was in a white hospital bed with all sorts of junk hooked up to me. There was a nurse and a doctor talking in whispers in the corner, as well as my older sister Maddy sitting in one of the chairs to my right. She brightened as she noticed I woke up, slowly standing and walking over to my bedside. She brushed the hair from my face, tears in her eyes.

"You almost died!" she scolded. She had been the one nudging for me to get up. "Don't ever do that to me again!"

"Mads," I tried. My throat was raspy and scratched. Despite that, Mad teared up at the sound of my voice and took my hand in hers.

"It's all over the news," she choked, reaching for a remote and flicking on the T.V. over my bed. I saw an anchor in front of the crash, surround by yellow tape and policemen. She was spouting something about the school, and how it should be safer. The screen flipped to the principal of my high school being interviewed by another male reporter.

"Are you going to excuse the victims from school on Friday?" the reporter asked in an intrigued tone. The principal shook his head.

"At Sato Brooke High School, we must be prepared. It was the children's fault for not knowing emergency evacuation protocols," he grumbled, pointing a finger at the camera as if he were pointing to me. My sister stiffened next to me.

"Son of a-" she started. I smirked.

"Mads!" I complained. She rolled her eyes at me but didn't curse. Then the reporter turned to another person on screen to interview them. It was the boy superhero who had saved me from my fall, wearing the same black suit and mask from before.

"Here we have another super for the city. What is your name, boy?" the reporter asked, speaking directly to the camera then to the boy.

"It's The Shadow, but you can just call me Shadow," he replied cheerfully. The reporter nodded approvingly and turned back to the camera.

"There you have it. The story of one of New York's superheroes. Up next-" Mads shut off the T.V. She set the remote control down and looked at me again.

"You've been asleep for almost five hours, Liz. Mom's downstairs with Penny, if you wanted to know. Oh and- Nevermind, the nurse is coming," she finished as the nurse that had been talking to the doctor approached us. She waved off Maddy, signaling her to go sit down again. Mads opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it and went to sit down.

"We gave you stitches down your back and arm, and a dose of painkiller. Make sure to take two pills each morning and get a lot of rest. After you wake up again, you can leave," the nurse droned, taking a needle from the bedside table and aiming it at my arm. I braced my self and closed my eyes as the sleep medicine flowed into me, eventually lulling me to sleep.

~ Time Skip 2 hours ~

I opened my eyes and yawned. I was still in the white hospital bed, but my sister was gone, and so were the nurse and doctor. I looked out the window, waiting for them to walk in. As I reached for the remote control to see what was on the news, I heard the window slide open. I whizzed around and saw Shadow climbing in. I opened my mouth to call for the doctors, but he placed a finger on his lips signaling for me to be quiet. He walked over to my bed.

"Why are you here?" I asked harshly. He faked being hurt, putting a hand up to his chest and gasping dramatically.

"I can't say hi to the girl I saved from certain death?" he pouted. I rolled my eyes. Nope, not buying it.

"What are you really here for?" I asked again, exasperated. He let his hand drop as well his act and his voice.

"Ok, I have reason to believe Flame planted a bomb in this room," he muttered, sounding strained. My mouth fell open. I picked up my remote and threw it at his head.

"What are you doing dilly dallying?! Get it out!" I whisper-shouted. He dodged my attack and sank into a shadow on the floor to look under the bed. No, like, literally. He sank into the floor as a shadow. After a few minutes of searching he whispered back.

"Found it!" he murmured. I pulled off my covers and landed on the floor. I noticed my arms were fizzing from not using my electricity for so long. There was little lightning bolts shooting out from them, making me itch to zap something. But I just pulled up my sleeves and winced every time the electricity snapped at me. I got on all fours and crawled under the bed to Shadow's side. I looked at the little metal bomb on the bottom of the bed with a set look.

"How do we disable it?" I asked. He shrugged, trying to pull it off the bed but to no avail.

"Probably all we can do is fry the circuits, but that isn't possible without a taser or something," he grunted, picking at it from the sides. The little clock in front said we had two minutes till we were blown to smithereens. A bigger lightning bolt shot out of my arm, causing me to bite my lip to keep from saying anything. Another one, bigger this time, shocked me on the arm that had stitches and I jerked in pain. Shadow looked at me.

"You alright?" He asked, suspicion lining his voice as he cautiously dropped his hands from the bomb. I nodded, afraid if I said anything I'd cry out. A shiver ran up my spine as another bolt struck my chest. I started breathing hard. He saw I was trying to get my arms away from him, so he reached out and pulled the sleeve up. The bolts were going wild now, zapping in every direction. I yanked back my arm away from him and rolled out from under the bed, standing up and backing against the wall with my eyes on my arms.

A shadow slid out behind me and Shadow (the superhero) reappeared in front of me. My eyes widened and I looked at the window.

"Don't even think about it," he muttered darkly, blocking my way. My arms were now shaking with the need for an outlet. I pulled my sleeves over them, but the electricity flowed through them easily.

"Shock the bomb, it'll short-circuit it," he said, pointing at the bed. I pressed my lips together in reluctance.

"I don't know what you mean," I hissed back. He disappeared then reappeared at the other end of the bed. He stuck out his tongue to mock me and I couldn't control it when my hand shot out and let out a fatal bolt. He blocked his head using the bomb, and the bolt hit it with such force he took a few steps back. He set it down quietly. I felt the color drain from my face as he grinned at me. There was a knock at the door and I rushed to get back inside bed. Shadow escaped out the window again with the fried shell of the bomb.

The door opened just as I finished covering myself with the blankets. My mom rushed in with my little sister close on her heels. I was taken up in a giant bear hug within seconds. The hug lasted so long that I had trouble breathing and began seeing stars. I patted my mom on the shoulder.

"Have... to... breathe.." I choke out. My mom waits a second, then lets me go. Penny, my sister, hugs me lightly then goes to sit down and play on Mads' phone. My mom was talking with the doctor about the stitches and the doses of the painkillers, so I waited until they were done to clear my throat.

"Oh! Elizabetha, you can go with Maddison and Penelope," my mom said, waving for me to go. She always used our full names and not our nicknames. I got up and walked over to my sisters. Mads was out the door and I took Penny by the hand and led her outside. 

We signed a paper at the front desk and continued on. Mads fished her car keys out of her pocket as we walked out into the parking lot, the button beeping along with the car when it opened. I buckled Penny into her carseat then climbed into the shotgun seat as Mads turned the key in the ignition. I flinched a bit as she pushed on the gas pedal, remembering the metal stick that had almost killed me. 

We drove home with Penny singing along to the radio enthusiastically. Once we got into the driveway, Penny stopped singing and jumped out of the car. She skipped to the front door as we older and slower people got out of the car. She was hopping from foot to foot as Mads opened the door. Penny took off towards the bathroom. It was 6:02 in the afternoon on the microwave clock and my new curfew was 7:00. 

I climbed the stairs up to my room and shut the door behind me. I pulled open my laptop and searched up 'New york city superheroes and villains'.

'How to Become a Supervillain'

'NYC Superheroes Cafe'

'Superheroes/Villains That Occupy NYC'

The third one sounded the best, so I clicked on it and it led me to a pop-up. There was a medium-sized list that I scrolled down until I got to the 'S' section. I scrolled until I found where Shadow would be.

Razer - Villain

Savior - Hero

Shadow - Undefined

My eyebrows furrowed. Undefined? What did that mean? I didn't have time to think about it because an alert on my laptop snapped me out of my thoughts. It was a news broadcast. I dragged my mouse over it and clicked the link. It sent me to another website.

The website showed a news broadcaster standing in front of the camera with a pause sign over his face. I un-paused it and plugged in my earbuds.

"The Shadow has saved yet another citizen from Flame, his arch nemesis," the reporter said, showing the destruction behind him. A store was in flames, and Shadow was helping a limping elderly man out of the building.

"But," the reporter continued, "is he really a good guy? The elderly man you see here had a wife that was killed in that fire. Let's roll the records," he ordered someone. A picture of masked Shadow appeared on the screen as well as two lists.

"As you can see, he has robbed in the past- he used to be a villain," the reporter explained as the list lit up with the crimes he'd committed. The list was long, I have to admit. But the 'Good Deeds' lists only had five deeds. Including saving me. My eyes widened.

I'd been saved by a villain.

I yawned and looked at my clock. It was 6:56. I closed my laptop, got under my covers, and closed my eyes. Just when I was about to drift off to sleep, I heard footsteps. Without opening my eyes, I let my hand fall from the bed and scrape the surface of my rug. A little jolt of electricity ran through it and I heard a low 'ow!' Then the footsteps retreated down the hall and I sighed in relief. It had just been my mom.

I closed my eyes again and drifted off to sleep.