Chapter 20 - The Aftermath

Art by NeverCatchMe 

I could hardly sleep that night. Nightmares danced through my head all night, and even when I woke up, the image of the Rose Valley hospital falling apart played over and over in my head. Even thinking about what had happened was painful, but I couldn't avoid it. Nothing could get the incident out of my mind.

At about 7:30, I trudged out of my bedroom and into the dining room. Dad was drinking his daily coffee and reading a copy of the San Urbano Times. I peeked at the front page, but it didn't make me feel any better. PROSPERO, BRIGHTSIDE, THE GADFLY, AND THE DASTARDLY DEMON DESTROY ROSE VALLEY HOSPITAL was the headline for the day, accompanied by a picture of a bolt of lightning striking the hospital.

I hated seeing my name attached to such a horrific event, especially when I had done so much to keep Terry's storm from hurting the patients. I never liked my codename - the San Urbano Times had decided to call me the Dastardly Demon after my first fight with a superhero - but I had accepted that choosing your own codename was a luxury reserved for heroes. Terry was lucky enough to get the same codename that he would have chosen for himself, but not everyone was that lucky. I always thought that the Dastardly Demon was a ridiculous name. Then again, Captain Fedora was even more ridiculous, and Declan had chosen that himself for some reason.

I hung my head in shame as my dad kept reading the newspaper. After a few minutes, he looked at me and said, "Jay, I don't think that you should be hanging around those kids at the castle any more."

"I know that it doesn't change anything, but I can explain," I said. "It's not their fault."

"Then whose fault is it?" Dad asked. I didn't have a good answer for that. "Jay, I cannot think of any good reason to destroy a hospital. I know that you would never do this on your own, and I think those new friends of yours are bad influences. Did they pressure you into doing this?"

"Not at all," I said.

"Then why did you do it?" Dad asked.

"We thought that it was the Academy," I said.

Dad sighed and said, "Jay, I know that you have some problems with the Academy, but it is a necessary evil. Bad things happen to superhumans who don't attend the Academy."

"Vanessa never attended the Academy, and she turned out fine," Jay said.

"Is Vanessa one of the supervillains who helped you destroy the hospital?" Dad asked.

I flinched when I heard him refer to Vanessa as a "supervillain." No matter how many times the San Urbano Times referred to all of the superhumans who weren't associated with the Academy as supervillains, I couldn't think of my friends that way. "Yes," I answered. "She's Brightside."

"She's young, isn't she?" Dad said.

"She's nineteen," I said, unsure where Dad was going with this.

"The Academy won't let her get away for much longer," Dad said. "Jay, I want you to stay away from that castle from now on."

"Why?" I asked.

"As I said, those friends of yours are bad influences," Dad said.

"Dad, you don't understand," I said.

"I think this tells me everything that I need to know," Dad said as he held up the newspaper.

"You know most of that's not true," I said. "They lie about us superhumans all the time."

"I know that the Rose Valley Hospital was destroyed in some sort of freak storm that your friend started, and you and your other friends helped him," Dad said. "I don't need to know any more. I'll pick you up from work today - I don't want you going back to the castle with that Vanessa."

There was no use in arguing. I reluctantly nodded, and Dad finished the rest of his coffee. Once we were both done eating, Dad drove me to work. We didn't speak for the whole ride there, letting the alternative station on the radio make up for our awkward silence.

When I arrived in the newsroom, I ran to Vanessa's desk. "Hi Jay," Vanessa said. "Did you see the news this morning?"

"Yes," I said.

"We didn't destroy the Academy," Vanessa whispered. "I just can't believe it. We didn't accomplish anything other than hurting innocent people."

"I feel pretty terrible about it too," I said.

"The article said that nobody died in the attack, but the Academy is searching for us," Vanessa said. "We're going to have to be more careful from now on."

"My dad is furious about this," I said. "He doesn't want me to see you, Terry, or Percy again."

"I can understand why he said that, but maybe he'll change his mind once he realizes that we're not that bad," Vanessa said with a smile.

"I don't think that he's going to change his mind," I said. "I might stop by the castle tonight anyways. I'll just tell Dad that I had to work late."

"That works," Vanessa said. "I should probably get back to work though. We can chat during our lunch break."

Later that day, I had the chance to talk to Declan while I was delivering his coffee. As usual, he was busy checking his email. "What are you typing?" I asked him as I placed a cup of coffee on top of the stack of comics that were lying on his desk.

"Mind your own business," Declan said. He had never been this harsh with me before. I wondered if it had something to do with the previous night. He probably thought that I was a monster.

"I was just curious, Declan," I said. "Is that Parsifal guy still trying to scam you?"

"Yes, although it turns out that his name isn't Parsifal," Declan said. "He's actually the Gadfly."

"Really?" I said, pretending to be surprised. "Why would the Gadfly want to email you?"

"I have no idea," Declan said.

"That's so strange," I said.

"Jay, just leave me alone," Declan said. He went back to typing furiously, and I walked away. Even considering what he had gone through, Declan was acting oddly secretive. I couldn't figure it out, but it didn't matter. Declan wasn't my problem. If I was lucky, I wouldn't see his alter ego again anytime soon.

He kind of is my problem though, I realized as I made another one of my coworkers coffee. I knew Captain Fedora's secret identity, and I still hadn't told Percy. I was the reason that Percy was still emailing back and forth with him. As the day went on, I promised myself that I would tell him that night. I couldn't fix any of the larger problems that we still had, but Captain Fedora's secret identity was a mystery that I could solve easily.

After work, Vanessa drove me to Ellen's castle. "I won't be able to stay here for long," I told her as I texted my dad.

"That's fine," Vanessa said. "I like having you around."

I smiled and said, "Me too" as Vanessa pulled up in front of the castle. The castle was still quite imposing, but I wasn't afraid of it anymore. I walked up to the gates and knocked, and Terry opened the door for us, a book in his hand.

"Everyone is a little bit busy right now," Terry explained. "Ellen is doing some paperwork, Dina's still making dinner, and I think Percy is in the office. We might be able to watch a movie later though."

"I don't think I can stay for that long," I said.

"That's okay," Terry said. "Let's go into the break room."

I followed Terry and Vanessa until they passed by the office. I walked into there and found Percy typing on his computer. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Emailing Captain Fedora," Percy said.

"Do you know his secret identity yet?" I asked.

"No," Percy said. "I stopped trying to use my powers on him a long time ago - it just doesn't work. He won't give up his secret identity, no matter how hard I try. He's kind of fun to chat with though. Do you know?"

"I found out Captain Fedora's secret identity a while ago," I said. "His real name is..."

All of a sudden, Vanessa opened the door to the office. "Dinner's ready," she interrupted.

"Finally!" Percy exclaimed. "I'm starving."

I sighed and went downstairs with Percy, Vanessa, and Terry. The eggplant parmesan waiting for us on the table looked delicious, and clearly, my friends agreed. We hardly spoke at all as we all savored our food, and I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. I couldn't tell Percy about Captain Fedora in front of Vanessa, of course, but it was getting late. I needed to tell Percy before I left.

When Dina brought out a slice of cheesecake for each of us, Percy finally said something. "I should go back upstairs," he told us. "Tell Dina that I'll come back and eat my cheesecake later."

"Are you sure?" Ellen said. "I think that we should all eat together. It won't be the same without you."

"Yes, I'm sure," Percy said. "Captain Fedora is going to wonder where I went."

Vanessa looked at him strangely and then said, "You're still emailing Captain Fedora?"

"I've been emailing back and forth with him all day," Percy said defensively. "He's actually a very nice man if you get to know him."

"I somehow doubt that, Percy," Vanessa said.

"Remember what I said earlier," Ellen said. "Captain Fedora is your enemy. Don't lose sight of that."

"I'm not," Percy said. "I just think that he's sweet and adorable, even if he is my archenemy."

"You're contradicting yourself," Terry said.

"Shut up, Terry," Percy said. "I'm going to go email Captain Fedora. At least he'll understand." He stormed away, and I considered following him, but I wanted to finish my cheesecake first. I ate the last few bites of my dessert as Vanessa told Ellen and Terry about what she was working on at work, and then I went upstairs to talk to Percy.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Well, if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say," Percy said as he stared into his computer screen.

"You're reminding me of Harper," I said.

"Just leave me alone, Jay," Percy said. "I don't want to deal with you right now."

I sighed and left the room, and when I ran into Vanessa on the way downstairs, I told her that I had to leave. It was getting late, and I needed to go back to the San Urbano Times building if I wanted to keep my story about having to stay late at work believable. Vanessa nodded and asked, "Do you need a ride?"

"I don't think so," I said. "I'll just fly there. Thanks anyways."

I left the castle, and as soon as I got outside, I transformed into a demon and flew back into the city. The castle looked so tiny from that height, and I beat my wings until the castle disappeared and the city lights appeared in the distance.

On my way to the San Urbano Times building, I spotted the Rose Valley Hospital. It was nothing more than a pile of rubble, and it hurt me to know that I had caused that. I was destroying hospitals and lying to my dad - what had my life come to? For a moment, I wondered if it really was my friends' fault, but I quickly dismissed that idea. They were innocent - I was the one who had suggested that the Academy might be attached to the hospital.

When I landed, I transformed back into a human and texted Dad that I was finally done working. A few minutes later, Dad's car pulled up in front of the San Urbano Times building. I climbed into the car and started singing along to the radio, but guilt still ran through me. It felt as if nothing could ever erase my shame.