Sakkara

Mr Leopold said, “All right, everyone just calm down! I’ve known the Coopers for years! They’re good people and taking your anger out on these boys won’t solve anything!”

“Yeah!” someone in the crowd yelled. “Quantum and Titan and the others saved the world dozens of times! They don’t owe us anything! We owe them!”

Danny looked around. He and Niall were completely surrounded. There’s hundreds of them!

Then a large man pushed his way to the front of the crowd, shoving people aside. He stopped in front of Mr Leopold. “Outta my way!”

Mr Leopold swallowed. “What do you want?”

The man pointed at Danny. “His old man owes me. Caught me breaking and entering. I was inside for four and a half years! Do you have any idea what that was like, Cooper?” he roared at Danny. “It was hell! Day after day of eating the same tasteless crap, sleeping in a cramped, rat-infested cell, knowing that at any minute you could be stabbed in the back by some moron who’s got a grudge against you!”

Danny said, “You can’t blame my father for that! If you were stupid enough to break into people’s houses then you deserved to be in prison!”

“So it is true!” The man stepped closer. “Don’t think that just because you’re missing an arm I’m going to go easy on you!”

There was a gasp from the crowd, but the man ignored it.

Oh God, this guy is going to flatten me! The man charged, his powerful fists raised. Danny pushed his brother to one side. Come on, he told himself. Use your super-speed! The power might not be completely gone! He tried to remember what it had felt like to switch into slow-time mode: a prickling sensation at the back of his head, the way everything else seemed to slow down, the way the sounds became quiet and low.

It wasn’t working.

He quickly stepped aside, out of the man’s reach for the moment, and glanced around. There was a ripple of excitement running through the crowd, but the people closest to him didn’t seem inclined to help.

Only one thing for it, he decided. He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and stared the large man in the eye. “Before you do anything, I have to warn you.”

The man snarled at him. “What are you talkin’ about?”

“Yes, my father was Quantum. He could move faster than anything you can imagine. He was able to move so fast that he could pass through solid objects. And superhuman powers can be inherited. Now, I understand your anger, so I’m willing to let this go. You turn around and walk away right now and we’ll say no more about it. But if you really want to return to prison, then go ahead. Hit me, if you can. If you’re willing to pay the price.”

The man hesitated.

“Or you can do the wise thing, the right thing, and turn away now.” Danny was vaguely aware of a greater commotion in the crowd, but didn’t want to take his eyes off the large man.

The man barked a short, cruel laugh. “You little punk! You almost had me going there for a second! And for that, you’re going to pay!” He lashed out at Danny with his fist.

Danny flinched and closed his eyes, but the fist didn’t connect. Did I do it? Did I just dodge his fist? He opened his eyes to see that the large man was now lying on the ground, face down. Standing over him was a tall, powerful-looking man in steel armour.

The crowd of people had backed away considerably, but now began to surge towards the armoured man.

“Stop right there!” the armoured man’s voice boomed out.

Everyone froze.

“These boys are under my protection! Anyone who wants to hurt them will have to go through me first!” The armoured man turned to Danny. “Mr Cooper? Pick up your brother and hold on to him.”

Danny did so, then the metal-clad man scooped the two of them up in his arms. There was a brief flare from the man’s jetpack and suddenly they were soaring away from the crowds.

The armoured man looked down at Niall’s terrified face. “Hi there. You must be Niall. My name is Solomon Cord. Or, if you like, you can call me Paragon.”

5 (#ulink_e5114be3-1b04-502a-bfee-fa1cca975ba2)

“GOD, IT DIDN’T take long for the word to get around,” Renata Soliz said, peering through a gap in the sitting-room curtains.

Outside, the normally quiet street was filled with people: friends, neighbours, reporters and police officers trying to hold everyone back. An enterprising ice cream man had stopped his truck across the road and was doing great business despite the freezing weather.

Mr Wagner had been forced to disconnect the doorbell, but that hadn’t stopped people from banging on the doors and windows. It was only when the local police sergeant had stationed two officers outside the front door and another two in the back garden that the crowd had finally calmed down a little.

Renata turned to Colin. “Bags all packed?”

“Yeah. Everything I could think of. You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? Once we’re gone and the police leave, that lot are going to break in and look for souvenirs. Someone’s going to make a lot of money flogging our stuff on eBay.”

She smiled. “I think we might need a good lawyer.”

“I was thinking that what we need is a good agent.”

Renata collapsed into the armchair and turned on the television set. Almost every channel showed a different view of the Wagners’ house. “Hey! He’s not a reporter! He’s the weather man! They’re all getting in on the action!”

Colin’s mother entered, carrying two small bags. “Is this all you have, Renata?”

“That’s everything, Mrs Wagner. For once I’m glad I don’t have much stuff.”

“How did they find out about you and Dad?” Colin asked his mother.

“I wish I knew.”

“You didn’t wear a mask when you were Energy,” Renata said. “Maybe someone always thought that you looked like her, and when they found out about Colin…” She pointed to the television set. “Col, isn’t that one of your friends from school? He’s giving an interview!”

“Yeah…And look: that kid in the background. That’s little Peter what’s-his-name from down the road. God, I hope they don’t let that slimy little turd on the television!”

Renata turned up the sound. Malcolm O’Neill was talking to the reporter and kept glancing at the camera. “Yeah, I’ve known Colin for years and years. I’m probably his best friend.”

“Some friend!” Colin said. “He nicked half a Mars Bar from me last year!”

“And did you know about his powers?” the reporter asked.

“I always suspected that he was different,” Malcolm said. “Colin can’t kick a football to save his life, you know? I mean, he’s definitely the absolutely worst player in the whole school. Ever. Which is saying something because nearly all of them are crap, except me. So what Colin was probably doing was just pretending to be rubbish so that no one would suspect that he’s a superhuman.”

“That’s not true!” Colin said. “I genuinely am rubbish!” He paused and frowned. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

The reporter asked, “And what can you tell us about Diamond, Kid Titan’s girlfriend?”

Renata and Colin both yelled, “Girlfriend?” at the same time.

“I only met her once,” Malcolm said. “Her name is…uh…Romana, I think. She’s supposed to be Colin’s cousin, but she puts on, like, a really fake American accent. As if anyone would be fooled by that.”

Renata turned off the television set. “Idiot!” she muttered.

“You OK?” Colin asked.