Sakkara

Danny simply said, “I didn’t think you’d find out.”

“That’s the best you can do?”

Danny finally looked up from the magazine. “Sorry.”

“Sorry you were going to do it or sorry I found out?”

“Sorry you found out.” He pushed the magazine aside and stood up. “What did the little squirt say?”

She glared at him, arms folded, a grim look on her face. “He did his best not to tell me. And don’t call him that!”

“Façade is his father,” Danny said. “Despite what he did, he’s still Niall’s father.”

“That man…” Mrs Cooper swallowed. “He…”

“I know. He lied to all of us. But he thought he was doing the right thing.”

“How dare you defend him!”

“I’m not defending him, Mum. I’m as mad at him as you are. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive him. But…” Danny’s shoulders sagged. “If he hadn’t agreed to take my real dad’s place, then Max Dalton would have used what he thought was his only other option.”

Fourteen years ago when Danny was born, his real father – the superhero known as Quantum – had had a vision of the future in which Danny was responsible for a huge, devastating war between the humans and the superhumans. Max Dalton had concluded that the only way to avoid that war was to either kill Danny as a baby or strip all the superhumans of their powers.

Max had persuaded the shape-shifting villain Façade to masquerade as Quantum, while the real Quantum worked with Ragnarök to create the power-stripping machine. The machine had worked: for ten years there had been no superhumans. Then, a couple of months ago, both Danny and his friend Colin Wagner had discovered that they were the offspring of some of the most powerful superhumans of all: Colin’s parents were Titan and Energy.

Mrs Cooper filled the kettle and turned it on. Without looking at Danny, she said, “I don’t want you to see him again.”

“But…”

“No! I mean it, Danny! That man ruined our lives! And you’re grounded for a month.”

Danny muttered, “It’s not like I ever go anywhere anyway.”

“And when I say grounded, that means you can’t have your friends over either. Do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly,” Danny replied. “But just listen to me for a second, OK?”

“Why? Why should I listen to you when I know you’re only going to lie to me anyway? God knows we’ve had enough lies in this house!” She glared at him again. “All right then. Go ahead. As if there was anything you could say that might make a difference.”

Danny hesitated for a second, then decided to plunge ahead. “He’s in love with you.”

“What?”

“Dad. I mean Façade. He phoned yesterday when you were out. He told me that he loved you from the moment he first met you. That was one of the reasons he agreed to take my real dad’s place. He says that he has always loved you and he always will.”

Mrs Cooper said nothing.

Danny chose his next words carefully. “Did you ever notice anything? Any clue that Façade had taken your husband’s place?”

His mother glanced towards the spot on the wall where, until recently, there had been a family photo. “He…He was always a little unstable. Your real father, I mean. I thought that was because he knew that at any moment he might have to run off and save someone. But after Façade took over, he seemed to have calmed down a lot. Then that thing with Ragnarök happened and for the first time he seemed to be genuinely happy. Sometimes I wish he hadn’t told me.” She gave her son a weak smile. “But if I’m going to wish for things, I should be wishing that you hadn’t lost your arm.”

Danny glanced down at the stump of his right arm. His shirt sleeve was folded over and pinned up.

“You’re going to have to go back to school soon.”

“I know. But there’s only another couple of days before Christmas. I’ll go back with the others in January.”

Mrs Cooper walked over to the table and picked up the magazine Danny had been reading. “You did the Sudoku puzzle.” The little squares had been filled in with Danny’s shaky left-handed writing. “And the crossword.”

Danny flexed his left hand. “It’s still hard to write, but I’m getting better. I keep reaching for the pen with the wrong arm.”

“And you always had such lovely handwriting!” She looked as though she was about to cry.

The kitchen door opened and Niall walked in. “Colin’s on the telly,” he said.

“What? Our Colin?” Danny asked. “Colin Wagner?”

“Yeah. And he’s dressed up as Kid Titan, too.”

Danny and his mother exchanged a glance. “Must be someone else, Niall,” Danny said.

“See for yourself then if you don’t believe me!” Niall said.

They followed Niall back to the sitting-room.

“See?” Niall said, pointing at the screen. Two newsreaders – a man and a woman – sat behind their desk. On the screen behind them was a photo of Diamond and Titan. Niall turned up the volume.

“…when a blaze broke out at the store less than an hour ago,” the man was saying. “Though the cause of the fire itself is still unknown, there are some fears that it might have been started deliberately. But the most remarkable aspect of this story is the rescue of five people – one member of staff and four customers – who had been trapped on the upper floor.” The screen cut to a shaky, grainy image of Renata and Colin running into the building. The words ‘Amateur film’ appeared in the corner of the screen. The newsreader continued: “The teenage superhumans known as Kid Titan and Diamond – seen here entering the building – braved the intense heat and managed to get the trapped shoppers to safety by knocking out a window and dropping them…”

Danny pulled the remote control from Niall’s hands and hit the mute button.

“Told you,” Niall said. “That’s Colin.”

“Rubbish!”

“It is!” Niall insisted. “And Diamond must be his girlfriend Renata.”

“Renata is not Colin’s girlfriend!” Danny said.

“Well, she lives in his house and she’s always hanging around with him.”

“Sweetheart, Renata is Colin’s cousin from America,” Mrs Cooper said, lowering herself into her armchair.

Niall gave her a look that made it clear he didn’t believe that. “Even so. That doesn’t mean they’re not Diamond and Kid Titan.”

The screen changed again, this time showing Kid Titan and Diamond leaving the building and being ambushed by the reporter. This film was a lot clearer than the previous one, but luckily the two heroes were both covered in so much soot that it wasn’t any easier to recognise them.

“See?” Danny said. “He’s nothing like Colin!” He waited until Colin and Renata had left, then turned the sound back up.