Sub-Heroes: Boombox

Chapter Four

She-ee-ee is my blonde haired girl,

Wi-ii-iithout a care in the world.

She-ee-ee is my blonde haired girl,

And I will do most anything for her.

Blondie by Big Kahoona and the Tides

Released 1959

A few years on and in my last few weeks of high school, my altercation with Billy is now a collection of memories and scars.

Back on the day it happened, the first person interviewed by the police was Ms Johnston. She had told them that Billy was delusional, smashed all the windows and knocked himself out against a wall. She did not mention exactly what I did and at the time, I had no idea what I had done anyway. Because Ms Johnston is a teacher, no one challenged her version of events. All of the other students were either hiding their faces or trying to keep Kellie awake.

Billy disappeared after that day although he remained in our memories and ongoing rumours. I heard that he was admitted to another hospital under police guard with numerous broken bones, my parents made sure that he was nowhere near me. Later, Corbin had heard that he was transferred to St Brendon’s, a hospital of sorts a few miles out of town that specialises in the treatment of psychological problems. The last thing anyone knew was that Billy’s father had moved away from Monolith City, taking Billy with him.

I remember after the shooting, desperately wanting to ask about what happened… to try and make sense of it all. Doctors, family and friends however kept telling me to rest and with those drugs they were giving me to sleep, it was hard to resist.

After a few days most of the attention had died down from the police and reporters and my chance came. As Kellie and I were still healing up in hospital, Ms Johnston paid me a visit that was to change my life.

Still in a haze from the pain medication, I remember someones hand touching my arm. Expecting it to be my parents I asked “Mum?” and groggily opened my eyes.

“Oh, Gods, I hope not,” was the reply I was not expecting.

My eyes fought for focus and I saw Ms Johnston sitting next to me. “Sorry Ms Johnston, I thought...”

“It’s quite alright Oscar, I wanted to check on how you are doing and if I may, ask some questions.”

“Um sure, I’m fine, I suppose. How are the other students?” I queried.

“It’s good of you to ask,” said Ms Johnston with a smile. “The class is fine, Corbin is missing you and I hear that Kellie is also healing well.”

“That’s good, at least I will have a cool scar to show off.” I say with a smile.

Ms Johnston shakes her head and she mumbles ‘kids’ under her breath. “Anyway, I need to talk to you about what happened with Billy and what you did to him.”

Finally a chance to find out, I had been wondering if what I had remembered was real or if it were some form of medicated dream.

“I’m not… entirely sure what happened,” I say truthfully. “It hurt, being shot and I recall trying not to blackout. I remember Billy when he was about to shoot Corbin and I shouted at him. But then I could not help myself, apparently I fainted.”

Ms Johnston leaned in closer to my bed and whispers, “You did much more than blackout. You stopped Billy, stopped him with your voice.”

I reflected on this for a moment. One of the clearer dreams I had in my head was where I shouted and forced Billy back but it was only a dream, right?

“I, I did that?” I ask. “How did I, how could I have, you’re not suggesting that I…” This time I lean closer to Ms Johnston, not because I would want to keep it a secret but because it all sounds so insane.” Did I use some kind of… Ultra Power?”

Ms Johnston smiles. “I believe thats exactly what you did. I also believe that the Power you have… may be extraordinarily unique.”

Despite the medication and the dull pain in my gut I am giddy with excitement. This is what winning the Mono-Money Lottery Jackpot must be like.

“I have to leave this place, I have to try it again.

Do you know what kind of Power it was? Was it like, did I move Billy with my mind? Oh wait, that’s it, I made Billy hit the wall by taking over his brain, right?”

“Slow down Oscar, you did not use your brain to do anything,” says Ms Johnston.

“How can you be sure?” I ask.

“Because you’re too young to use your brain for anything,” Ms Johnston smiles, “You, used your voice.”

I yelled ‘No’ at Billy, I remember that, before he fell away from me but I don’t understand how I did it.

“I remember yelling, was it that?” I ask.

“I believe so,” says Ms Johnston quietly. “You didn’t simply yell, it was much more than that. It was as if there was a wave of pressure that followed your words, that’s what knocked Billy back and it undoubtedly came from you.”

Ms Johnston leans back in her chair and crosses her arms as if she is measuring my reaction.

“I have to go to the Ultra Tryouts!” I say out loud.

“That’s what I really want to talk to you about,” says Ms Johnston, a little more sternly than she had before. “I don’t want you to go, in fact, I don’t want you mentioning anything of this to anyone especially the Ultra Heroes.”

There is nothing about this sentence that makes any sense to me. “I don’t understand, this could really be something, I could be something big, like a celebrity.”

“Oh I’m sure you will,” says Ms Johnston, “But don’t rush into anything just yet. I can help you develop your skill safely, away from the spotlight and when the time is right we will go public. That’s when you can be a great Hero, free of any Ultra Division expectations.”

It’s still not quite coming together in my head. “How can you train me better than the actual, for real, Ultra Heroes?” I ask.

“Simple, I’m your Drama teacher and I will become your vocal coach. Whatever skill this is, it comes from your voice and I will help you develop it.”

This felt like I have been given a new car but was only allowed to wash it. I didn’t understand why I would want to hide from the Ultra Heroes but learning more about this Power before making a big song and dance about it, the pun not intended, did start to make a little reluctant sense.

“Okay,” I say, “You can train me up and when I’m ready, we will show the Ultra Heroes, show the world.”

“Good then, now make sure that you keep this to yourself, no one else is to know. We don’t want your Ultra Power going public before you are ready.”

Unfortunately for Ms Johnston, Corbin had walked in behind her half way through her last sentence.

“I knew it!” he shouts excitedly, “You DID zap Billy!”

“Shush!” whispers Ms Johnston.

A few paces behind Corbin, Kellie walks in with her arm in a sling, a Go-Juice in her other hand and a smile across her face. “I always knew that you were my Hero!”

Ms Johnston sighed and shook her head at the both of them.

That was four short years ago and against all odds my secret has stayed safe between the four of us, as the real world of jobs, cars, responsibilities while still not being able to afford a Bio-watch are looming ever closer.

There would not be one red blooded kid in the country who does not dream of one day becoming Ultra Powered and I was no exception. But how could I have guessed that something this strange, this unique and this… no, I think strange covers it, even existed?

“Can it be any better than this?” I ask aloud.

The four of us have stayed back after class for what will be one of the last times, as it’s Graduation Night.

Corbin replies, “Yes, you two can stop sucking face and I might be able to keep my lunch down.”

In those years since, Billy’s bullets had bound Kellie and I closer together. She laughs and smiles, now that her braces have gone she has been smiling a lot more often.

She sometimes confides in me that she has nightmares of the shooting, remembering the gun, the sound of the shot and the pain. But Kellie says when she wakes up she remembers that I saved her and believes that I always will. This makes the bad dreams fade and let’s face it, it’s great to be someone’s Hero.

“So, I hope you’re coming over after Graduation?” Ms Johnston smiles.

“Yup,” I say. “I will be there straight after the ceremony, right on schedule.”

“Good, because your friends and I have a little surprise for you,” she replies cheekily.

This is a special Graduation amongst my friends because I am the only one who made it this far.

Corbin dropped out of high school last year to pursue a job as a courier and blew his first three weeks wages on a new Bio-watch… I’m more than a little envious.

Kellie also left school in the last year, but she is on the fast-track to fame. I was right, once the braces were gone and the glasses were replaced with contacts, her confidence grew and the beauty that I always saw in her was now there for the rest of the world to see.

Kellie was picked up as a Junior Reporter for Channel 14 News, covering small ‘feel-good’ stories like parades and the Monolith City Cutest Puppy finals.

If it were me, I would be embarrassed but Kellie keeps smiling and says that each little story leads to a bigger one. She had a lucky break a few weeks ago while covering the announcement of a new car. What should have been a simple story became a whole lot more when the car started smoking in the middle of the demonstration. What followed was an impressive explosion and Kellie kept reporting right through the drama. The footage of the event was widely played with shots of Solidstone saving civilians, it propelled Kellie rapidly up the reporter ranks.

The sad part for me was that people blamed the explosion on errant Bio-Technoledgy, so all of the Bio-watches were pulled from sale. I never had a chance to own one.

She is smart like that though, Kellie sees all of the angles and can spot an opportunity from miles away. So I suppose my girlfriend was right in persisting with the little stories. It’s the same as me keeping my Powers from the Ultra Heroes.

Oh yes, girlfriend… I should add that we had kept going steady now for years, ever since the ‘Billy incident’.

As for myself, I stayed in school like a fool and plodded along to Graduation, not because of any desire for a well-paid job but because going to school gave me more time to train up on my Ultra Powers.

Obviously my “singing” lessons have changed. During school I have been learning along with the class but at night I have been training in what Ms Johnston calls my ‘Sub-Sonic tones’.

You know how in cartoons, the opera singer breaks wine glasses with her high pitch notes? It’s a bit like that however I found that my Power operates at much lower tone.

I can make sound, physically real. Its as if the sound I generate has a force behind it thats more than just pressure, so much so that I can make the sound solid. My Powers are crazy, I’ve searched all of the books and microfiche records at the library and there is no mention of anyone having a Power like mine!

In a lot of ways, I’m glad that Ms Johnston stopped me from going to the Ultra Heroes. There is a thrill thats hard to describe when you have Powers, but no-one else knows.

Over the years with Ms Johnston’s teachings, I have trained and learned how to tune my Power. First was perfecting the sonic blast that knocked out Billy Wilson. Corbin now calls this my Turbo Bass much to Ms Johnston’s protests. She fears that I might take my Powers too lightly.

It was only a year ago when I discovered that I could shape sounds into simple physical forms. I was practicing after hours in the Drama class by humming a particular frequency note when Kellie walked into the room and headlong into an invisible barrier of sound.

Nowadays I can create shapes that include walls and blades. I have not had to buy razors ever since.

These Sonic Blades are insanely sharp but I have to keep “voicing” them so they remain real, if I go quiet, they go away.

Back in Metalwork class, I made a steel hilt that looks like it belongs on an old Roman sword. My excuse to Mr Ibanez, my Metalwork teacher, was that I wanted to make a fancy corkscrew handle for Fathers Day. I remember him looking at me suspiciously from under his overgrown grey eyebrows but he eventually agreed.

Now, I can project an invisible Sonic Blade through my hand and onto the metal hilt… I wish we had taken Fencing classes.

But the very best thing about my Powers, I learned by accident. It was on the spur of the moment, a crazy idea. I wondered what would happen if I created a sonic effect from my feet. At first, I felt my heels rise and it would have looked to anyone else that I was standing on my toes like a ballerina. So then I pushed a little more Power through my legs and I felt a converse rush of blood to my head, the same time as my head went through Ms Johnston’s ceiling plaster board.

I flew!

After this discovery, and a short discussion about being aware of my surroundings, and a longer talk about ‘impulsiveness’, I tried again from Ms Johnston’s backyard. I fumbled, stumbled and fell over a few times but after a few hours of finding my balance, I was away… flying like the best Heroes… well almost like them.

We’ve all seen Heroes that can fly on TV and magazine covers, they zoom through the sky head first with their arms by their sides.

My Power is again, very different. I need to create a platform of sound underneath my feet which lifts me into the air while standing upright. I can fly along standing straight up with my arms crossed, like a chess piece and looking kind of cool.

I own a cheap red and blue tracksuit that if you squint your eyes, kind of looks a little like an Ultra uniform. I wait until after dark, then I throw this tracksuit on and take to the skies. Corbin and Ms Johnston go off their trees when I sneak in these little late night flights, they are all afraid that I might be seen. So I save them mostly for special occasions like Kellies Birthday, heavy foggy weather or, like, Tuesdays.

Now, with these short years of training and school behind me, I dress myself up in a black cloak and weird square black hat. Unfortunately this is not a Heroes costume, but what we are expected to wear at the Graduation.

Enduring the ceremony I spy Mum and Dad looking on proudly. Of course they still have no clue about my Powers, they will be so happy when they do find out.

There’s the obligatory group photo and then the hat toss, lots of hands are shaken, promises made to school mates that we will keep in touch and the parents all provide proud hugs.

True to my word, my parents drop me off at Ms Johnston’s house after the ceremony. I wave to them as they leave, I’m looking forward to spending some quiet time away from my parents and with my good friends, but something is not right.

As I turn back to look at the house, all of the lights are off and the front door is ajar. Cautiously, I slowly push open the door to see the front room dark and still.

Are they here? Was I meant to be at Kellie’s or Corbin’s house instead?

“Hello?” I call hesitantly. “Ms Johnston, Corbin, Kellie, is anyone there…” There’s no reply.

I make my way through the kitchen and into to the back room as I remove my metal hilt from my bag and project an invisible sonic sword with my well trained vocal chords.

With my other hand I slowly push the back room door open.

“SURPRISE!” is yelled in unison as the lights are switched on.

“Bwaaa!” I scream loudly.

‘Pop’ goes the light globes as they are hit by my small sonic shockwave.

And again we are in darkness.

Through the darkened room I can see Ms Johnston, Corbin and Kellie. They are all there smiling with a big ‘Congratulations Graduate’ sign draped across the back of the room.

“I suppose we should have seen that coming,” Corbin remarks as he takes a sip from a bottle of Go-Juice.

“Why are you still drinking that stuff Corbin, its way too sweet, it’s meant for kids you know? Next thing you’ll be doing is playing on swings and watching the Porus the Pirate cartoon show,” says Ms Johnston.

Corbin replies, “I drink it because it’s sweet and it’s meant for kids, I have to grow old but I don’t have to grow up.”

After replacing the bulbs, eating some Graduation cake and a few real drinks, we all settle down in the lounge and relax.

“Now for your Graduation present,” Ms Johnston remarks as she hands a large bright blue box to me.

I smile as I unwrap it. “You shouldn’t have,” I say, which of course is a lie, I love presents. After struggling with the tightly wrapped bow and gently lifting the lid I see a suit inside. It’s not a business suit or tuxedo but an honest to God real Hero suit. Its smart, sharp and ‘Ultra’ looking, mostly coloured a bright yellow with white highlights on the shoulders. There is a large white print of a round audio speaker with the letter ‘B’ at its centre on the suits chest.

“Where do you even find something like this?” I exclaim as I hold the yellow costume up for all to see.

Kellie says, “I recorded a report on a cosplay shop down town recently, I asked if they made custom orders and they were happy to make it up.”

Tucked into the corner of the box is a pair of simple yellow sneakers with white soles. They are a slightly different shade of yellow, but you would not be able to tell from a distance.

“And I drew up the speaker emblem,” says Corbin as he smiles and traces its outline.

Kellie asks excitedly, “Now look next to the seat!”

Looking to my side I spot something round and flat wrapped in colourful children wrapping paper. I pick up the heavy object that’s about the same diameter as a trash can lid and tear at the paper with little cartoon pictures of Steampunk Skunk Boy on it. As the wrapping falls away I am met with a large round brass object and it takes me a moment to realise that it’s some kind of shield.

“This… is… amazing!” I exclaim as I turn it over in my hands to see the same speaker emblem etched into its front.

“One new lesson,” Ms Johnston remarks. “I asked our Metalworks teacher to make this up as a Drama prop, but it’s yours. It’s made of brass and has a steel handle on the inside. This is so the specially curved brass can flex a little, it should amplify and focus some of your Subsonic Tones. The steel handle is strong enough to take a few impacts.”

“Let’s call it the Bass Maker!” says Corbin.

“Let’s not,” Ms Johnston quickly responds, “Now try it all on and let’s see how you look.”

I don’t need to be told twice and I quickly change into the costume in a spare room, tripping over twice in the process; how do Heroes do this normally?

As I’m walking back into the living room, Kellie’s work phone rings. She reaches into her handbag, lifts the heavy phone out and flips open the lower half of it. “Yes, Hello, alright, alright.” She quickly glances at her own Bio-watch and adds, “Okay, I will be there right away.”

“When did you get the Bio-watch!” I exclaim.

Kellie looks up at me and says, “Oh my God, you look mint!”

“Honey, the watch, wern’t they all taken off sale?” I ask again, pointing at her wrist.

“Meant to be, but I had mine on lay-by and I only picked it up it the other day, isn’t it cool?”

Ms Johnston smiles. “Don’t worry Oscar, quite soon you will share your gift with the world and that is far cooler than any plastic watch fad.”

“You mean it… I mean the gift sharing thing?” I ask cautiously.

“Yes, but you will have to be careful about it,” Ms Johnston says.

Corbin is unusually quiet but he eventually says, “Dude, you look like the real deal. I don’t know whether to laugh or shake your hand.”

Kellie gestures to her phone apologetically, “I’m really sorry, but I have to go, work wants me.”

“No, stay!” I plead.

“What’s going on Kellie?” asks Ms Johnston.

Kellie shakes her head. “I don’t know exactly, apparently something has happened at the NUVO Bank Tower and they want me to cover the news conference back in town.”

“That’s okay, I suppose, just… come back quickly,” I say while looking down with exaggerated wide puppy dog eyes.

Kellie replies, “Oh I will… And have that suit ready for me.” Kellie winks at me as she half skips and leaves the room.

“Oh please,” Ms Johnston says.

“Image not required!” Corbin chants as he covers his eyes.

“So, what’s the big letter ‘B’ on my chest for?” I ask.

Ms Johnston smiles. “That’s my contribution, it represents your official Hero name, how does ‘Boombox’ sound?”

“It’s… a little bit ‘disco’” I answer honestly.

Ms Johnston laughs, “And what’s so bad about that?”

[37 days until Detonation.]