Volume 1, Issue 9

Aaron awoke in a strange bed, every muscle pained to the point of exhaustion.  Sitting up, it took him a moment to remember he was in Rick Pennington's off-campus apartment.  Most of Rick's stuff had been moved to their new triple in Langley Hall, but some was still boxed up here or laying around loose.  It was winter break, and most of the students were gone.  Langley Hall was locked up tight, and while he could get in through the shaft from their HQ, Aaron didn't want to risk anyone hearing him and busting their secret entrance.

That's where all the pain had come from, Aaron remembered, hearing his shoulder crackle as he pushed himself out of bed.  

He's spent the last three days with Steven "Palisade" Chen, Rick "The Adept" Pennington and Cazmonster moving and installing all sorts of hardward into their HQ, signed, sealed and delivered by Steven Chen's father's employees.  Work that would have taken months to perform with a small team of construction workers and engineers was finished in days with 2 engineers and four super heroes.  

Aaron looked at his cell phone on the small dresser.  No calls.  He'd hardly heard from Emily in a week.  They'd gone out the night after classes ended, and since then he'd only seen her once.  It had been the night she'd introduced her to her friend Angela.  Since then, Emily and Angela had been together quite a bit.  Aaron hadn't cared much for Angela; there was something a little off about her.  Of course, he hadn't said anything.  White Diamond could take care of herself, and then some.

Suddenly, there was a rattle at the front door.  Aaron went to check it out.  The sun had not yet come up; a cold blue light was just stretching across the sky.  Must have been the wind.  Turning around, he heading back into the house to start his morning workout.  Only a few steps in, the door slammed open.  Aaron had tumbled across room and flipped behind the couch, spinning around so he could see over the top.  At first, he saw nothing, just the door rattling open, bouncing against a plant stand on the other side.  Then, as his tired eyes focused more carefully, he noticed a pale shadow crossing the room.  

"What the hell..."  Aaron wasn't sure how to deal with this, but being armed couldn't hurt.  Chancing a quick run, Aaron bolted to the bedroom and grabbed his equipment bag, slamming the door shut and holding it with one foot while slipping the harness for his wings over his sore shoulders.

Drawing his sword, he slipped his humming bomb into the pocket of his sweatpants with the other hand.  A powerful force hit the door at that moment, and Aaron barely managed to pivot out of the way.  The shadowy form was entering the room.  Not here, Aaron thought.  Slipping his sword blade through the handle of his bag, Aaron flew as fast as possible through the wood and glass window of Rick's room and into the freezing December air.  The shadow form was hot on his tail.

"Great, the thing can fly!" Aaron thought, pulling in his contact lenses with his free hand.  There, he thought, now he could see some more details of the shadow.  Is that right? he asked himself.  The shadow looked like it had wings.  Wings like his!  

An echo in the back of his mind came as an answer.  "Yes, Dragonfly.  I'm you!  Your shadow!"

Aaron shook his head.  Must be imagining things, he thought.  Now that they were out of the residential area and flying over the largely deserted CIU campus, Aaron could try to sort this thing out.  Doubling back, he held his sword out and did a fly-by backward strike.  The blade, not unexpectedly, had no effect, but Aaron felt it best to start with the simple.

"Ah, my progrenitor, you have little chance of stopping me, but you're welcome to try."  Flying directly toward Aaron, the shadow seemed intent on slamming into him.  Aaron didn't think that was the best idea, and did an in-air summersalt just in time to avoid a direct hit.  However, the shadow's dark claws still slashed through Aaron's leg, sending waves of icy pain all through his body. 

Not good, Aaron reflected as he zipped behind Schuster Tower.  I don't think I can move my leg.  

The shadow swept after him, but Aaron ducked behind one of the tower's spires just in time to avoid being seen.  Time for the A game, Aaron thought.  Flying behind the shadow at top speed, Aaron planted the humming bomb in the center of the thing, set at full power, then turned the wings off, allowing gravity to pull him out of the way of the massive sonic explosion.  Dropping head-first, Aaron turned the wings back on a mere 50 feet off the ground, and barely managed to bounce to a landing near the Schuster parking lot.  Looking up, he saw the glass windows break out in the top two floors of Schuster.  The shadow was nowhere to be seen.

Aaron flew up to get a better view, but still the shadow creature was nowhere to be seen.  Aaron pulled his cell phone and thought about calling Emily, but had second thoughts.  Her mom wouldn't appreciate late night calls, and besides, the situation seemed to be dealt with now.  

Circling campus one more time, Aaron headed back to the house.  His leg was completely numb.  He could barely stand on it.  

He needed to rest, to get the leg looked at.  Until then, Dragonfly was likely out of commission.  He was almost there, just over the Stevenson High football field, when the pain came again.  Except this one was through his back, his chest.  Aaron fought to keep conscious through the pain.  He felt his heart beating irregularly.  Slowly, everything faded to black, and Aaron barely felt the impact as he slammed into the snowy field and broke two ribs.