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Sadie was not supposed to be out this late, she knew. Mom would be really, really, mad if she knew Sadie had snuck away from her babysitter to go to the park after dark, but Sadie’s babysitter was boring. She was an old lady who made Sadie call her ma’am and had put on episodes of a show aimed at babies called Doc McStuffins even though Sadie was almost 11. Then she’d fallen asleep on the couch leaving Sadie alone and bored. So, Sadie decided to go to the park! Sure, it was dark, but the park was only across the street from her house. It’d be fine.
Luckily, it wasn’t one of those parks that had gates they locked when it got dark, so she was easily able to wander over to the swing set, though she kept a careful eye out for adults. Technically, the park was closed right now, though she was never really sure how or why parks closed at certain times. Her watchfulness was why, when she heard a bit of noise, she jumped off the swing and hid under the pirate shaped playset.
“Get back here you foul beast!” a voice said, and Sadie heard feet pound over her head on the pirate ship’s deck and then a shadowy figure landed only a couple of feet away from her hiding space.
“Fuck. Off.” Oh, those were really bad words, but then again, she immediately recognized the figure despite the darkness surrounding him… because of the darkness surrounding him actually. Supervillains were probably allowed to say bad words, right? Though Shadow Caster wasn’t considered the worst villain ever, he was probably allowed to say that. Something that sounded heavier landed on the top of the playset. “Did you really think throwing a net on me was going to catch me, Princey?” Shadow Caster mocked. “I’m not a stray cat. Idiot.”
Princey, or well, Prince the newish superhero sometimes seen with Bluebird, she figured out quickly when his bright white and red costume came into sight, gave an unhappy screech at being called an idiot and launched himself off the playset at the man covered in shadows. They fell straight into the sandbox.
“Get, fucking off me,” Shadow Caster demanded, his shadows smacking the back of Prince’s head as they rolled around in the sandbox, spewing sand all over. The adults would not be happy about that in the morning. Kids always got yelled at when they started dumping sand outside the box.
“No! I’m arresting you!”
Sadie was surprised since she knew Prince had superstrength that he was having a hard time pinning down Shadow Caster. In fact, as she watched, Shadow Caster reared back and punched Prince, but it was Shadow Caster who yelped in pain, pulling his fist back.
“Don’t punch me!” Prince yelped, pulling back a bit in surprise. “I have superstrength! You’ll break your hand!”
Yet, Prince pulling back a bit seemed to be just the opportunity Shadow Caster needed to escape because he suddenly rolled to the side. Prince tried to grab him, but his hands only caught shadows that quickly faded away. “Fuck!” he said as Shadow Caster bolted back over the playset. Then, his eyes caught on Sadie under the pirate ship. “…uh,” he said.
“Superheroes say ‘fuck’?” she asked eyes wide.
“No!” he said, even though he’d just said it. Sadie had heard him! “No, we don’t! How much ice cream do I have to buy you to make you not tell your parents or the press about any of this?”
“Shouldn’t you be running after Shadow Caster?” she asked.
He blinked and then his head shot up, but Shadow Caster’s footsteps had disappeared into the dark. “Fu-… dge ice cream. That’s what I’ll get you. Do you like fudge ice cream?
Sadie frowned at him. “I want strawberry,” she said.
He sighed. “Strawberry it is.”