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There is a certain thrill to listening in on teenagers’ stupid little conversations. I have bigger reasons than that to wiretap the Fentons’ home phone, of course. But getting to know my future son is a benefit. I like seeing what Daniel is like when I am not around. This particular conversation is getting more interesting than I expected, though.
“A family reunion, in Michigan?” Daniel says. “That sounds… kinda boring, Tuck, not gonna lie. I appreciate the invite, but…”
“It’ll definitely be boring, that’s why I need you there. You can keep me sane when I meet all this family I didn’t know I had,” says Tucker.
“Who will keep Amity Park safe from ghosts?” Daniel asks. Of course, the boy sees himself as the savior of his hometown. If only he knew how much better off he would be living with me. Amity Park would survive, even if his idiot father gets in the way of Maddie’s ghost hunting. Valerie has her suit, and she really is quite good.
It seems Tucker agrees. “Sam, Jazz, and Val can take care of the ghosts. Between the three of them, Amity will be fine.”
“For how long? I hate to make them pick up my slack while I’m away.” How magnanimous of him. He’s always so dutiful about his ghost fighting.
“It’s only a week, and it’s fine, they know what they’re doing,” Tucker says.
“Alright, alright, I’ll come with you. Not like I have anything better to do over summer vacation.” And there’s his sarcasm. Daniel can be so insufferable sometimes.
Tucker either fails to pick up the sarcasm or chooses to ignore it. “Thanks, dude. Maybe we’ll even have a good time. We can’t be the only teenagers there, right?”
“Eh, who knows. You really don’t know any of your extended family?” Daniel asks.
“No, apparently there was some fight before I was born and we lost contact with that side of the family. I don’t know why.” I could not care less about Tucker’s family.
“You said Michigan. What city is the reunion in?” Daniel asks.
“Dakota City. Do you know anything about it?”
I do. I’ve been expanding VladCo through the Midwest, and Dakota City is one place I’ve had my eye on. I plan to open more businesses there, or maybe buy out existing ones, if the opportunity presents itself. Dakota City has gang problems, and I can use that to my advantage. Desperate people can easily be bought for all sorts of nefarious purposes.
“I don’t,” says Danny.
“There’s a guy in my World of Warcraft guild who’s from Dakota and he’s told us some crazy stories. Apparently there was some gang fight a few years ago that caused an explosion of some chemical that gave people superpowers. So now there’s a bunch of superpowered gang members robbing stores and stuff. They call them 'bang babies.' But there’s a few heroes too, who fight crime. Big, if true, right? Well, I looked it up and it is true. There’s videos and everything.”
Well. Isn’t that interesting. I’ll definitely need to factor that into my plans. Of course, while Daniel is in town, I’ll need to keep the boy busy. I can’t have him interfering.
“That is crazy. But I believe it. We’ve seen weirder things, right? Maybe we’ll meet one of the heroes while we’re there.” A bit quieter, Daniel says, “It’ll be nice to see someone else getting into fights in public for once.”
Tucker laughs, then is silent for a moment. A woman’s voice says something indistinguishable in the background. Tucker replies, “I’ll be down in a sec, I’m talking to Danny.”
“Time for dinner?” Daniel asks.
“Yep. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.” The call disconnects.
The date of the event is a month away, which gives me time to put together a plan. Step one, learn everything I can about the “bang baby” situation in Dakota City. I get on my computer to do some research.
True to the boy’s word, there are news articles and video clips of crime-fighting teenagers. Of course teenagers everywhere throw themselves into danger just to stop crime. It’s reckless and stupid.
I find a video. Two teenagers fly through the air. The first is a Black boy with dreads, maybe sixteen, wearing a blue, yellow, and black superhero costume complete with mask. He stands on some kind of disc which is sparking with electricity. He must have insulated boots, because it doesn’t appear to be shocking him.
The second boy is white, wearing green and gray with a helmet obscuring his face. His shoes appear to be emitting flames. Jetpack boots? I wonder where he got those. They must be custom made for him, and that has to have been expensive.
The camera swings to reveal a burning building, which firefighters are attempting to extinguish. Both boys fly directly into the building, no PPE, and return carrying people. I wonder if they have powers that negate the effects of smoke inhalation, or if they’re just putting themselves in danger to save complete strangers. I have a feeling it’s the latter.
The video cuts to a reporter at a desk. She says, “As you can see, Static and Gear have once again saved the day, having rescued seven people from the fire. There were no casualties and only one major injury. The injured woman is expected to make a full recovery. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time, but witnesses report seeing known arsonist Hotstreak in the area before the fire occurred. We will report further as the investigation continues.”
“Static and Gear, hmm?” I mutter to myself. They must be the heroes Tucker mentioned. I will have to stay aware of the power dynamics of the city if I want to do business there. And, if the other articles I’m finding are any indication, these boys are towards the top of the food chain. Although I assume their “morals” keep them from actually using their powers selfishly. I will always have the advantage there; I, for one, have no compunction about using my powers for my own benefit.
As famous as they may be locally, I am a billionaire, which automatically makes me more powerful. They pose little threat to me, a man over twice their age, who has been honing his powers since before they were born. Still, Daniel manages to surprise me. Maybe I shouldn’t discount the teens so easily.
One month until the boys’ trip. I’ll have to work on a plan to keep Daniel’s nose out of my business. If he’s unoccupied, I’m sure he’ll start snooping on my businesses, and I can’t have that. So I have to find a way to keep him busy. I have a lot of research and planning ahead of me.