A Tale of Two Masks

The moment her parents caught sight of her, they could tell something was wrong. Summer had never been good at keeping secrets. That was part of the reason she had decided to tell them everything.

“Is everything alright?” her mother asked, at the same time as Summer exclaimed. “I have something I need to tell you!”

There was a moment of awkward silence as they waited for the other to speak, before her father took charge. “Let’s sit down and talk,” he suggested.

The family moved to the living room and each sat in their favorite seat out of habit. Now that it had come to this, Summer wasn’t sure how to start. Should she bring up the threat first? Should she tell them how she had ignored their advice and gone looking for Shadow Phoenix? Was telling them about Ashton’s plan first the best move?

After some more silence as they waited for her to begin, Summer decided. Anything was best explained starting at the beginning. Or at least the first part that was relevant.

“Do you remember when that video appeared? The one about RefRain revealing the secrets of SI?”

Both of her parents nodded, but her father had a sharp look in his eyes that made her a little nervous.

“Back then, I got a little… off track,” she managed to admit, “I was obsessed with idea that Shadow Phoenix may have been acting this whole time, and I needed to meet him?”

“You met Shadow Phoenix?” her father asked, his voice full of a range of strong emotions from shock, to fear, to fury.

“No!” Summer quickly denied, “I never found him. I wish I did… Because while I was searching, I may have found someone worse.”

Mr. Aster managed to reign himself in and his tone was somewhat calmer when he spoke this time. “Worse how?”

“He promised he would help me find Shadow Pheonix and told me the best way to do that was to poke at SI. I never accepted his offer.”

“But he didn’t take no for an answer?” Mrs. Aster guessed.

Summer nodded. “Ashton dropped by today. He told me someone stole my costume from SI, and some of them believe it was me,” she explained. Now that she had started, all of her thoughts and feelings began to rush back to her. It felt good to tell them everything, to get it all off her chest.

“They made him come interrogate me,” she told them, anger seeping into her own tone, “They told him to watch me in case I do something stupid! I should never have joined SI.”

“Are they taking any action against you?” her father demanded. He seemed ready to take his own, possibly reckless, actions if that was the case.

“Not yet,” Summer said, “but that was before I found the suit on the doorstep.”

“Does Ashton know?” her mother asked.

“He does. He thinks the best way for me to stay safe is by playing the role of the hero,” Summer told them, “If I just do nothing, or give it back I might end up like Collin. However, if I help restore their reputation by doing real hero work…”

“Absolutely not!” Mr. Aster vetoed immediately, “There must be another, safer way to go about this.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Summer admitted, “Ashton seemed to have some kind of idea, but what if I refuse to play my part and Ned comes for me instead?”

“Ned?”

“That is what he called himself. The guy who lured me in,” Summer told them. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of being referred to as MysteriousMaskz. For some reason, she felt certain he took great pride in that name.

“Is there any way we can speak to Ashton about this?” her mother asked, “He might have some insight as to what is going on that he didn’t mention.”

“Maybe. He also promised to help me with my powers.”

“He must have had some training in power management,” Mr. Aster agreed, “What kind of help has he been giving?”

“So far, he has been trying to figure out what my power really is,” Summer explained, and then excitedly told them all about her new find with the lightbulb. She even demonstrated it. “Oh, and he is making me do stretches. He thinks I am out of shape.”

“It all sounds harmless,” Mr. Aster agreed begrudgingly, “But I would still prefer to speak to him myself.”

Summer pulled out her phone and shot Ashton a text.

“My parents want to speak with you. I told them everything.”

Ashton replied with incredible speed. “You didn’t break any non-disclosure contracts, did you?”

“No?” Summer paused after sending that text. Had he thought Ned made her sign some kind of agreement? “We want to brainstorm plans for what to do now that I have stolen property on my hands.”

“I’ll be right over.”

And he was. Summer had no idea how he had gotten there so quickly, but there was no point in wasting any time. She felt a bit bad since she was sure her father was going to grill him to no end.

“Before we begin, I need to know something very important,” Mr. Aster said, “Is there anything SI is preventing you from telling us?”

“Yes,” Ashton answered.

“Is it something that will put my daughter in danger for not knowing?” he checked.

“No,” Ashton replied.

“Do you really believe SI would try to destroy us if my daughter simply returns that suit?” Mr. Aster demanded.

Ashton closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “Definitely. They are in a tricky position right now and will eliminate even the slightest threat. They are not against Summer being a real, hero, though. They gave me orders to assist her if she ever fought a villain and make sure she wins no matter what.”

“Wins,” he repeated the word with distaste, “And you believe that this Ned character will also leave her alone if she wins?”

“I do, but I have put a plan into action to take him out of the picture,” Ashton assured.

Summer looked back and forth between the two of them, feeling incredibly left behind. Did her father support this? Or was he trying to find some reason not to? And what had Ashton done to take Ned out of the picture?

“Good. Please delay this as much as you can. Summer isn’t ready yet. I need some time to find a better way of dealing with this, if I can.”

“I will do what I can,” Ashton promised, “But the things I can do are limited.”

“In that case, I have something else I would like to ask,” her father said, his tone and gaze more serious than ever, “I heard you work closely with the CEO. Is there any way you can arrange a meeting between us?”

He wanted to meet the CEO of SI?! “Arrange a meeting?” Summer broke in, “What are you planning to do?”

“Whatever I can,” Mr. Aster replied, not breaking eye contact with Ashton as he answered.

Ashton sighed, his usual resigned expression returning. “I can only ask,” he warned, “And even if you meet him, there is no guarantee he will listen.”

“I understand,”

“What about me?” Summer broke in, “Should I go too?”

“No,” Ashton and her father said in unison.

Summer flinched. She knew both of them were worried about her, but she felt like she had dumped all her problems on them and wasn’t doing anything to help. As they continued to plan, she gathered her determination to put her all into training instead.