Tales From A Teenage Henchman

Sparrow

Tim actually did it. He made a name for himself in the hero business.

Honestly, from the expression on their faces, his fellow henchmen were just as shocked as him. Of course, he wasn't all that famous. Not a top-tier hero yet. But it was something, and it was definitely enough to make a good nemesis for Penny.

It was also pretty neat to be talked about in the news for once. Even if it was just a short little segment that lasted about a minute. Tim would have commented on it if Penny hadn't been sitting right next to him as they all gathered around the lounge's T.V. All of them were staring intently at the screen, but Penny seemed particularly entranced.

There was a gleam in her eyes, her lips curling up into a smile. For once, she actually looked like a villain, plotting her next attack. In short, she was definitely feeling better.

"Oh, he's perfect!" Penny said once the newscaster had switched to the heartwarming story of a child's reunion with her pet chinchilla. "The people love him."

The people hardly knew Tim.

"He's just good enough to get us some points, but still not too strong."

Tim didn't really know what he was doing most of the time.

"Though his outfit's kinda lame."

Wow. Rude, Penny. Fucking rude.

"Still, I'm pretty sure I can beat him," Penny actually sounded confident of that, Tim noted. He was only vaguely offended because that was kind of the point of the whole plan.

It still didn't do much to reassure Tim of his role on the next step of said plan. Mostly because, as much as Penny failed at being evil, she could actually be a challenge for a poor, regular guy like Tim. He sincerely hoped Lina had an idea of how to help Tim not get killed. As he had been for much of his life, Tim was sorely disappointed.

Still, he had to give Lina points for keeping the plan simple.

Granted, wait on the roof and then make a dramatic entrance might have been a bit too simple. At least Tim had room to be creative. Even if he still had no idea what the hell he was going to do as he watched from a skylight as Penny and the others barged into the dark warehouse below.

Sure, Lina had told him to make his entrance impressive, but it was hard to make that happen when all you had was some rope, an open skylight, and enough stupidity to be confused as brave. Tim figured he should at least give it a shot.

And so, Tim gathered what little courage he had in preparation. His only hope was that Penny would appreciate the trouble he'd gone through if he ended up dying. A memorial or something would be nice.

While Tim was distracted with thoughts of how his friends would honor him after he kicked the bucket, he failed to notice the rather imposing figure dressed in brown and gray standing behind him, watching Tim intently and not without some curiosity. They stood there silently, barely having made a sound when they'd approached. That was pretty much why Tim nearly had a heart attack when said figure spoke.

"What are you doing?"

Tim would forever deny having jumped. He would, however, admit to almost having fallen through the skylight if not for the hand that pulled him back. Once his poor heart had regained its usual rhythm, Tim turned and met the gaze of one of the most respected and idolized heroes around. Then he nearly had another heart attack.