Off the Scent

William had gotten home to find Kathleen waiting for him, ready with the picture of Billy the Cat. She was so excited to see a picture of him.

"You didn't say he was cute," she said.

"Well I'm not into boys,” (a lie) “so I wouldn't have commented that," William replied.

"Or you are just jealous. That's it isn't it?"

"Sure, if you want to believe that, I am jealous of the good looking teenager in spandex."

William just wanted to go upstairs and put his suit away, from prying eyes.

"How do you know he is a teenager?"

Ah, that was something William had never described him looking like a teenager to Kathleen and Aunt Mabel, just saying they were male. He suddenly thought of something.

"I ran into Kyle Lometo on the way home. He told me that they believe it is a teenage vigilante."

Another lie, something William seemed to have started to become the world's best at.

"How is Kyle doing? Did he say anything else about who this person is?"

"He is good. He said that they can't release anymore information whilst their investigation is being completed.”

“Shame, well I hope to run into him someday and speak to him then.”

Kathleen waved her hand and moved off into the living room, leaving William to head upstairs and hide his suit away in its box. This superhero business was going to be tough if he had his cousin looking to meet his secret persona. How many more times was he going to need to don his crime fighting suit?

“William, would you like some tea?” Aunt Mabel called up the stairs.

“Coming Aunt Mabel,” William replied.

---

Tea was a pleasant enough affair, even if it meant some long silences between conversations. Aunt Mabel and Kathleen were still getting used to what they could and couldn’t say to William after all that had happened. William made his excuses and raced back upstairs. The other two left him alone with his thoughts, trying not to step on his toes too much.

William sat on the edge of his bed and held the helmet in his hands. So many questions about his father’s involvement with the government were going through his head. What was he working on all the time? Was it just this helmet and the suit? Were there other inventions out there that posed a risk with the army possessing them?

He put the helmet down and scooted back on the bed, so he was sat with his back up against the wall and legs down the length. He kicked off his shoes and took out his phone, unlocking the screen and then scrolling through his social media feeds.

One thing that kept cropping up were hashtags about this ‘mysterious new hero’ in the area. Kathleen was right. People from all around the surrounding towns and villages were discussing him and William’s heart jumped at one moment when he came across a post by Kathleen. It read:

“I so want to meet this new hero in the area. He looks so cute and he’s saved my cousin’s life. If only he could help us find out who killed my aunt and uncle. #heroofmyheart #billythecat”

Kathleen really was in love with him?! Or at least his alter ego. She would be heartbroken if she learned who he really was. Maybe William really should somehow put her off the scent. It could be dangerous and might go horribly wrong, but he couldn’t have his cousin pining for him and have to sit and listen to that all the time.

A plan was hatched. William waited for a bit longer and heard his Aunt come up the stairs and go to her room. She was an early sleeper, but Kathleen stayed up a bit longer. William grabbed the suit, put it on as fast as one could a skintight spandex costume and plonked the helmet down onto his head. C.A.T purred into life.

“Good evening William. Are we going to fight a crime tonight?” The computer asked.

“Not unless we have to,” he replied. “No, we are going to try and put my cousin off of our scent. Are you able to disguise my voice at all?”

William thought it would be a long shot. An open-mouthed helmet surely couldn’t disguise his voice, but this was advanced technology.

“Of course I can,” C.A.T replied. “Using the latest in beam-forming technology, I can modulate the sound waves of your voice and alter it. How would you like to sound?”

William thought for a moment. Kathleen knew that Billy is a teenager, so he couldn’t sound too old or young.

“Just like a different teenage boy I guess.”

“Okay William, I will compile a new voice for you. It may take a moment.” There was a brief pause. “Done.”

“That was quick,” William was surprised.

“I am an advanced AI. I just wanted to temper your expectations a little.”

“Consider them tempered.”

Moving over to the window, William carefully opened it up and with a swift, gymnastics/feline like move, he leapt out and gracefully landed on the lawn below, with almost no sound. There was absolutely no way he’d have been able to do that before his body had been enhanced by the serum. Even some Olympians would struggle. William had a brief moment of imagining a series of judges all giving him perfect scores and he even bowed down slightly.

“Um, William, are you okay?” C.A.T asked.

William jolted upright. “I’m okay. It’s nothing,” he stuttered. As he did so, he noticed his voice sounded different. C.A.T’s technology was now operational. “Okay, that sounds weird, like it’s someone of my age, it’s what I’m saying, but at the same time it is nothing like me.”

“I am glad you are happy with the result. What are you going to do now William?” C.A.T asked.

“Time to speak to Kathleen.”

William approached the door to the house and gave a gentle knock. He wanted it to be loud enough that his cousin would hear it, but not too noisy as to wake up his aunt. A moment went by, but sure enough, through the frosted glass in the door, movement.

Inside, Kathleen had heard the noise at the door and got up to have a look. Who could it be? Had mum gone outside? Was it William? Squinting, she could make out the shadowy shape of a figure, one that happened to have quite a round head. Too round to be normal, more like a… helmet.

“It can’t be…” she breathed out slowly.

It took a second, but Kathleen plucked up the courage to go to the door and open it up. As she did so, she came face to face with the new hero on the block, the spandex clad teenager she and many others had come to fall in love with. She found herself staring intently at Billy the Cat’s body, loving how the black material moulded to his body, accentuating the curves, muscles and well… everything else. Even the small amount of his face protruding from beneath the visor and helmet made her swoon a little.

“Y… yes, can I help you?” She managed to stutter.

“Are you Kathleen?” Billy asked her?

‘He knows my name!!!!’ Kathleen yelled in her brain. “Um, yes I am. You’re Billy the Cat.” Kathleen let out a giggle.

“I am yes. I was told about you briefly by your cousin William. He said that you fancy me.”

“He did, did he? Well he’s not wrong there. I’m going to kill him when I speak with him next. Is that why you are here? Do you have feelings for me too?”

Under the helmet, William didn’t like the bit about him being killed by his cousin.

“Um, I don’t quite know how to say this really,” Billy stuttered a little. Even as William, he had never said the next bit out loud to anyone. He’d never got round to telling his parents before they died.

“You hate me don’t you?” Kathleen said, her bottom lip starting to tremble. “You just came round to humiliate me, is that it?”

Billy was shocked. This was not how he had wanted it to go. He had to diffuse the situation.

“No, no, no that’s not it at all,” he raised his hands defensively and took a step back. “No, I wanted to spare you any disappointment, that’s all. I just wanted to let you know that I’m gay. I don’t fancy girls at all, sorry. You’re the first person I’ve told.”

Kathleen’s face changed. She was no longer angry or upset. Confused slightly, but actually relieved.

“Oh my, oh wow. Well that’s okay then. I’m glad you told me. I still fancy you though, but I can feel that from afar. Gay huh! Do you have a boyfriend? Is that why you’re wearing skintight spandex?”

“Um, no I don’t have a boyfriend and no thats not why I’m in spandex. This is an advanced battle suit with some of the latest technology woven into it. So we’re good?”

“We’re good. Are you going round telling every girl you’re off the market?”

“No, just you. It was only because you’re cousin mentioned how into me you were and I knew where you lived because I saved him earlier.”

“Yes, thank you for that. He’s had such a tough time lately.” Kathleen raised her head in the direction of William’s room, imagining what he was doing up there. Little did she know.

“It was my pleasure. I hope you have a good rest of your night.” Billy turned to leave.

“Will we keep in touch?” Kathleen asked.

“Maybe we might, watch out for me,” Billy replied.

With that he leapt up high and out of sight of Kathleen, stealthily jumping up to the roof of the house and hiding out of view, waiting for her to go inside. She took a moment, but then the door clicked shut. Billy carefully used his sharp claws to crawl along the outside of the building and around to his window, slipping inside and lightly landing on his floor.

Very quickly, he took the helmet off and stripped out of the suit. He stuffed the costume into its box and put it back at the bottom of the wardrobe. He got changed into his pyjamas and dove into bed, flipping the light off before he did.

That’s where he lay quietly as he heard footsteps moving outside on the landing. A shadow passed through the crack at the bottom of the door, as Kathleen stood on the other side. She wanted to knock on William’s door, but ultimately decided not to when she couldn’t hear a sound coming from the room. He must be asleep. It would wait until morning.

William lay there pondering the day’s events. His ventures into the superhero world and the fact there were many people out there in love with him, even though they had no idea who he was. They were probably more in love with his body than anything. In reality, William could hardly blame them. He had often had crushes on many males in skintight clothes before, especially the superheroes from his comics.

That then led onto William feeling a swell of pride inside of himself. He’d finally said to someone aloud that he is gay. Yes, that was done in disguise and behind another cloak, but a step had been taken. Maybe soon he could say it as himself. He’d be able to find a boyfriend and fall properly in love, rather that the sort of love all these people had for Billy the Cat.

William soon felt his eyelids drooping and he entered the land of nod.

---

Daylight seeped through the curtains and onto William’s face. The heat from its rays helped to stir the teenager, who woke with a big stretch. It was a new day. What challenges would come from today?

After a few minutes, he rose, went to the bathroom, toileted, showered and went back into the privacy of the bedroom. Rubbing the towels all over his newly muscled body, he was sure that even today they seemed a bit bigger, he dried off. Maybe the serum was still working its magic, or maybe the adrenaline kicking around his body had helped work it out a bit more yesterday and amplified the affects of exercise.

He put on his glasses and went to the wardrobe to pull out the outfit for the day. There were several new clothes in here that his aunt had so kindly got for him. He finally settled on a pair of blue jeans, grey t-shirt and a pair of white socks. He pulled on his boxers and the other clothes, before finding a nice pair of red and black trainers which would work well with the combo.

A rumbling and gurgling sound erupted from William’s stomach. He was hungry. All that bouncing around last night had helped work up an appetite. It was time for breakfast.

William left his room and headed downstairs. He rounded the corner of the hallway and entered the kitchen. There sat at the table, bowl of cereal already served, was Kathleen. She had a suspicious look on her face.

“Hello William,” she said. “We need to have a chat.”

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