MAGENTA SUN 27/10/2005

MAGENTA SUN 27/10/2005

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was her three o'clock. She more or less agreed with why it had to be here but she didn't like coming to the tower all that much. She crossed the car park in the drizzling rain, the hood of her anorak up, a plastic bag held in one hand.

It was a regular housing scheme tower for people in the lower wage bracket or on benefit, except for the top three floors which were empty.

Empty except for one very special inhabitant.

She used her pass card to buzz in through the security doors and into the lobby. As luck would have it, a young couple had just come out of the lift door, pushing a baby buggy and they held it open for her.

She entered the lift carefully standing in the middle of it to avoid the gobs of spit on the walls, and pressed the button for the seventeenth floor. In her pocket, an electronic pass card gave a small beep. This would alert the buildings facility officer that she was heading for the top floor, which was off limits to everyone else in the tower. The lift was always a disgrace, always vandalised and she hated taking it.

She juggled her shopping bag from one hand to the other then nervously took a packet of cigarettes from her anorak pocket. She took one from the packet and the lighter which was also there. She then lit the cigarette and took a few puffs before the lift arrived. She expected the door to her three o'clock appointments flat to be open and it was. About two inches ajar, that boy just never locked his door she reflected, he was used to no one coming up here.

She opened the door and pushed it shut, the cigarette still smoking away in her right hand. The lad at the sofa in front of the TV looked up at her as she entered and with a smile put down the Playstation controller he had been holding.

He was about average height for a twelve year old. He had sandy brown hair, which looked very much as if it had been cut at home. He looked ever so slightly chubby, from all the sitting around and never getting outside, but his natural energy kept his face from ever getting fat. He had an honest and open expression.

'Hi Penny' he said.

She drew on the cigarette then replied, 'Hi Jas'.

She knew he was twelve years old but he could pass as being a little older, it was more to do with how he composed himself than anything else that made him appear a bit more mature.

'This place is a tip as usual I see. How can you make so much mess in just two days?'

The lad laughed and shrugged as she went over to the window and threw open the curtains.

'Why do you never let any light in?'

'It shines on the TV screen.' he replied matter-of-factly.

She sighed and opened the window, then paused to look out of it for a second. She always enjoyed the view from up here, right across the river to the Bridge of Don. She could see her house from here.

Grandview Tower was well named. You couldn't see them from this window, but the other two towers, Highview and Inzencratz did not have such commanding positions of the river.

She stubbed the cigarette into an ash tray on the windowsill and went into the kitchen.

The lad leaned over to the anonymous black box cabled into the TV on the long wide table at the back wall and switched it off. He always enjoyed Penny visiting him and went to lean on the door frame of the kitchen while she did his dishes.

'Gareth hasn't been today.'

'That man is an arsehole.' she stated. Gareth was the boy’s councillor.

He laughed then said, 'You don't have to do them you know.'

'Huh', she grunted over her shoulder, 'Don't even bother trying to pretend you were going to do them Jasper Hugo.'

'What did you bring me?' he asked, changing the subject.

'School books. In the Tesco's bag there.'

He went over to the bag on the hallway table and took some books out of it, nodding at the titles. Suitably advanced.

'I don't see why I can't go to school. I would be no bother.'

Jasper had a mild accent for Aberdeen, but still, when he said ‘don’t’ I sounded more like ‘dinnae’ and when he said ‘no’ it was ‘nae’. Penny was English.

Penny's reply drifted through from the kitchen, 'The government would never allow it, you know that,’ then quietly she added, ‘Not after what happened in Hull.’

'That was in the seventies. I wasn't even alive then! That's not fair.'

'I know poppet', Penny said as she came through into the living room drying her hands on a tea-towel, ‘But that’s just the way it is.’

Her hands dried, she lit another cigarette. She then crossed the large living room and opened a cupboard door. She nearly picked up the Hoover but looking at the floor decided against it. She picked up a duster and a can of furniture polish instead.

Jasper had sat down on the sofa again and said,

'It's not fair what ‘The Sun’ said either, it's like we are paedophiles or something. Naming and shaming us.'

'You shouldn't read that paper dear', she replied as she dusted the room.

'Huh', he returned and grabbed a newspaper from behind the sofa, 'It says here that if it wasn't for the Home Office the paper would name under-sixteen’s as well.'

'They better not!' she gasped, 'And where did you get that from anyway?'

'It, ah, blew in the window'

'A likely story' replied Penny.

'Well', he said hoping his lie wouldn't get him into trouble, 'It says there are three under sixteen’s in Aberdeen. I wonder who they are? There are twenty-five in London, six in Edinburgh. None in Glasgow apparently.'

'I should think that's just a pack of lies, Jas.'

'Well, do you just visit me? Or do you visit the other two and just don't tell me?'

'No dear. They would never let someone get that much exposure. Now let me see your homework.'

She sat down beside him and lit another cigarette as he got books and jotters from under the coffee table. They went over his studies together but after an hour or so Jasper started his questioning again. Penny was well used to it.

'But Penny. It said there are no matures in Aberdeen. So that would mean if my parents are alive then they don't live here?'

'Jas. Who is to say they are the same as you?'

'Yeah, but, the Discovery Channel said that it’s much more likely, you know, for my kind, when they breed...', he gave up and blushed.

'Since when did you get the Discovery Channel. Was that facilities again? I bet you it was him that gave you that paper as well.'

'You know I get all the channels Penny! Anyway, it was a documentary about the Magenta Sun. Since we are learning about it in history right now it seemed a good thing to watch.'

'Oh yes. Very good then. Well done.'

Jas smiled smugly. 'Yeah. It was all about how it all kicked off after World War Two. It was about the birth of the Magenta Sun and how it affected the planet. How the scientists fired a rocket into space that caused the Sun. It was all very interesting.'

'Good. Well I will expect Friday’s history homework to be exceptional then.'

Jasper groaned.

'Hey hey hey!' he cried, thinking of a way to change the subject , 'Me and Kentang are going to get married!'

Penny laughed, 'Oh really?'

'We were talking about it last night. When I am old enough, I will go to Indonesia and we can get married in Bali.'

Penny laughed again, 'Will I be invited?'

'Of course!'

Jasper's flat had three spare bedrooms and he had turned one into his study. Besides his book shelves he had three computers all lined up in a row on a long desk. One was for every day use, e-mails and chatting, one was his web server and the last was his gaming machine.

He lived a very full social life via the internet and various internet games and chat rooms. He had formed a very deep relationship with a little girl from Java whose father owned a carpet business and was very rich. They had met on an internet game and had been the firmest of friends for about a year.

'I think I will have to convert to Islam though. I don't really know what that means', he went on.

'Oh, oh well, you have a long time to figure it out.'

'I suppose so...you know, I have never told her, you know, that I live here like this...'

Penny, anxious to cheer him up, patted him on the shoulder,

'A fabulous wedding though! That's fantastic! Oh! That reminds me. I've got this for you as well.'

Penny had put her anorak over the hanger in the kitchen and went to get something out of the pocket.

She took out a magazine and tossed it to him.

'Oh cool!' he exclaimed, 'Heat!'

'Don't let Gareth know I got you that.'

The young lad quickly flicked through it, hungry for celebrity gossip.

'I knew it!' he said, 'Jennifer Anniston is marrying Captain Thunder.'

'Hm, well, he might be better for her than Brad Pitt. Or Uber-boy or uber.. whoever it was.'

'Over-Sultan'

'God help us. This American celebrity fad of dating superheroes. It's ridiculous.'

'It's better than Europe. We just hound them here.'

'I expect so.'

Penny rose and put on her anorak. She then took Jaspers latest batch of homework and put it in her plastic bag. She went over to the window and looked out.

'Rain's off.'

She sighed and lit a cigarette.

'OK, well I think I’d better head off. It's after six. I won't be in tomorrow, but I will get here earlier on Friday. Around lunchtime. I will go past Morrison’s. Anything special you want for you’re tea on Friday?'

'Nah...'

'Ok honey, well you have plenty to keep you going 'til then. Just eat more of the veg.'

'Yes Penny.' he replied, not looking up from his magazine.

Penny ruffled his hair and left, shutting the flats front door behind her.

'And keep this locked!' she shouted through the letter box.

After he had read the magazine he put on his coat and crossed the square landing to the next door flat.

It was empty but as no one had ever lived there and never would while he was up here, he had moved a lot of his own stuff in. As far as the rest of the residents were concerned the top flats were part of a battered wives refuge project and they were prohibited to come up beyond the fourteenth floor.

As his condition meant he had to be alone most of the time the government had provided him with lots of stuff to keep him occupied. The toys that he had outgrown he moved into here. He volunteered to give them to charity as he didn't want them, but Penny said that that was forbidden.

He had drawn all over the walls in this flat as any bored kid left to himself might do. Paint splatters and doodles of comic strip characters brightened the place up.

The room he was heading for had a balcony. It had lost its railings and was potentially dangerous, but he didn't mind. He liked to go out and stand on it as the sun set. Besides, at this time Kentang was in bed, she wouldn't be awake until his midnight. As always when he stood on the empty balcony and looked across the city he was overcome with a desperate loneliness. The double life he lead on the internet, where he pretended to be normal, helped a little and he sometimes left the flat at night to hang out with the estate kids although he was not meant to. Infact Penny would have a fit if she knew he was leaving the flat.

He let out a very deep sigh. He was so lonely. He wondered if he might try and sneak out tonight.

He wondered if there was any point. As often happened when he stood on the balcony and looked out he was overcome with a sudden wave of despair. The life that he led would suddenly look to him as something meaningless and empty. Sometimes he got the feeling that he should just...

'Oh, to hell with it all!' he cried and stepped out off the balcony and onto nothing but air...

...and floated! Flying gently on the cool autumn breeze he headed for the beach. Better to land where people couldn't see him. Flying for Jasper was very far away from the sort of thing superheroes like Captain Thunder did. It was a big effort for the boy, like swimming in space. He had to exert himself to move through the air and he tended to float and bob rather than streaking across the sky the way he wished he could. He was never much good at gaining altitude either.

It was impossible for him to fall and he sometimes wondered what falling must be like, although he sometimes had nightmares about it. Jasper didn't fall any more than someone could fall through water. He just bobbed.

As he headed towards the beach he looked up at the darkening sky. The street lighting below him meant that the stars could not show off their lustre so well, but the moon could clearly been seen. And in the sky at the moment, not too far away from it, near the Belt of Orion was the Magenta Sun, like an after image left in the eye when you’d glanced at the real sun. A dark round bruise in the heavens.

Sometimes when he got to the beach he changed his mind as to what he wanted to do. He had set off with the intention of finding Teddy Pom-pom or Carl in the park, but then he thought again.

The air was warmer now and he felt like just enjoying the sensation of flight. He headed for the golf course to catch some of the night time thermals and besides it was getting too late for the park.

It had long been known that as they reached puberty 'specials' were prone to.. well.. explode. They could take out a house in a very bad case. The doctors had diagnosed Jasper as low risk, but after the tragedy of Hull were twenty children died in an explosion in a class room, children like him were completely cut off from other kids.

Nobody knew Jasper could fly though. He thought he might have other powers too. He had a sort of feeling that he might be indestructible but he had never had the courage to put this theory to the test. A few weeks ago he had cut himself with some nail clippers and it had really hurt. But he wondered what would happen to him if something really bad happened. Also he sometimes wondered if he might be able to influence people in some sort of mystical way, but that might just be a combination of coincidence and wishful thinking.

He pulled a hat out from his coat pocket and put it on. It was cooler up here. He now had enough height to get onto the links tower block roof. It was about eight o’clock and very dark now. This was a great place to star gaze.

He landed and went to sit on the edge of the high roof, a child doing something that would make any parent scream in concern.

Sometimes it was good to be alone, but most of the time he craved company. He had asked for a pet in the flat but that was forbidden as well apparently. You could blame the crusaders at the Sun for that one. No pets for the special children. He fed the pigeons that landed on his kitchen windowsill though.

After awhile looking up at the sky and thinking various thoughts and fantasies about his life and his mysterious parents he decided to go and find a thermal that would give him enough height to get home.

Later he had a bath and then went to bed. He lay and read some more of the Heat magazine. It was all about celebrity matches with superheroes these days. Jasper loved it.

Being a costumed vigilante crime fighter just wasn't done any more. It was so eighties. Now they never wore Lycra or went after super-villains. Instead they tended to hang around with Hollywood starlets and at movie premiers.

There was a short article at the back of the magazine that poked fun at someone who was a bit of a throwback though. 'Captain Zed'. He still wore a costume. He had a mullet haircut in the picture they showed.

Jasper didn't see why Zed had a costume as he appeared not to fight crime any more. Although the article did poke fun at him, it did admit he did a lot for pre-pubescent 'special' children charities and was a UN good will ambassador.

Not all 'super-babies' were lucky enough to be born in America where they were pretty much assured a celebrity lifestyle when they came of age. While Jasper had a lonely life of solitude here in the UK, it could be a lot worse. In the Soviet Union, if the stories were true, as soon as a super-baby was born it was taken by the KGB to a special camp to be bread into a super soldier. This was blamed for the continuance of the Cold War and the fact that the long hoped for collapse of the Soviet Union had never came. Jasper didn't know what most of that meant, but he didn't like the idea of being in a camp. Still, the KGB super-soldiers did have really really cool uniforms.

In a little boxed out picture at the bottom of the article was a picture of Captain Zed in his hey-day. He was a real Cold War Warrior back in those days, with Gamma Flight one of the hundreds of super teams around then. The picture showed him and Gamma Flight fighting a giant killer robot in Vietnam.

Jasper didn't know where that was but the Giant Killer Robot was awesome. The Soviet Union didn't make or use them anymore which was a real shame thought Jasper. They had signed something called the 'Non-Proliferation of Giant Killer Robots Treaty’ and they few remaining ones were museum pieces.

The soviets just stuck to nuclear bombs now.

Back then though, they had whole armies of super-villains. The article lamented that back in those days things were much simpler and you knew who the enemy was. Nowadays your enemy was just some poor deluded young suicide-bomber with a backpack full of explosives and a passage from the Koran tied across his forehead.

The need for superheroes had past. Now Tony Blair said the country needed 'Better Intelligence.'

Jasper wished Tony Blair wanted more superheroes and then he could be the UK’s best one when he grew up and the Prime Minister would give him a medal and he wouldn't have to live all alone at the top of a tower block anymore.

Jasper sighed and flicked the magazine to another page. Apparently Judge Justice, another American superhero, was trying to get the constitution changed so that superheroes could enter into politics.

Every country forbid them to do this as they could use there powers to influence people. Politics. Boring. Jasper put the magazine down and went to sleep.

He woke up again around midnight to talk to Kentang, which he usually did until morning. Indonesia was six hours ahead of the UK. After that he always went back to bed to sleep until lunch so it was an even bigger shock to him when something that had never happened before happened.

Someone he didn't know came to his door.

'Hello?' Hello? Anyone in?'

Groggy with sleep, and wearing just a pair of pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt he went to the door.

'Who are you?’ he asked in befuddlement.

'I'm Peter, a friend of Carl's. So it is you! You do live here all by yourself!'

Peter was a tall thin boy of about fourteen or fifteen. He has sunken eyes and the beginning of a scraggy black beard. He wore a camouflaged parker and smelled of refuse.

'Huh?'

'Haha! This is great! The Sun is going to pay me a fortune for this!'

'Wait a second!' gasped Jasper, as he realised what might be going on.

'I mean. You’re Jasper Hugo aren't you? You’re one of "them"'

'No I'm not. Who told you that?'

Peter tried to look in the flat, but Jasper held the door.

'Carl did. He said you had told him.'

Jasper groaned. He didn't know why he had told Carl about his secret life. They had started talking about parents one day and Jasper had told him he didn't have any. When he tried to explain who exactly looked after him he released he would have to lie to conceal the truth. But then he had wanted to tell Carl. Infact he was desperate to tell someone about his strange live at the top of Grandview tower. But now his lapse was coming back on him.

'I made it all up. It's nonsense. How did you get up here anyway?'

'Dude. It makes sense. At the top a tower, away from everyone else. I took the stairs.'

'Facilities didn't stop you?'

'Haha, man. I came up the garbage chute. That was awesome. Listen don't worry.

I'll split the money with you, how about that. Sure, split the money ok? The Sun is gonna give me thousands! This sure isn't a safe house for battered women - let me come in and have a look!'

'No!', yelped Jasper.

Peter held up his hands.

'Hey! Cool. Don't do any of your weird voodoo on me man.'

'Just get out of here! I don't want anyone up here! You'll get in big trouble being here!'

Jasper caught the other lad off guard and pushed him away. He then slammed the door shut and locked it.

The letter box opened and Peter looked through.

'Take it easy. Let me in huh? Or will I just get a Sun reporter here now?'

'Get lost! I'm calling the police!' lied Jasper. There was no phone in the flat.

'Ah. Ok then. Coolio. I'm off-ski. Be back later though!'

With a laugh he let the letter box shut. Jasper rushed over to the door and listened. He tried to stop his heart from thumping so he could hear. He heard the door to the utility room open and close, then a clattering sound as the metal door of the rubbish chute opened. He then heard a lot of cursing

and clattering - which very much sounded like a skinny teenage boy clambering down a rubbish chute.

'Penny is going to kill me!' cried Jasper as he rushed to his room to get dressed.

Penny was going to kill him and they find out he was leaving the flat for sure. He might get away without it being found out he could fly, but they would be watching him like a hawk from now on.

But first things first. Revenge. He would go and vent his anger on Carl.

Carl did usually go to school, but if he was quick he could get him as he went to his parents for lunch at one of the links towers.

Snarling with anger Jasper threw on his coat and went through to the next flat, first checking to make sure that Peter had really gone.

Jasper looked over the balcony to check that no one was looking. It was raining again so the street outside was quiet. Hopefully he would not be noticed and besides who would think it was a boy floating to the ground? With his black coat on and from a distance someone would rub their eyes and think it was amazing how much like a person that bin bag looked like as it wafted to the ground.

Once he was on the ground he was just another little kid and no one would bat an eye-lid although the might wonder why he wasn’t in school.

He had traded some of his more easily transported unwanted toys for a bike, which he kept locked up in the shed next to the tower block. He unlocked it and jumped on and headed across to the beach and the links towers.

They were called the links towers because they had been built on the links, the name for the strip of land peculiar to Scotland that lay between the beach and the mainland, where the Scots tended to build their golf courses. Carl lived in Yale Tower and usually went through the small play park to get to and from his school.

It took Jasper about fifteen minutes to cycle there. He had to cross King Street which was a main road and very busy. He didn't really like being out during the day, but at least the rain was keeping people in doors. He wasn't thinking about it right now, but when he did, he thought his day time agoraphobia might be due to his fear of .. well .. exploding in public. Exploding in his flat would

be bad enough but exploding in public would be terrible. Everyone would think he was a suicide bomber. Maybe his agoraphobia would leave him when he reached puberty and he was no longer such a risk. He sometimes wondered though if his chain-smoking social worker hadn't permanently passed on her ideas of what was and was not 'the done thing.'

As he suspected, Teddy Pompom was in the play park, sheltering under the wooden slide and climbing frame. She was sending text messages.

She was about eleven and was called Teddy Pompom because her name was Edwina and she had two massive bunches of curly black hair on either side of her head. It took more than mere rain to make them sit down too. Unlike Carl, Teddy Pompom didn't often go to school. She was a bad girl.

'Hello Jas', she said as he cycled up. She gave him a big smile.

'Hi Teddy Pompom. You seen Carl?'

'He's not at his mums. She's in the hospital again. He's having dinner with his auntie.'

Teddy Pompom was Aberdeen born and bread. Her ‘not’s were ‘nae’s, her ‘with’s were simply ‘weh’s. 

'OK.', Jasper nodded. Carl’s aunt lived back the way he had come, along the river and in one of the long squat council estate buildings west of Grandview.

He made to head off on his bike, but Edwina said,

'You going over there?' she folded her phone in two and put it in the pocket of her pink anorak.

'Can I come?'

'Sure if you like.' Jasper didn't know it but Edwina had a massive crush on him, 'Where’s your bike though?'

'Over there.' and with that she vaulted over the slide and got her bike from where she had hidden it.

Together they cycled off towards the Donmouth nature reserve and the path through Seton Park that would take them to Carl’s auntie’s house. It was going to take about half an hour to get there and all through the journey Teddy Pompom kept up a continues prattle. Jasper didn't really listen but he caught enough of it to realise it was about ring-tones and who she thought was going to win Big Brother.

As they got nearer, Jasper looked at his watch and took a detour.

Teddy cried out behind him, 'Carl's auntie's house isn't down that way you know!'

'I know,' Jasper called back, 'but he will have had is dinner by now and will be going back to school.'

Just then he spotted another cyclist coming the other direction through the park. It was Carl.

Carl gave them a friendly wave as they approached and stopped to shelter under a tree while the others came up.

As he approached Jasper realised that all the anger had left him and he stopped his bike to lean over the handle bars.

'Carl.'

'Hi Jasper.'

'Carl you got me into big trouble. This boy called Peter came to where I live.'

'Oh! Oh!', replied Carl, 'But I never said anything. He must have got it from someone else.'

Teddy Pompom, who could never not join in a conversation, said,

'Why? Why are you in trouble Jasper? Who is Peter? What's the big trouble?'

'Shh Teddy.', said Jasper calmly, 'It can only have come from you Carl. I .. well.. I suppose it was my fault really..'

'I never said anything Jas,' pleaded Carl.

Carl was taller than Jasper and a little older. He had ginger hair and a tiny bit of ginger fluff was just beginning to grow on his chin.

'And anyway, Peter is a waster. Nobody is going to believe him. He's a liar anyway! I never told him anything about you or what you said.'

'What did he say?', begged Teddy Pompom, 'Jas, tell me what's going on pleeeeeeeeeese!'

'Oh it doesn't matter Teddy', sighed Jasper, 'Maybe they won't believe him. Penny is going to kill me though.'

'Who is Penny?' asked Teddy Pompom hoping from one foot to another.

'Teddy. For god's sake stop interrupting!', cried Jasper in irritation.

'Sorry Jas.'

'Look, I mean..’ said Carl, ’Peter doesn't know what he's talking about anyway. His father is a drunk and his brother is in the jail. My auntie said so.'

Carl continued to talk, but Jasper was suddenly distracted by a very strange feeling. There was yet another series of tower blocks along this part of the river, just between the park and the banks. They stood alone in the blank green space of the park, somehow out of place, as if the town planners had thought it was a good idea to plant big stone structures in the middle of a football pitch-like expanse of grass.

'Jasper?' queried Carl as he realised he was no longer being listened to, 'What is it?'

'Do we know anyone that lives in that tower?' asked Jasper, pointing to the nearest tower of the three.

'Nah, that one's condemned Jas, no one lives there.'

'Oh', Jasper was about to forget about it but again he was drawn to the building. It was like he had been caught by a fishing line. He started to feel very uneasy.

'Jas?' asked Edwina nervously.

'Wait a sec guys.' he pushed off on his bike and cycled across the grass to the nearest wall of the tower. He touched it. It seemed normal, but something within Jasper was humming.

'I have the strangest feeling about this', he felt as if his teeth were all jiggling up and down in his mouth. Suddenly he knew he had to be up there, to see what was going on in this tower block. Something was up there.

'Carl', Jasper said as he got of his bike, 'Sorry, I have to do this. Get off your bike and make like you are going to bunk me up.'

Carl did as he was bid and laced his fingers together and crouched down. Jasper put his foot on the sling of Carl's hands and took hold of his shoulder.

'But where are you going Jas? You are against nothing. You'll just fall.'

'No I wont', and with that Jasper leapt up and floated gently upwards. After a few floors he looked down to see the stunned rain soaked faces of Carl and Teddy Pompom looking back up at him, there mouths open. He looked back up again as he ascended quickly to the top of the building.

He then pushed off the side a bit to look in one of the windows.

What he saw he couldn't quite explain at first. He thought he was looking through the window into a massive black mirror. But then the round black disk got smaller and an edge of blue and green appeared around it. It then dawned on Jasper that he was looking into a gigantic eye.

The air trembled and the building shook. The pupil of the eye focused on him and the iris narrowed.

Whatever it was, was giving Jasper its full attention.

The building trembled again and a big chunk of masonry dislodged and fell from it, thumbing into the wet grass below with a fleshy ‘thunk’.

Startled, Jasper willed himself downwards as quickly as he could. As he touched down he ran for his bike, which would be a much quicker means of escape than flying.

The other two, although in a state of total bemusement didn't need to be told to run for it. The building before them was collapsing in ruins. Bits of breezeblock and brickwork were falling from its sides to crash into the pavement and grass below.

When they had reached a safe distance they turned again to look at what was happening, and just then the whole side of the tower facing them began to collapse and tumble down onto the green.

A great cloud of dust billowed outwards and rushed towards them as something titanic emerged from the hollowed out building. With a roar, a huge ape creature, nearly as big as the building itself pulled again at the chains on its arms and brought another wall down.

Jas and his friends didn't notice as they watched dumbstruck, but people were beginning to come out of the other buildings either looking on in astonishment or running for their lives.

The ape let out another huge ground shaking roar and stepped from the buildings ruins, pulling off chains that looked like strands of thread in comparison to his huge bulk. It shook itself off then seemed to pause for a moment to sniff the air and rain.

Just then a policeman ran up to the children, talking into a radio on his lapel. As he approached he put his radio down and cried,

'You lot better get out of here. Get as far away as you can.'

They looked at him in dumbfoundment.

'You hear me? Get out of here!'

They jumped back onto the saddles of their bikes again and cycled off towards the links again as fast as they could.

There was an almighty crash and lots of screaming behind them and Jas looked over his shoulder to see the ape stumbling into another building, making it lean dangerously over towards the river.

'Where are we going Jas?' panted Edwina.

'I dunno. Maybe we should go warn people at Carls flat.'

There was another crash. The ape was following the path by the river, almost as if it was following them. It crushed a parked car like someone stepping on a shoebox, setting of its car alarm.

'We’re in its path', gasped Carl, 'Let’s go down King Street!'

They were all going too fast as they got to the top end of King Street and they all swung out into the road. Cars angrily beeped their horns at them and a bus driver was even beginning to get out of his cab as they turned into the left hand lane.

But his shout of anger turned into a scream of terror as the ape took its next few shuddering steps right over the roof of Lidl’s Supermarket and into the car park of the Hungry Horse Pub.

As they cycled down the pavement towards the city centre, they already began to hear the sirens of police cars. Behind them they could hear nothing but carnage. It sounded like the beast was picking up cars and throwing them around.

'I'm knackered. I can't go one!' groaned Carl. He freewheeled into the forecourt of the Esso petrol station.

'I dunno,' panted Jas, 'We shouldn't stop.'

Carl jumped off his bike and ran pell-mell into the petrol stations shop, a Tesco-Metro, and dove behind a rack of crisps and chocolate. Jas and Teddy Pompom were right behind him.

There was a lot of screams and shouts, and sounds of sirens. Carl put his hands over his ears and tried to make himself as small as possible.

Jas shot Edwina a worried glance. She looked pale and was shaking.

'Wow' was all she could manage, 'That was mental.'

She reached out and took a Mars bar from the display and unwrapped it.

'Teddy! That's stealing!' said Jasper reproachfully.

'What?' she replied indignantly, 'I eat when I'm nervous.'

'What do you do when you’re terrified?' asked Carl from his huddle.

'Wet me self' came the prompt reply.

Carl groaned, 'I think I've already done that...'

'Shh! Listen!' said Jasper. They all listened.

'What?' hissed Edwina.

'I can't hear it? Where is it? Even the screaming has stopped.'

Carl unwound a little and looked around the stand.

'I can't see anything.' he said, 'There is a lot of smoke up there though.'

Sirens whizzed past, unseen on the road.

'This is super villain stuff', groaned Carl, 'Aberdeen must have a super villain.'

Edwina looked at him, her eyes as wide as they could go.

'That's bad.'

'Yeah, ' nodded Carl, the expert, 'When Poland had theirs, it shut the whole country down. My dad said if we were to get a super villain then it would be worse than foot and mouth.'

Jasper turned to him, 'Worse than foot and mouth?'

'Yeah. My dad said when a country gets a super villain, then it’s worse than foot and mouth, bird flu and suicide bombers all rolled into one.'

'That thing is worse than bird flu Carl.'

'My dad says that it’s not the super villain itself but the way the government over-reacts. They close everything down and then they start to..' Carl said the next bit as if quoting verbatim '..infringe on our civil liberties.'

'What’s that mean?' asked Edwina.

'It means they can throw anyone in the jail if they feel like it, ' answered Jasper 'You know, if they think you are a minion of the super villain or something.'

'Yeah', said Carl, 'They will quarantine Aberdeen for sure. Maybe all of Scotland. Then we will have martial law and curfews. That’s what my dad says.'

'What’s a curfew?' asked Edwina

'I think it’s a sort of wheel clamp' replied Carl.

'We need a super hero to fight the super villain' said Edwina 'Wait a minute, Jasper flew! Are you some kind of superhero Jas?'

'Umm.' Jasper mumbled.

'He's not Teddy. He's a immature. That's right Jas?'

'Huh? You knew? You didn't tell me?’ she hit him on the arm and took a vicious bite from her chocolate bar.

'Well...'

A distant crunching sound startled them all into silence. Then another one, this time closer.

Then there was a rush of crunching ground shaking judders, each closer and louder than the next until there was one last mighty bone jarring smash.

It took a moment for them to come to there senses and to shake all the confectionary off that had fallen from the shelves above.

Carl nervously looked round the corner of the stand.

'What's there?' asked Jasper.

Very quietly Carl replied, 'Its..right..outside.'

The glass at the front of the shop all shattered in and screaming they all bolted for the toilet door. They crammed inside and jostled each other about.

'Not in here. It’s too small!' cried Jasper in desperation, pulling them out.

There was another door in the short corridor before the toilet and he opened it. Concrete steps lead down. They leapt down them and into a small stock room. There was more thumping and breaking sounds from above. It sounded like the ape was pealing the roof off the petrol station shop.

All together they huddle under a desk right at the back of the stock room. More pounding sent showers of dust down onto the floor and then the strip light above flickered out and it was all dark. The ape was creating so much noise and mayhem above they could hardly hear themselves as they screamed and screamed.

Then daylight started to show from above as a huge hairy hand reached into the hole it had made, pushing the stockroom shelves out of the way as it groped around.

At the end of the arm they could just see the narrow eyes of the ape as it looked down on them from high above.

There was nothing Jasper could do as he had nowhere to go. As the ape grasped his leg and pulled him from the hole he yelped and struggled, but it was futile. In an instant he was dangling fifty feet from the ground upside down and in utter confusion.

He was too terrified to scream any more and he could hardly make out the world as it swung around at crazy angles, the wind and rain whipping around him.

He was turned towards the ape and he looked again into its huge dining table sized eye. It sniffed him.

Jasper was frozen in terror as the giant ape inspected him and the blood was starting to rush to his head. The ape stumbled as its foot got caught on the hole it had made and almost dropped him, if it had been possible Jaspers stomach would have tied itself into an even bigger knot.

Something whooshed past him. He tried to twist round to see what it had been but couldn't see anything. The ape seemed confused too and looked round. Jasper, twisting crazily in its grasp as he was swung about, felt like he was going to be sick. He also felt as if his leg was about to come out of its socket.

Another ‘whoosh’, and this time a glimpse of something purple and green. This time Jasper managed to follow it with his eye and saw a figure come to a halt and hover in the air above him and the ape by about thirty feet. It was some kind of super hero in a garishly coloured costume.

'Put him down you brute!' shouted the man.

The ape grunted.

The figure raised its fists and flew directly for the beasts chin. There was a whooshing sound followed by what sounded like a sledgehammer hitting an anvil that had been covered in a rug.

The ape roared in anger and Jasper was flung about again as it waved its arms around.

It swatted at its attacker but the super hero was too quick and nipped in again and again to pound it on the chin.

Sometimes Carl could here a voice say,

'How you like them apples?' in an American accent.

Again the ape was struck but this time it flailed so much it lost its grip on Jasper and he was hurled off into the air. He zoomed across the sky, barely having time to think, ‘this is the fastest I have ever flown’, before something else had him in it grip.

'Gotcha buddy!' said the costumed hero as he caught him.

Jasper was in too much shock, pain and confusion to say anything. The man looked him over for injuries as they set down on a nearby roof.

Jasper gasped and said, 'I know you. You’re Captain Zed. But you don't have the mullet. And you're hair is short and grey.'

'Huh, a wise ass punk kid' grunted the hero as he put Jasper down, 'Grey hair is good enough for George Clooney.'

As Captain Zed made to take off again Jasper cried,

'Wait! There are two more people in the basement. I mean. My friends are right underneath him!'

The ape was standing directly on top of the petrol station. As Jasper looked down at its feet he saw Teddy Pompom stumble from the wreckage and then make a run for cover across the street.

'Carl is still in there!'

'Right right' said Zed as he flew off.

He flew between the ape’s legs and down into the hole. The ape did an almost comical one-legged hop as it was nutmegged but then was soon getting on its knees again to reach into the ruined shop.

But in an instant Captain Zed was out again, holding a small dusty and tattered body.

Captain Zed had just enough time to put Carl down and say,

'Sorry, he's dead', before the ape was attacking again, reaching up onto the roof. Zed punched its hand down and out of the way and made it stagger back to the station forecourt.

'No', said Jasper as he knelt down to his friend.

But Carl wasn't moving at all and he looked all black and covered in rubble dust.

'Carl?' he cried, 'Carl!'

Jasper didn't know what to do. He knew in films that when your friend was dead you were meant to cradle his head in your arms. But he didn't think that would do any good. But then he remembered that you were meant to put people into something called the recovery position. That was only for people who had nearly drowned or something like that, but he did it anyway. After all he didn't know if Carl was dead for sure.

As he wondered what to do next he was knocked from his feet by a truly massive explosion. Jasper was knocked completely senseless and crazy with terror again. But somehow a survival instinct took over and he threw himself behind a large air vent. Next there was an inrushing of air, and then all Jasper could hear was the shrill buzzing of his own ears. He looked round from the air vent and saw that the petrol station had exploded. The ape was ablaze from head to foot and flailing its arms around while Captain Zed hung in the air ready to strike again. The scene before him was already a very bizarre imagine, but it now felt even more strange due to the fact that it was taking place in silence.

The ape, flailing its great arms all around, began to run towards the sea, down Orchard St, past the football stadium.

Jasper watched as it half demolished the Beach Ballroom as it leapt into the waves of the North Sea and began to thrash around. He couldn't see Zed anymore and guessed he was keeping pace with the monster. A police helicopter flew over his head, and then another, marksmen hanging out of the doors. They went directly towards the ape and started circling it. It seemed to be the end for the creature as the police began to get mobilised. They Beach Boulevard was full of police cars and fire engines.

Jasper looked down at his friend and fell to his knees again. He didn't have an ounce of strength left. As he slipped out of consciousness he saw two men in green jackets burst out of a door on the flat roof and come towards him and Carl. They had big first aid kits with them and as one of them leant over him he read the word 'Paramedic' on the front of his coat.

They were speaking to him, but he couldn't hear a word they were saying. He let his head roll back and shut his eyes. I will just shut my eyes for a moment, was the last thing he thought.

It was a week later. There was nothing but Aberdeen and the ape’s attack on the news. It was a story that was going right around the world. Speculation was non-stop as to whether a super-villain was involved and if so then who. Or maybe it had been a terrorist plot. Tony Blair promised to leave no stone unturned in the search for a culprit.

All Jasper did was watch TV now. They kept watch on him twenty-four hours a day. There were cameras in nearly every room in his flat. He supposed this was his 'civil liberties being infringed'.

He liked to pretend he was on Big Brother.

They hadn’t taken his computers away though. Grown ups were idiots when it came to computers. So as much as possible he talked to Kentang on the internet. She had heard all about the attack of course and like all little boys Jasper couldn’t help but brag to her about how he had been rescued by a super-hero. She was amazed and very impressed. He kept his own secret as always, but there was still plenty of story to tell. It resolved her all the more for them to get married as soon as possible.

Nobody came to see him anymore, not Penny, not anyone. He wondered how long he would be left here.

There was food for months though. After the attack he had been taken to the hospital by the paramedics but when he told the doctor who he was and his name went into the computer, it wasn’t long before two government men came to quietly take him back to the flat. He was physically fine, but utterly traumatised. He hoped they would let Penny come visit him soon.

He was even dutifully doing his homework for lack of anything better to do when there was a knock on the door.

'Penny?' he asked as he bounded over and opened it.

'Ah, Hi’ said the man dressed in the plain brown suit that stood there.

It took Jasper a moment to realise who it was.

'Captain Zed.'

'Jee whizz.' said Zed as he stepped in, 'This is where they are keeping you? This just ain’t right'

Jasper couldn't think of anything to say.

'Well now.' continued Zed, 'I gotta tell you. Your friend is ok. Well, he's in intensive care. Your other friend, Edwina. She's fine.'

'Oh', gasped Jasper, 'That’s wonderful news'

Zed paused and there was a pregnant silence.

'I don't suppose. Silly really.' said Zed slightly embarrassed, 'I've been in press conferences all day. Can I use your restroom?'

'Oh, of course. Right through here.'

Jasper showed him to the toilet and then went into the kitchen and quickly began to make a pot of tea. As he got the biscuit tin down he reflected that he was behaving like a little old lady who never got visitors.

The kettle was boiling as Captain Zed came into the kitchen.

'Oh no, that’s ok. They said I was only allowed five minutes. Just to pass on the good news.'

'Time for a cup of tea though surely? I'm afraid I don't have much of a selection of biscuits. Penny used to bring me variety packs, but there seems to be just custard creams and bourbons. And well, I ate nearly all the custard creams.. There are two left but you can have them.'

'That's ok Jasper. A cup of tea would be wonderfully British. And a bourbon would be fine.' the man sighed ,'This just isn't right. Keeping you a prisoner like this. There wasn't a camera in your bathroom, but that must be the only place I haven't seen one.'

Zed nodded up at the camera screwed to the kitchen ceiling.

'Oh I don't mind' said Jasper as he handed a cup of tea to Zed, 'As long as Carl and Teddy are all right'

'Well, I'm not going to stand for it. I've already called the president. This is human rights violations.'

It took Jasper a moment to take in the fact that the President of the United States now knew about him.

He then said, 'Gareth explained that to me. I'm not really human I think.'

'If someone told you that then they are a dam liar!' fumed Zed, 'I'm sorry, pardon my French. This is a disgrace. You know kid, I was your age when the Magenta Sun first arrived. I was a ‘human’ kid just like you. I look younger than I am eh? Nobody thought in terms of who was human and who wasn’t back then. Things have certainly changed now though. Well, I'm getting Amnesty International involved here and anyone else I can think of.'

They both sipped at their tea.

'I don't mind really.' shrugged Jasper, 'I will be mature soon enough then things change.'

'That's not the point. Don't worry, it's not you I'm mad at. It's your government. You've been watching the news?'

Jasper nodded. He had been doing nothing else.

'We'll find out where the super villain is and get him. I will be in Aberdeen a while I think until we sort this all out. Your Prime Minister won't like it, but I have so much UN backing they can't do anything about it. I'll help you every way I can.'

Jasper nodded, 'What about Penny?'

'Yeah, they won't let her come up to see you just yet although I know she would like to.'

Jasper nodded again.

Captain Zed drank the last of the tea from his cup and set it down on the draining board.

'I had better get going. Meeting your mayor at six, or whatever you call him here. Lord Provice.'

Jasper followed Zed to the door and has the man turned to leave his final words were the best Jasper could have ever hoped for

'I will be back tomorrow. And for longer next time, that's a promise.'

Jasper shut the door and sat down on the sofa. If it was nearly six o’clock then it was time for the news. He let out a big breath he hadn't realise he had been holding and switched the TV on.