The Superhero's Summit (The Superhero's Son Book 3) Read online

  Dad pointed up at the screen, which now displayed a close-up of the frozen Maria. The Midnight Menace looked up at the screen and then said, in a flat voice, “Oh.”

  “She confessed on camera that she has been playing both sides,” said Dad, “all to get revenge for her deceased husband. If you are still skeptical, I can replay the part where she gives a detailed confession of her wrongdoing.”

  “No, no, no, that will be unnecessary,” said the Midnight Menace, looking down from the screen and at Dad. “I believe you. We may have our differences over what it means to be a neohero, but I know that you are an honest and trustworthy man, so I will not harm the young girl or anyone else.”

  I sighed in relief, but it was Dad who said, “Good to hear, Menace. I am pleased to see that there is still some of that reasonableness in you that I first saw when we met all those years ago.”

  The Midnight Menace merely nodded in response, but then I heard someone flying and looked up to see Omega Man flying over us. He landed on the stage only a few feet away from me and Dad, his cape torn and shredded in places, but looking otherwise okay despite having been in the middle of such an intense brawl.

  “Bolt, Blizzard,” said Omega Man, looking at us both. “I saw the entire fight from the security camera. I just wanted to say that I am proud of you and what you did. If you had not stopped Maria, it is very likely that both the NHA and INJ would have been destroyed.”

  I scratched the back of my head, while Blizzard just looked embarrassed by the praise.

  Then Omega Man looked at the Midnight Menace. “Menace, do you and the other INJ members wish to resume the Summit? The Hall is still in one piece and, with just a little bit of cleaning and repair, it could be put back to use again in just a couple of hours, if that. Then we can resume the Summit, if you wish.”

  For a moment, I thought that the Midnight Menace was going to reject the offer. He looked like he wanted to leave Hero Island and go back to California, probably because you weren't in danger of being frozen alive over there.

  But then, much to my surprise, the Midnight Menace nodded and said, “Very well, Omega Man. We can resume the Summit, but after I see the footage of Bolt's battle with that woman. I would like to know what happened while I was frozen and to know exactly how this woman tried to manipulate both of our organizations to fight against each other.”

  “Wonderful,” said Omega Man. “I am glad that you have seen reason. I believe that this will be the best Summit yet, after we clean everything up and get it going again.”

  Then Omega Man looked out over the watching crowd and said, “Everyone, please leave the Hall. We will have our janitors and a few volunteers clean up the mess caused by the battle between our two organizations. We will return to the Hall in a couple of hours, at which point the Summit will resume once more. Until then, those of you who were injured should go to the Island's hospital to have your injuries and wounds treated.”

  Most of the heroes looked a little annoyed that the Summit was being put on hold like this, but a lot of them looked relieved, too, like they were happy that they would have a chance to heal and rest from the fight.

  As the assembled heroes made their way to the exit, the Midnight Menace looked over at me and said, “You are Bolt, correct?”

  “Um, yes, sir,” I said, standing up straight under the Midnight Menace's questioning gaze. “We've met before.”

  “Yes, I recall,” said the Midnight Menace. “And you defeated Maria Candle, correct?”

  I nodded. “Yes, though with help from Blizzard.”

  I gestured at Blizzard, who shrank back under the Midnight Menace's gaze. He wasn't really looking at her with anger, but I understood why Blizzard was so timid around him. Since she had almost killed him, Blizzard probably thought that the Midnight Menace was angry at her, even though he had already said he was going to spare her life.

  “I would like to thank both of you for defeating Maria Candle before she succeeded in destroying the INJ and the NHA,” said the Midnight Menace. “If you had not defeated her, she might have succeeded in her insane plans and caused untold chaos around the country and, perhaps, around the world, too.”

  “You're welcome, sir,” I said. “I just did what had to be done. I have some personal history with Maria, too, so stopping her was a pleasure for me.”

  The Midnight Menace nodded, while Omega Man said, “Yes, it is good that Maria was stopped. Now, Menace, would you and the rest of the INJ leadership wish to come to our council chamber to view the footage of Bolt and Blizzard's battle with Maria?”

  “Certainly,” said the Midnight Menace. “I will gather Samurai and the others and meet you and the other members of the Leadership Council there in ten minutes.”

  “Good,” said Omega Man. He looked at me and Blizzard. “As for you two, I suggest returning to the House along with the rest of your team. Once the Hall has been repaired and the Summit resumes, we will call you back so you can participate in it as well.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said. Then I looked at Strike and Dizzy and said, “Do you two want to come with us to see the House? Since the Summit isn't going to resume for at least a couple of hours, this would be a great time for you guys to see the House.”

  “Sure,” said Strike. “We'll need to get Slime and the Lightning Triplets first, however, but that shouldn't take us long at all.” He dropped his board onto the stage and stepped on it. “Come on, Dizzy. Let's go find the others.” Then he looked at me again. “We'll meet you and the rest of your team at the House in a few minutes.”

  I gave Strike the thumbs up as he and Dizzy rose into the air and flew toward the exit. Omega Man, too, flew away, while the Midnight Menace moved silently down the stairs leading from the stage to the floor of the Hall, also making his way toward the exit.

  That left me, Blizzard, and Dad standing on the stage by ourselves. I looked up at Dad, whose arms were crossed over his chest like he was thinking about something.

  “Dad, are you going to stay here for the rest of the Summit?” I said.

  Dad shook his head. “No. Like I said, I only wanted to stay for a few hours. I'm going back home to Texas, so I am afraid I'll have to miss out on the rest of it. But you can call me later and tell me what happens after it's over.”

  My shoulders slumped. “Are you sure you won't be staying? Don't you want to catch up with your old friends, at least?”

  “I already managed to speak with most of them,” said Dad. “Besides, your mother is probably worried sick about me, so I should head home and reassure her that I am all right. She will definitely need to know about what happened here, because your mother has been worrying that Maria Candle might try to attack us to avenge Master Chaos and should know that Maria is no longer a threat.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Well, say hi to Mom for me, then. And to Malcolm and Tara, too, if you see them.”

  “All right,” said Dad. Then he looked at Blizzard and said, “Please keep an eye on my son for me. As you might know, Bolt can sometimes get into big trouble, so try to keep him from getting himself killed while I'm away, okay?”

  Blizzard blinked, but said, “Um, okay, Mr. Genius. I'll try my best.”

  Dad smiled, but before I could argue with Dad about the 'trouble' I get into, Dad twisted his Teleportation Buckle and vanished.

  “So should we go back to the House now?” said Blizzard, looking at me somewhat awkwardly. “That's where the rest of the team is by now.”

  “Yeah, we should,” I said, nodding. “Remember, we said we were going to show Strike and the other New Heroes around it, so we'd better get there before they do.”

  So Blizzard and I left the stage and walked toward the exit. As we did so, I could not help but wonder what would result from this Summit. With Maria dead and the INJ willing to resume the Summit, maybe we would see a new alliance between the two organizations that would make the world a safer place for all of us.

  Whatever awaited us in the future, whatever came o
f this Summit, I knew that it would be good. The future looked brighter than ever and I could not wait to see it.

  Chapter Twenty

  One week later, somewhere in Texas …

  Robert Candle drove down a lone, long highway in West Texas, his hands gripping the steering wheel of his car so tightly that he could barely feel them. He paid little attention to the tree-shaped air freshener dangling beneath his rearview mirror or to the fact that he was driving well above the speed limit and probably wouldn't be able to slow down long enough to stop in case a person or animal walked onto the road in front of him. Such a collision would almost certainly kill him or at least put him back into the hospital.

  Maybe I want to die, Robert thought, though even he wasn't sure if he really wanted that or not.

  He was thinking about his mother's death, which he had learned from a news report on Neo Ranks that stated that his mother had died trying to manipulate the Neohero Alliance and the Independent Neoheroes for Justice to go to war against each other. She had been killed by Bolt (What a retarded name for a superhero, Robert thought angrily) and some dumb girl who called herself Blizzard. There had been a funeral a few days ago, but Robert and his grandparents, who had become his guardians after his mother ran away the first time, had been the only people who attended, aside from the Catholic priest who presided over it.

  In Robert's eye, he could still see his mother's casket being lowered into the grave. Every time he thought about it, anger rushed up his body. He had wanted to scream and cry and rage against the world, but Robert had never been very good with expressing his emotions, so all he had done was stand there and watch, silently fuming, as the priest gave the eulogy and then later when his mother's casket was lowered into the ground.

  After that, Robert had dropped out of school, taken his car, and left Silvers entirely. He hadn't even told his grandparents, who he hated because they had acted like his mother had had it coming. They said that she shouldn't have married his father, that she shouldn't have tried to manipulate the two biggest superhero organizations in the country to fight each other, and that she should have abandoned her grudge against Bolt and been a 'good' mother to Robert instead and find a good man to marry to replace Dad.

  What those two idiots didn't understand was that she had been a good mother. She had tried to avenge her husband and son, tried to get rid of Bolt, who, in Robert's eyes, had ruined Robert's life once already. Or, rather, Bolt's father, Genius, had, since Genius had been the one to put Master Chaos behind bars and then blow him up after he escaped.

  That whole family has ruined my own, Robert thought, scowling as he pushed down on the pedal, making the car go even faster. Dad's dead. Mom's dead. And my grandparents are idiots who don't understand anything.

  Robert had no particular destination in mind. All he wanted to do was keep driving until he reached California and maybe he would just drive until he got to the beach and then he would drive into the ocean and drown in his car. Or maybe he'd catch a plane or a ship to some other country, because he didn't want to be anywhere near Bolt, Genius, or any of those other so-called 'neoheroes' who had ruined his life.

  In truth, Robert wanted revenge, but every time he thought about confronting Bolt, an intense, instinctual fear rose in the pit of his stomach. He kept remembering how Bolt had punched him through the cafeteria wall the first time, how it felt like every bone in his body had been completely shattered. Robert had miraculously recovered, but just the thought of confronting Bolt made him feel like how he did in his hospital bed back in Fallsville: Weak, powerless, and afraid. And he hated feeling weak, powerless, and afraid.

  Robert was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone lying directly on the road before him until it was too late. Instinctively, Robert smashed down the brakes on his car, causing it to skid to a stop, but not before it went over the guy lying on the road. But oddly, when the car went over the guy, Robert did not hear a bump or any other sound to indicate that he had just run someone over. He wondered if he had just imagined someone lying there, but when he glanced at his rearview mirror, he saw the person still lying on the road.

  Kicking open the door to his car, Robert grabbed his baseball bat (just in case he needed to defend himself), jumped out, and ran over to the guy. Stopping before him, Robert realized that the guy was bald and was close to him in age, but he was lying face down on the road, which made it impossible to tell much else about him, especially in the darkness of the night.

  “Hey, are you all right?” said Robert. He asked the question less out of compassion and more because he didn't want this guy to call the police on him for running him over. “Are you still awake? Hello?”

  The guy didn't even stir, which made Robert think that he actually had killed him, even though the guy didn't have any tire marks on him.

  Just as Robert was about to turn around and jump back in his car and leave before anyone came down the road and saw the dead guy, the guy suddenly looked up at Robert. He was smirking, like he had succeeded in doing something.

  “Got you,” said the guy, his voice gleeful.

  Before Robert could react, the guy suddenly became as transparent as a ghost and flew toward him. Robert had just enough time to realize that this guy was a superhuman before the guy passed through him.

  Immediately, a cold chill sank into Robert's bones. He dropped his bat and fell down to his hands and knees, shivering uncontrollably from the cold. He tried to stand up, but his bones felt frozen, even though the night was warm and dry.

  The ghostly man lowered down before him, still smirking down at Robert. “Look at you, look at you. I forgot how easily you normal humans fall to my power.”

  His teeth chattering, Robert asked, “W-Who are you, freak?”

  “Freak?” said the ghostly man, who sounded genuinely offended by that. “I'm not a freak. I'm just a normal teenager, like you. But if you must know my name, you can call me Ghost.”

  “G-Ghost?” Robert repeated. “You a neohero?”

  Ghost chuckled. “I wouldn't exactly call myself a 'hero,' seeing as terms like that are rather outdated and problematic. I prefer to think of myself as a follower of a greater vision, something you obviously lack.”

  “I-I'm going to k-kill you,” Robert said. “I-I hate neoheroes.”

  “Kill me? You can't even speak a short sentence without stuttering like a geriatric,” Ghost said. “You just stay right there. I need to contact my leader and let him know about the success of my mission.”

  Ghost pulled a smartphone out of the pocket of his vest, dialed a number on it that Robert couldn't see, and, raised the phone to his ear. Robert heard another phone ringing before it suddenly stopped and a low voice spoke that he couldn't hear.

  “Yes, Master Thaumaturge, it's me, Ghost,” said Ghost. He smirked at Robert. “The mission was a success. I got Robert, just as you asked me to. It was incredibly easy, because he didn't even know I was here, plus he's kind of an idiot.”

  Robert gritted his teeth. He wanted to beat that Ghost's face in with his bat, but he couldn't even lift up his hands. He just watched as Ghost listened to whoever this 'Thaumaturge' idiot was babbling on the other end of his phone.

  I'm so powerless, Robert thought, his face burning with anger and shame. I wonder if he's going to kill me. I would if I was him.

  Ghost was listening carefully to Thaumaturge and then he nodded and said, “Yes, sir. When will Hopper get here? … Ten minutes? Is he asleep or something? Okay, okay, fine. I'll keep an eye on Robert and make sure he doesn't try to get away. Thanks.”

  Ghost canceled the call and then looked down at Robert. “Well, Robby, it looks like you and I are going to be alone for the next ten minutes or so. What kind of video games do you like?”

  “R-Robby?” Robert stuttered. “D-Did you just call me R-Robby?”

  “Yeah,” said Ghost. “What's the matter? You don't like it when people call you Robby?”

  “O-Only my mother ever called me tha
t,” said Robert. He could feel his bones starting to warm up, which meant that he would be able to move again soon. “N-No one calls me R-Robby but my m-mother.”

  Ghost rolled his eyes. “Oh, excuse me. Are you talking about your dead mother? You know, the one who failed to take down the NHA and the INJ? What an epic fail.”

  “D-Don't mock my m-mother in front of m-me,” Robert said. “Or else.”

  Ghost smirked again. “Or else what? You're going to st-stutter at me? Oh, how scary. Is that your superpower? Are you going to pull on some spandex and call yourself Saint Stutterer? I'm sure Bolt could find you a spot on the Young Neos in that case.”

  “Shut up,” Robert said. The cold had not yet completely faded from his body, but it had faded enough that he knew he could move his limbs. “For a ghost, you're not very scary.”

  “Not scary?” said Ghost indignantly. “How dare you! I try my hardest to be scary, at least towards my enemies. Of course, Sarah is way scarier than me, but I can be plenty scary, too.”

  “I've seen scarier monsters in kids' shows,” said Robert. “You're just a bald loser.”

  “How dare you!” Ghost shouted. “Stop triggering me!”

  Ghost raised his fist and brought it down on Robert's head, but Robert caught it before it could smash into his skull. It was a rather light and wimpy fist which probably wouldn't have hurt even if it had collided with his head, but Robert didn't want to get hit anyway.

  But when Robert caught Ghost's fist, that was when he felt something shift deep inside him. He wasn't sure what it was at first until he suddenly felt something flowing from Ghost's fist into his hand, down his arm, and into his body. It almost felt like water, but not quite; more like burning lava, which evaporated whatever coldness was left in his bones and made him feel stronger and stronger with every passing moment.

  “What?” said Ghost. “What's this? Let go of me or else.”

  Robert didn't pay any attention to Ghost's whiny demands. He just tightened his grip on Ghost's fist, draining more and more of whatever it was that he was draining from Ghost into his body. It made him feel stronger and more powerful, like he was on top of the world.