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  “And that, my dude, is why you never mess with my son when I’m around,” said Radicles, lowering his fist. “Or ever, actually, but whatever.”

  Blizzard blinked. She expected Doctor Danger or the Condor to get back up and resume fighting, but neither of them did. It was pretty clear that Radicles had just singlehandedly defeated them, which Blizzard had to admit surprised her; she had spent so much of her life hearing about how stupid Radicles was that she never knew he could be so competent in combat.

  But then Blizzard suddenly remembered Bolt, who had been knocked out during the fight. She looked over toward the crater in the street where the Condor had knocked him into just in time to hear a groan emit from it. Bolt sat up in the crater, rubbing his head and wincing from the pain he no doubt was experiencing from being slammed into the street by a giant robot bird.

  “Bolt!” Blizzard shouted. “Are you okay?”

  Bolt looked over at her, a slightly dazed expression on his face. “Blizzard? What happened? Is Doctor Danger still a—”

  Bolt stopped speaking abruptly when he looked over at the scene of the fight. His eyes darted from the destroyed Condor to the unconscious Doctor Danger to Radicles, who now appeared to be taking a selfie of himself and the unconscious Doctor Danger. Where he had gotten the smartphone from, Blizzard didn’t know, since Radicles’ toga did not appear to have any pockets on it.

  Then Bolt looked at Blizzard again, except this time even more confused than before. “Why is a guy in a toga taking a selfie with Doctor Danger?”

  “That’s Shell’s dad,” said Blizzard in a deadpan voice. “Radicles.”

  Bot looked like he had a million questions to ask Blizzard, but a large shadow suddenly appeared over her, causing Blizzard to look up to see Radicles standing over her. He was even bigger up close, the sun glinting off his designer sun shades as he put his smartphone away somewhere in his toga.

  “Hi there, pretty lady,” said Radicles. “You’re one of my son’s friends, right? Looks like you’re a bit tied up. Let Radicles help you out.”

  Radicles reached down and ripped the cable off of Blizzard’s body without any effort whatsoever. He tossed the cable away while Blizzard rose to her feet, rubbing her shoulders and elbows, which ached from how tightly the cable had bound them together.

  “Thanks, Mr. Radicles,” said Blizzard, looking up at the huge muscular man. “I—”

  Radicles suddenly held up a finger. “Hold on there, my dudette. None of this ‘mister’ stuff. That’s for dudes who aren’t as radical as yours truly. Just call me Radicles.”

  “Um, okay,” said Blizzard, although she didn’t quite know how to respond to that. “Well, thank you, Radicles, for coming to our rescue. But why were you taking a selfie with Doctor Danger earlier?”

  “Posting pics to my Instagram account,” said Radicles, waving his phone at her before putting it back somewhere inside his toga. “I always post pics of myself after I beat a supervillain. My fans love it.”

  “You have fans?” said Blizzard, unable to hide the disbelief in her voice.

  “Over ten thousand followers on Instagram alone, my dudette,” said Radicles, winking at her. “My followers even make memes based off me. It’s awesome.”

  Blizzard had never heard of a superhero, much less an adult superhero, with an Instagram account, but at that moment Bolt walked up to them, although he limped slightly and his hand was on the back of his head as if he was suffering from a bad headache.

  “Blizzard, are you okay?” said Bolt, stopping before her. “Are you hurt? Do you need any medical attention?”

  “No, I’m fine,” said Blizzard, wiping the sweat off her forehead from the sun, “but thanks for asking. Radicles here helped me.”

  “Anytime, little girl,” said Radicles, giving her the thumbs up. “Anyone who is a friend of my son is a friend of me. By the way, are you dating my son? You look like his type.”

  “What? Me? Date Shell?” said Blizzard, before she could think about her response. “I—”

  Bolt put an arm around Blizzard’s shoulders and brought her close to him. He was glaring up at Radicles, who looked a bit surprised at Bolt’s sudden appearance.

  “Actually, she’s my girlfriend,” said Bolt. His voice was steady, but based on how hard he held Blizzard against him, she could tell that he was rather annoyed at Radicles’ question. “She’s just friends with Shell. Nothing more.”

  “Oh,” said Radicles, who sounded a little bit disappointed. “My apologies, my dude. But tell me, is Shell dating anyone? What about the other two girls on the team?”

  “Shell doesn’t have a girlfriend and isn’t dating anyone,” said Bolt. “But why are you asking us? If you’re his father, wouldn’t he have told you who he is dating?”

  Radicles’ grin vanished, replaced by a sad frown. He looked as if Bolt had just said something offensive, which made Blizzard wonder if there was something wrong with Shell and Radicles’ relationship.

  But before Radicles could answer, Blizzard heard wings flapping and looked down the street to see White, Stinger, Talon, and Treehugger running over to join them. Shell was also approaching Blizzard and Bolt, but he moved slower than the others, like he really didn’t want to be with them. Or maybe he just didn’t want to be near Radicles, who was watching the rest of the team approach with interest.

  “Brother, Blizzard!” White shouted as he landed in front of them. “You two okay?”

  “We’re fine, White,” said Bolt. He rubbed the back of his head. “Just got a little banged up, but nothing worse than we usually go through. How are the people?”

  “We managed to get everyone out of that burning building with no casualties,” said Stinger, giving Bolt the thumbs up. “A few people are suffering from burns, some of them inhaled too much smoke, but we got them to the medics and we were told that they should all survive. Sorry about not coming to your rescue quicker, though.”

  Blizzard looked back down the street in the direction from which the others had come. She saw, on the other side of the police barricade, several emergency vehicles, their lights flashing, with doctors and medics running around checking on the dozen or so victims who were harmed by Doctor Danger’s attack. Several police officers also stood around the area, but most of them had yet to cross the barricade to talk with Radicles or the Young Neos; perhaps they were trying to make sure that Doctor Danger and the Condor were truly down.

  “Excellent news, my dudes,” said Radicles. “Man, when I was your age, I wasn’t going around saving people from burning buildings and fighting supervillains. Your generation is even more radical than mine.”

  Stinger looked at Radicles in confusion. “Who are you?”

  “The man himself, Radicles of Phoenix!” said Radicles. Radicles stretched his arm out to the side and suddenly pulled Shell out of nowhere against his body. “And your friend’s totally radical dad.”

  “Really?” said Talon. She looked at Shell in surprise. “Shell, why didn’t you tell us that your dad is Radicles?”

  Radicles’ smile suddenly vanished. “You mean he’s never mentioned me to you guys before?”

  “Yeah,” Treehugger piped up. “Granted, we’ve never really asked, but I don’t think any of us knew that you were his dad before.” She looked at Shell. “Why is that?”

  Shell looked like a trapped rat, his eyes darting back and forth as if he was trying to figure out a way to escape, but before he could say anything, there was a sudden shout from behind Blizzard. She looked over shoulder to see two people running toward them. One of them was a young man, probably in his late twenties, wearing a blue button-down shirt and gray shorts, which showed off his thin body. The other was a woman, who seemed to be slightly younger than the man and was about a head shorter, although she was also fatter than him and had long, brown hair. She carried a smartphone before her like she was filming everything, although Blizzard had no idea who either of these two were.

  The man and the woman came to a
stop before Blizzard and the others. That was when Blizzard noticed that the man held a smartphone in his hands as well, although unlike the woman, he seemed to be using it to take notes rather than take film, if the stylus in his other hand was any indication.

  “Hi!” said the man, panting slightly, as if he had just run a mile. “My name is Miles Johnson, and this is my partner, Wilma Murray. We’re reporters from Neo News here to report on Doctor Danger’s attack.”

  “Neo News?” Bolt repeated. “Don’t you mean Neo Ranks?”

  Miles scowled. “We’re completely different from Neo Ranks. Neo News is an up and coming independent website dedicated to bringing readers and viewers the truth and nothing but the truth about superheroes, supervillains, and anything related to them. We’re Neo News’ Arizona correspondents and came here to report on Doctor Danger’s attack as soon as we heard about it.”

  “Cool story, bro,” said Radicles. “Let me guess, you want to talk to me, right?”

  “We want to talk to whoever was involved in the fight,” said Miles. He held up his phone to Radicles. “If that’s you, then we’re all ears.”

  “Awesome,” said Radicles. “I always love talking to the press. Anyway, yeah, I beat Doctor Danger pretty easily. I’ve beaten him before, which is why he was so easy. He’s pretty predictable, like most lame villains are.”

  “I see,” said Miles. “And what about the Young Neos? Did they help you defeat him?”

  Blizzard felt a little annoyed at the implication behind Miles’ question. After all, the Young Neos had been the first to respond to Doctor Danger’s attack. Radicles only came later and they probably would have defeated Doctor Danger on their own anyway even if he hadn’t shown up.

  Radicles, however, apparently did not consider that, because he said, “Yeah, of course they helped. My own son, Shell, distracted Doctor Danger long enough for me to take him down on my own.”

  “Wait, Shell is your son?” Miles said, exchanging puzzled looks with Wilma. “We didn’t know that.”

  Radicles pulled Shell—who now looked extremely uncomfortable with all of the attention—closer to him and said, “That’s right. Shell is my son and he’s radical through and through, just like me.”

  “Interesting,” said Miles. “If he’s your son, then where is your wife?”

  “None of your business, my dude,” said Radicles, his smile never leaving his lips. “But you can tell your readers that Shell and I are going to make all of Phoenix’s supervillains have to change their pants anytime they even think about committing crime. That’s my motto, by the way; make supervillains so terrified of you that even just the thought of crossing your path is enough to make them put on their brown pants.”

  “Yes, that’s a good idea,” said Miles, “but could you please elaborate more on your relationship with your son? We didn’t know that you had a son at all and our readers would be quite interested in learning more about how you and he get together.”

  Radicles looked like he was about to answer, but Blizzard stepped forward and said, “Hey, Miles, can you and your partner please leave the area? It’s still very dangerous, since we don’t know what other tricks Doctor Danger may have up his sleeve. His robot might explode or something and we don’t want any civilians like you two possibly getting harmed due to our own carelessness.”

  “But we’re not done talking with Radicles,” Miles said. “We still have so many other questions to ask—”

  “Yes, but you can talk to him later,” Blizzard interrupted. “Right now, we just want to search the area and make sure that it is safe for civilians. It won’t take us very long, so could you two please leave and come back later? Maybe in an hour or so?”

  Miles’ shoulders drooped, but he said, “All right. But we won’t be gone for very long. Wilma, let’s talk to the police and see if they can tell us anything more about Doctor Danger’s attack.”

  The two reporters ran off, leaving Blizzard and the others alone under the burning hot Arizona sun. Blizzard felt like she could relax now; although she didn’t hate reporters, she had come to distrust them, especially after what that reporter from Neo Ranks did to Bolt. She had no idea if the reporters from Neo News were as dishonest as the ones at Neo Ranks, but she was not in any mood to find out.

  As soon as the two reporters were gone, Radicles said, “Hey, dudette, what was that all about? I wasn’t done talking with those two.”

  Blizzard turned to face Radicles and said, “I just noticed that Shell didn’t look very comfortable talking with them, so I sent them off so he would be less uncomfortable.”

  “Shell isn’t afraid of talking to the media,” said Radicles. He looked down at Shell, who he still held at his side. “Right, my dude son?”

  But Shell just pushed away from Radicles and took several steps away from him. He looked at his father with deep skepticism and distrust in his eyes, as if he was annoyed at him for some reason.

  “Father, what were you doing here?” said Shell. “I didn’t ask you to save me and my friends.”

  “Dude, I live here,” said Radicles, gesturing at the city. “I’m Phoenix’s top superhero, so of course I have to respond whenever a supervillain goes on a rampage. The real question, though, is why you didn’t call me ahead of time to let me know that you were going to be visiting.”

  Shell folded his arms across his chest. “That’s irrelevant. You just embarrassed me in front of my friends and in front of the Internet. Once those Neo News reporters post the footage they took of you and me online, everyone in the whole world will know that you’re my dad.”

  “And why is that a problem, my dude?” said Radicles. “Who cares? It’s not like it’s a big secret or anything.”

  Shell rubbed his hands against his forehead, looking quite exasperated with his father. “You’ll never understand. Just like you don’t understand me.”

  “Only because you keep trying to distance yourself from me,” Radicles pointed out. “Kind of hard to understand someone who doesn’t want to be understood, know what I mean?”

  Blizzard didn’t like seeing these two argue, especially since Shell was beginning to look agitated, so she stepped in between them and said, “Guys, I don’t think this is the time or place to argue. We just got finished fighting a supervillain. Can your family conflicts wait until later?”

  Unfortunately, neither Shell nor Radicles seemed to hear her pleas for peace, because Shell said, “It’s not that I don’t want to be understood, Father, it’s just … ugh, never mind. I can’t explain it.”

  “Can’t explain it to your old man?” said Radicles. “Listen, Larry, I know you and I have never really gotten along, but since you’re here in Phoenix, why don’t you and I go grab a bite to eat and catch up on each other? Like old times.”

  “Funny, I don’t remember us having lunch together in the old days,” said Shell. “You always seemed too busy showing off to women to do anything with me.”

  Shell’s voice had a sharp tone to it and Blizzard felt rather awkward watching this deeply personal family conflict. And based on the uncertain expressions that the other Young Neos wore, she wasn’t alone in feeling a bit out of place in this situation.

  “Larry, I know you’re upset, but that doesn’t mean you can just go and say things like that to me,” said Radicles. “Maybe I haven’t always been the best dad, but there’s no need for that negative attitude. No need for negativity, you know what I mean?”

  Shell didn’t respond. He just kept his gaze averted from his father, as if he was trying to pretend that Radicles didn’t exist.

  “Well, all right-o-rino, then,” said Radicles. “If that’s how you’re going to be, my dude, then that’s how you’re going to be.” He turned around. “I have to get back to my place, anyway. My landlord isn’t going to be happy if I’m late with rent again, but if you ever want to see me again while we’re in town, you know how to contact me.”

  With that, Radicles suddenly leaped through the air much higher a
nd faster than the average human could. He landed on top of a nearby building before launching himself into the air again, jumping from rooftop to rooftop until he soon disappeared among the buildings and skyscrapers of Phoenix, leaving the Young Neos standing alone in the street.

  Blizzard looked at Shell, who still hadn’t said anything. “Um … Shell, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” said Shell, although he didn’t meet Blizzard’s gaze. “Let’s just head back to your parents’ place. It’s getting hot out here.”

  Blizzard nodded, but she understood that Shell was really saying that he didn’t want to talk about his father or his relationship with him. She wondered why, but she supposed it was just like how she didn’t like talking about her sister.

  “All right,” said Bolt after a short, awkward pause. “I’ll talk with the police about what happened and then we can leave. Shouldn’t take longer than five minutes.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The next day, Shell was walking through the streets of Phoenix by himself, his hands jammed into his pockets, his suit-up watch reflecting the rays of the early morning sun. He passed several other walkers, the open doorway of a hipster cafe, and more than a few homeless people lying in the streets, but he paid no attention to any of it. He was too caught up in his thoughts, thinking about what happened yesterday, to pay attention to his surroundings; perhaps that put him at risk of being robbed or mugged, but this part of Phoenix was nicer than the other parts of the city, so he felt pretty safe. Plus, he didn’t look very rich or wealthy, so he doubted that any thief or robber would bother trying to rob him.

  Yesterday, when Shell and the other Young Neos had returned to Blizzard’s parents’ house, he had gone to his room; as it turned out, Blizzard’s parents’ house had several extra guest rooms, enough for each member of the team to get their own individual rooms while they were staying in Phoenix. He had gone straight to his room and spent nearly the entire rest of the day there because he wanted to avoid talking to the others about his father, only coming out once for dinner. And earlier today, Blizzard had asked him if he wanted to go to one of the city’s parks with the rest of the team, but Shell had declined the offer, explaining that he wanted to go out for a walk and get some fresh air.