The First Superhero Books 0-3 Box Set Page 17

  “Yeah, we figured going to get you was why the NASA shuttle program was very quickly refunded with little to no explanation. They didn’t want to partner with any of the other space programs of the world, because that meant they’d have to share whatever they learned from you, or any of the Supers, presumably."

  “So they didn’t tell people why they were going up there?”

  “Just your regular ISS spiel. Nobody believed it. though, although nobody knew you were up there, so they really weren’t sure what they were going for. Just that it probably had something to do with the Supers.”

  “It seems like everything does these days,” Doug said with a yawn.

  “You tired?” Samantha asked.

  “A little. It’s only almost four in the morning,” he said sarcastically.

  Samantha sighed. “We’d better get some rest. Busy day tomorrow.” She stood and began putting her laptop into her backpack. “You can stay here on one of the cots,” she said.

  I nodded. “Thanks, I’ll do that.” I settled back into the chair, enjoying the relaxation and comfort it radiated.

  “Or just sleep in the chair,” Doug said.

  “I’ll do that too,” I mumbled. I was already slipping away into sleep’s embrace.

  “See you in a few hours,” Samantha said, but before I could respond, I was already fast asleep.

  Floor 24

  The sound of the storage unit door rolling up woke me from my sleep. I jumped up, unaware of where I was for a few moments before the memories came back to me in a hurry.

  “Good morning,” I said with a dry throat.

  “Afternoon,” Samantha corrected me as she walked behind her desk. She turned some lights on and began taking her things out of her backpack.

  Doug slammed the storage unit door shut, and gave me a nod as he walked by.

  “How has nobody found out about you guys living in here yet?” I asked as I stood and stretched. “Somebody’s gotta start getting suspicious of you guys coming and never leaving for a long time.”

  “It’s something to do with one of my powers, I think. I’m not sure. I haven’t exactly gotten the hang of it, but I can—in a way—turn myself invisible. If I can concentrate, I can get into people’s minds and make them ignore me. They don’t know why, but they can’t look directly at me, and they don’t even notice me. It comes in handy when we’re sneaking in here. So to them, no one’s come to this storage unit for a long time.”

  “Well, you failed to mention this mind control power yesterday. That and your memory erasing thing,” I said as I sat back down.

  “I was just trying to give you the CliffsNotes. Besides, that was the first time I’d ever successfully erased memories in a human. It’s very difficult, and the fact that they were in their seventies or eighties was the only reason I was able to do it.” Samantha opened her laptop and sat down. “But that’s not what we’re going to talk about today. We have a big opportunity on our hands that we need to take advantage of.”

  This piqued my interest. I got up from the chair and stood between Samantha’s and Doug’s desks. “Okay, what is it?”

  “First, Doug?” Samantha gestured toward Doug’s backpack. “Give Kane those clothes.” She turned to me. “Your outfit is a little worn. We got you some fresh clothes to change into.”

  “Yeah, I heard wearing the same thing for six months straight isn’t good for your skin,” Doug said as he handed me a folded-up red t-shirt and basketball shorts.

  “Thanks,” I said as I grabbed them from his hands. I began to change into the clothes at super speed. I pulled off the Tempest outfit and the clothes I was wearing beneath it in one smooth motion, and put on the clothes that Doug had given me. The change happened so fast, all Doug and Samantha saw was me in my Tempest outfit one second, and the very next, I was in my fresh clean clothes.

  I tossed the tattered Tempest outfit on the chair I’d slept in. Wearing the fresh, comfortable clothes felt amazing. It was like I’d shed an old, tight skin, and a fresh, loose one had grown in its place.

  “I wish I could get ready in the morning that fast,” Samantha said. “Okay, so, next thing. Over the past few months, Doug and I have been keeping a close eye on all the Supers. We’ve been tracking them, keeping logs of what they’re getting into, and if they’ve been taken by the government, everything behind their disappearance.”

  I held up my hands, stopping Samantha. “I’m happy to help you guys. It’s obvious that we need to figure out everything we can about all the Supers, as well as what the government’s role is in all of this. But I really need to find my parents. They need to know that I’m alive and okay. I can’t have them finding out I’m back through the news or something. I need to find them.”

  “Of course, Kane. I’m sorry. I get ahead of myself sometimes,” Samantha said.

  “Don’t worry about it. You find anything, Doug?”

  Doug nodded as he took a bite from a granola bar. “Yeah, I found something.” He sat up in his chair and began messing with something on his laptop. “It looks like Mr. Andy Anderson is a practicing lawyer again.” Doug turned the laptop around to face me.

  I looked at the screen, and saw my dad standing in front of a podium at a press conference. I recognized the fire in his eyes. Even though it was just a picture, I could hear his voice in my head, filled with passion. He spoke with determination and ferocity.

  “In the past three months, his clients have received over five million dollars in settlements. They’ve all been people who’ve lost family members or property due to Richter. Right now, lawyers are seeing a huge gold rush. Everybody’s suing everybody, and your dad’s doing a pretty good job making sure people are getting paid,” Samantha explained.

  All my attention was fixed on the picture. I smiled, feeling a weird sense of pride for my father. It’s a weird feeling, being proud of your parents. I always tried really hard to make sure they were proud of me, but now my dad was out there kicking ass, doing what he loved. Even though being a lawyer—all the paperwork, red tape and such—sounded horrendously boring, if I got the chance, I would be sitting in the courtroom watching my dad do his thing in a heartbeat. There was just something about seeing my dad doing what he was passionate about that lit a fire inside of me. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to find him and give him the biggest hug that I could.

  “Where can I find him?” I asked.

  “He and your mother live in an apartment building in Indianapolis. The York Towers, apartment 2407,” Doug said.

  Seconds after he finished his sentence, I was already out of the storage unit, flying as fast as I could toward Indianapolis.

  I STOOD IN THE LOBBY of the York Towers, taking in the beautiful sight. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, a ceiling which had beautiful scenery painted on it a la Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. The only difference was that this ceiling was probably just wallpaper, not something that had taken years to paint. At the back of the lobby sat a receptionist’s desk behind which were three people going about their daily work. The only other people in the lobby were sitting on the couches to my right, sipping complementary coffee, waiting for their friends to come down and meet them.

  A man in a business suit talking on his phone rushed past me, fumbling with his belongings, trying to get his keycard out so he could activate the elevator he was walking toward. I fell in line behind him, keeping up with his brisk speed. The receptionists saw him coming and were getting ready to greet him when he came near. I hoped they would pay no attention to me. They would see the man was in a rush, assume I was with him, and not bother us since we were obviously busy.

  We walked by the desk, and other than a quick nod, passed by without any interruptions. I smiled to myself. The man I was behind probably didn’t even realize I was there. He scanned his keycard at the elevator, the doors opened, and the two of us stepped inside. He punched the button to floor 17, and I, floor 24.

  Just a few more minutes and I’d
be reunited with my parents. I zoned out as the floors dinged by. All I could think about was what I was going to do. What would I say? “Mom, Dad, I’m home!” Or go for a more funny and casual, “Hey, guys, what’s for dinner?” Or, “You guys wouldn’t believe the traffic! Took me forever to get to the Planet Earth exit!”

  The elevator stopped at the 17th floor, and the man stepped off. The doors closed, and I was one stop away from seeing my parents. Alone in the elevator, I began pacing. The thought hit me: was this a bad idea? Were my parents safer not knowing I was back? They seemed happy, and my being with them would surely put them in danger. If anything happened to them, would I be able to live with myself? I tried to push the thoughts out of my mind, but they were already beginning to cement. They’d find out I was back eventually. It’d be all over the news when Tempest made his appearance once again. Still, was this a good idea?

  The doors to the 24th floor opened, and my decision was made for me. Standing there in an immaculate business suit, talking on his cell phone, was my father.

  “Hey Trev, I’m gonna have to call you back.”

  Dad and I stared at each other for a few moments, unable to move. We were both taking each other in. Taking the moment in. We each couldn’t believe it was the other, and after having so much time to think about what we would do if we were in this situation, now that we were here, we were both frozen.

  Not sensing any movement, the elevator doors began to close. We both stuck our hands in the doorway, letting out a yelp of surprise, and the doors opened.

  That shook me out of my trance, and I grabbed my dad, giving him a big hug. I held him tight. Even though status quo would tell you that a seventeen-year-old was too old to be giving his dad a hug, screw that. I’d been through too much to care about the status quo.

  Dad pulled away, and he began inspecting me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you in trouble?” Tears welled in his eyes.

  “Dad, I’m fine.” I smiled, and found tears of joy beginning to form in my own eyes. “Just glad to be home.”

  “You’re going to have to tell me everything that happened. First, we gotta go see your mother.”

  He put an arm around me, and the two of us walked toward apartment 2407, father and son back together again.

  Comeback

  I sat at the kitchen table of my parents’ apartment, sipping a cup of coffee. On one side of the dark wood table sat my mother, and on the other, my father. The two of them were filling me in on the past six months. Their entire bodies were animated as they spoke at a thousand miles an hour. I had to ask them to slow down a few times, but their adrenaline was rushing, and their hands were shaking, and the only way they could burn it off was by talking as fast as I could run.

  Mom’s reaction was about what I’d expected. Screaming, crying, screaming, crying again, and now half-crying, half-screaming as she gave me her recap.

  “...and I said, ‘HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT TEMPEST! THAT’S MY S—’, but then I remembered that, oh, duh, Zoe, nobody knows who he is!” She let out a hysterical laugh, while Dad and I forced a chuckle. Things were already getting back to normal.

  “That’s funny, Mom,” I said. “What did you guys tell everybody about me? That could get awkward when we go back to Ebon.”

  “Well, we’ll talk more about the going back to Ebon situation later, but we told your friends that you were really sick. Thankfully there was a flu outbreak around town at the time, so they understood. That bought us some time, but of course not much. If we’d gone with that story any longer, they’d probably be calling the cops on us for not taking you to a hospital or something,” Dad said with a laugh.

  Mom chuckled too, as if that was some sort of inside joke. “So then we told them that you left to volunteer with the relief efforts in Seattle.”

  I had flashbacks to the last time I was in Seattle, when Richter had brought down the Space Needle on top of me.

  “Yeah, they weren’t too happy about that Space Needle thing, in case you were wondering,” Dad said with a sly smile.

  I could tell he thought the whole thing was pretty cool. I have to admit, in retrospect, that whole thing was pretty awesome. Especially since I didn’t die, and Richter...he did. I hadn’t really had much time to think about it, but that one thought was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The floodgates opened, and it was all I could think about. I’d killed Richter. I’d killed Patrick Henry.

  And strangely, I didn’t feel as if I’d lose much sleep over it. It wasn’t like I’d had any other choice. Besides, there was no telling how many people Richter had killed.

  Two wrongs don’t make a right.

  I pushed the thoughts out of my head. Now wasn’t the time.

  “...to say, they probably aren’t going to be very happy with you for disappearing on them like that. In my opinion, though, I don’t think you should tell them the truth. With Supers disappearing as soon as they’re showing up, it’s too dangerous for them to know,” Dad said.

  So I was supposed to lie to them—a wrong—to keep them safe—a right.

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” I said, thinking back to my few moments alone in the elevator. I was glad to be back with my parents, though. Even if it was a bit selfish, even if I was putting them in danger, I’d be able to keep them safe. It’d be easy to, since they were just two people. If I had them, Macy, and Drew to look after, especially since they were spread out all across Indiana? Forget it. I couldn’t be everywhere at once.

  “But about Ebon,” Dad began.

  I didn’t like where this was going. I looked away, my eyes on the TV behind him. The television was muted, and the channel was turned to a news station. I didn’t need to hear to read what the ticker was telling me: NEW SUPER EMERGES IN DALLAS, BANK ROBERY IN PROGRESS.

  “Guys,” I said, standing from my seat, pointing at the TV.

  Mom and Dad turned to look. Dad got up, walked over to the remote, and un-muted the television.

  “...hostages. Six suspects reported in this standoff between the Supers and Dallas PD and SWAT. No word on what powers this Super possesses, but we’re getting reports that this is the work of a Super.”

  “I think it’s time for Tempest to make his comeback.”

  “I HAD A LOT OF TIME on my hands, and I knew you’d come back, so I made you a lot of these,” Mom said as she opened a closet door. Inside were over a dozen immaculate Tempest outfits, ready to be put in action.

  I pulled one down and slipped it off the hanger. I felt the leather between my fingers. I could almost feel the love and passion my mother had put into making these for me. “Thanks, Mom,” I said.

  She gave me a hug, and I hugged her back. Her red hair got in my face, but I didn’t mind. I was just happy to be back with my mom.

  I pulled away and slipped the Tempest outfit on over the clothes I was already wearing. “How do I look?” I asked.

  “You look like a hero,” Mom said with a smile.

  I smiled back, and turned to my dad. He simply gave me a thumbs up.

  I walked to the front door. “Keep an eye on the TV. I think you guys are going to be in for a good show.”

  Dad put an arm around Mom and smiled. “I’ll get the popcorn ready.”

  I chuckled as I walked out of the room, shutting the door behind me. With my parents at my back, I felt truly invincible. I dashed to the stairwell of the apartment building, ran down the 24 flights of stairs, and just a few seconds after saying goodbye to my parents, I was already in the air heading toward Texas once again.

  Teamwork

  I hovered over the First National Bank in downtown Dallas. It was sandwiched between two larger buildings, the road in front of them blocked off. Police cars were lined up in front of the buildings, behind which officers stood with their guns at the ready. Assault rifles, pistols, and shotguns were all pointed at the front of the building, which was floor-to-ceiling windows. Using my super vision, I tried to get a good look inside. I was too high up,
though, and from that angle I couldn’t see much. I closed my eyes and began to listen closely.

  I could hear a dozen hearts beating fast. Whimpering and crying came from most of the hostages. There were six calm, regular heartbeats in the midst of the frantic ones. Those must’ve been from the hostage takers—the Supers.

  “Kane, you in Dallas?” I heard Samantha say in my mind.

  “Yeah, I’m above the building right now,” I whispered, making sure Samantha would be the only one to hear me, and not any of the people a few hundred feet below me. Nobody knew I was there yet, and I wanted it to stay that way. Tempest was a hero to these people. A hero they thought was gone forever, sacrificing his life to save them. My return needed to be spectacular and unforgettable. It needed to fill people with hope. I needed to let them know that Tempest was back, and nothing could keep him down for too long.

  “Okay, I have Doug pulling up what he can about the building right now. It looks as if the Super is one we’ve heard rumors about, but nothing concrete. The message boards Doug frequents have had some chatter about a potential Super who has the ability to split into multiple versions of himself. In the past couple of weeks he’s done some small robbery jobs—a convenience store here and there. Looks like he wanted to step up his game and bit off a little more than he can chew.”

  “Sounds simple enough,” I said. “He doesn’t have any other powers that you know of?”

  “Nope, but still, be careful. If you attack one of him, he could take control of another version of himself and kill the hostages. You’re going to have to figure out a way to take all of them out at once.”

  I hovered there for a moment, thinking. An idea came to mind. “Samantha, I need to figure out which one of them is the original. The Prime. If I can take him out, the others should cease to exist, right? They’ll form back together?”