The Superhero's Powers (The Superhero's Son Book 4) (25 page)

I shuddered, but managed to push myself to my feet. I patted my body, but I didn’t feel all that different. “I’m okay. I don’t feel like I’m about to burn up on the inside anymore.”

“Good,” said Hernandez. “But your powers … can you use them? That’s the most important part.”

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on using my super strength. I remembered my training with Dad last year, when he first taught me how to use my powers. He had had me lift a heavy metal block to train my super strength, so I pictured myself lifting that heavy metal block again, imagining myself using my super strength.

Then I felt it. Strength flowed through my muscles, making me feel more powerful than ever. It was like taking a hot shower after a long day of doing work outside, making me feel energized and stronger than ever.

I ran over to Hernandez’s desk and started trying to lift it above my head, because it was the heaviest thing in the room. At first, I couldn’t even budge it, but then the desk suddenly felt weightless in my hands and I raised it above my head, almost brushing it against the ceiling of Hernandez’s office.

With a smile, I turned around to face Hernandez, saying, “Professor, it worked! I can’t believe it! My powers are back and—Professor?”

Hernandez was staring at me like I had just mutated into some kind of strange monster. His face was glowing red now for some reason, too.

“Um, Professor?” I said. “Why is your face red?”

“My face—?” Hernandez said, touching his face. Then he suddenly pointed at me. “No, Bolt, my face isn’t red. Your body is glowing.”

Surprised, I looked down at my body and Hernandez was right: My entire body was glowing red. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. It was like someone had dropped a small red sun in there. The light somehow managed to shine through my costume, illuminating its red lines and the lightning bolt design on the chest. It actually looked really awesome, but also kind of creepy and bizarre.

“Is this one of your old powers manifesting itself again?” said Hernandez.

I shook my head. “No. I’ve never been able to glow like this before. I don’t know what it could—”

I suddenly shuddered and dropped Hernandez’s desk behind me. It crashed to the floor while I staggered forward, slamming my hands over my eyes as I tried to remain standing. But my hands felt like they were on fire, so I ripped them off my face and aimed them at Hernandez’s window, because it felt like something was going to shoot out of them.

Without warning, two red lightning bolts shot out from my hands and smashed through the window, sending glass exploding everywhere. Hernandez immediately covered his head with his arms and cowered close to the floor while I stood there, shock on my face, as red energy danced along my fingers.

“What …” said Hernandez, staring at me in horror. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” I said, turning my hands over. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before, not even before Robert took away my powers. Is this the result of the serum?”

Hernandez lowered his arms from his head and stood up slowly, looking at me with interest rather than fear now. “Perhaps. The serum was, after all, designed to give normal humans powers. Maybe, because you already have the proper genetic makeup for powers, it went the extra mile and gave you an extra power.”

I shuddered, not because of anything Hernandez said, but because it felt like a snake was slithering through my body. “But I didn’t think it was possible for a superhuman to gain more powers if they aren’t named Robert Candle.”

“It is a well-known fact that young superhumans can still sometimes spontaneously manifest new superpowers into their early twenties,” said Hernandez. “Maybe this red energy was always there and it just took the serum to ‘wake it up,’ so to speak.”

“Maybe,” I said. “Prof, we can talk about this later. Robert is probably going to get bored soon and whenever Robert gets bored people usually get hurt. And Dad’s sending someone to get Mimic, but just to be safe, take this.”

I zoomed over to Mimic’s discarded pistol (which felt great after going so long without my powers) and then zoomed back to Hernandez, putting the gun in his hand. “Don’t be afraid to shoot the bastard if he wakes up and tries to kill you.”

To my surprise, Hernandez immediately aimed the pistol at Mimic as if he handled guns every day. “Sure. Now you should go, quickly, before Robert harms that friend of yours.”

I nodded and then, feeling the power of flight flowing through me, shot out the broken window of Hernandez’s office. I flew in the direction of the warehouse, ready for whatever Robert had in store for me.

Chapter Twenty-Two

F
lying through the sky again reminded me why I loved flying so much. The wind in my hair, the way everything just sort of melted around me as I focused on flying to my next location, the way my aerodynamic suit allowed me to fly without obstruction … it was still an amazing experience, even knowing where I was going.

And best of all, it was fast. Within minutes, I spotted the warehouse where Dad and I had fought Master Chaos, the father of Robert, what seemed like a lifetime ago now. Police and SWAT vehicles surrounded the building on all sides and I also spotted more than a few G-Men at various points around the building, but no one was entering it from what I could see. Of course, that made sense, because Robert’s threats were probably serious.

Landing in front of the entrance to the warehouse, I heard someone nearby shout, “Bolt?” and I looked over and saw a huge man with a metal horn on his head walking toward me, his G-Men patch on his right shoulder glinting in the sunlight. Two police officers—including a guy who looked like the police chief—were following behind him somewhat timidly, probably because he looked twice as big as both of them put together.

“Iron Horn?” I said, turning to face him as the huge G-Men agent approached. I remembered him from the time he protected my school from Master Chaos last year. “I didn’t know you were here in Fallsville.”

Iron Horn stopped several feet away from me. The huge horn that grew out of his forehead, which was covered in special metal armor to protect it and make it stronger, made him look even more intimidating than he already did. “Director Smith assigned me to this mission. I was part of the team meant to capture Robert Candle at the university, but I came here when we heard news that Candle is holding a hostage in here.”

Iron Horn gestured at the warehouse with one massive hand. “But I don’t understand how you just flew here. I was told that Candle had stolen your powers.”

“I got ‘em back,” I said, patting my chest. My head felt a little light, but I didn’t tell him that, because I just assumed that it was one of the side effects of the serum. “Anyway, what’s the situation look like?”

“Grim,” said Iron Horn. “Though we have the warehouse fully surrounded, we cannot enter it because Candle has a hostage, a girl named Tara Reynolds. It is just like the situation last week, when he kidnapped that boy Malcolm Rayner.”

I nodded. “How is the hostage? I heard she was already hurt.”

“Yes, Candle has posted pictures on the Internet showing that she has been harmed already,” said Iron Horn. “As far as we know, she’s still alive, but how long that will last in Candle’s hands, we don’t know.”

“Given how crazy Robert is, I doubt that will last for long,” I said. “Well, I’m going in anyway. I’m the one who Robert wants, so our best chance of saving Tara is for me to go in and confront him.”

“I agree,” said Iron Horn. “But before you enter, do you have any powerless gas?”

“Yes,” I said. I patted the capsule in my pocket. “My dad gave me some before I left. I’m going to try to throw it at Robert and use it to take him down.”

“Okay,” said Iron Horn. “The police and the G-Men will be on standby to provide you with whatever backup you need.”

I nodded. “Thanks. Anyway, I’m going in now. If I need any help, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

“All right,” said Iron Horn. “Good luck, Bolt.”

I nodded again and then walked over to the entrance of the warehouse. I stopped in front of it for a moment, feeling the capsule in my costume’s pocket again one last time before I opened the door and entered the building.

-

I was expecting to be attacked as soon as I entered the warehouse, like there was supposed to be some kind of an ambush. It seemed like the perfect set up for one, at any rate, but I entered the building without any trouble. Of course, Robert probably wanted to kill me with his own bare hands, which would explain why he didn’t set up an ambush.

Walking through the gaps between the crates, I was reminded heavily of the first time I came here. I had come here to fight Robert’s dead dad, Master Chaos, who had been threatening to come after my family and kill us. Thanks to a surprise appearance from my own dad, however, Master Chaos died and I had assumed I’d never come back here. I guessed that Robert wanted to have our final showdown at the scene of his own dad’s death, probably as some sort of poetic irony or whatever, though I was kind of surprised that Robert was even capable of thinking that way. Maybe he’s smarter than I thought.

Regardless, I kept my wits about me as I walked. I didn’t hear much aside from my footsteps, but in case Robert was hiding somewhere, I wasn’t about to let him take me down before I could fight.

But eventually, I heard what sounded like boiling water, which made me wonder if Robert was trying to make spaghetti when I finally reached the center of the warehouse and saw a large, metal vat full of bubbling green acid in the center of a cleared area. And Tara was hanging above it from a chain.

Tara looked awful. Her glasses were cracked, just barely hanging onto her nose, and she had a black eye. Her head was hanging limply on her chest, while the lower half of her shirt was ripped, revealing her bruised belly. She was also missing her shoes, though her feet didn’t appear to be broken or anything.

“Tara?” I said, stepping toward her, but then a familiar voice said, “Stop right there or she dies.”

I froze and looked over at a spot between two large crates. Robert Candle emerged from the shadow between the two crates, but he hardly looked human anymore to me. His hair was messed up and torn up in several places, he had a load of scars on his face, arms, and hands, and his clothes looked like something he had fished out of a dumpster. His eyes were bloodshot and twitched every now and then, making him look crazier than usual. He even looked like he had bulked up, which was odd because there was no exercise method in the world that let you gain those types of muscles so fast.

“Robert,” I said as Robert stopped where he was. “As ugly as ever, I see.”

“Shut up,” Robert snapped. He pointed at Tara. “Make one false move and your girlfriend dies.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I said in annoyance. “But whatever. No one is going to die today, except maybe you.”

“Except me?” Robert repeated. “What a joke. You don’t even have any powers. Idiot.”

“Says the guy who dropped out of high school to become a bad knock-off of his father,” I said. “All you’re really missing is the cowboy hat and strange sense of fashion and you would look just like your dad.”

“Don’t talk about my father,” Robert snarled. “You aren’t allowed to. You aren’t even half the man he was.”

“Your father was a monster who killed lots of people and probably would have killed much more if we hadn’t stopped him,” I said. I took a fighting stance. “But what does it matter? I know you don’t listen to reason, Robert. Like your father, you’re too crazy to listen to anyone who disagrees with your behavior.”

“That’s because I’m in the right,” said Robert. “I’m always right. I don’t need ‘reason.’ I just need power, as much power as I can get, because power is what will help me avenge Mom and Dad. Once I am the most powerful superhuman in the world, none of the people who made my life a living hell will survive.”

“That’s your goal, then?” I said. “Is that why you’ve been collecting superpowers? To become the strongest superhuman in the world?”

“It’s just a means to an end,” said Robert, “and that end is to kill you and everyone you’ve ever known and loved. I will make you feel my pain, make you feel it even worse than me.”

“But if I’m already dead, then how can you make me feel your pain?” I said. “You’ve clearly not thought this through, but I’m not surprised, given how dumb you are.”

“Shut up,” said Robert again. “I don’t know why you’re acting so big, since you don’t have your powers anymore, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to crush your skull into powder and then stick your corpse on a pike for everyone to see what happens when they cross Robert Candle.”

“Ew,” I said. “But you know, there’s no reason to bring Tara into this. If it’s a fight you want, I’m perfectly willing to take you on without fearing for my friend’s life.”

“I don’t care,” said Robert. He punched his fist into his other hand. “I’m just covering my bases. If I hadn’t kidnapped your girlfriend, you wouldn’t have come out of your little hiding hole to fight me. This was the best way I knew to make you come out and fight me, and it worked. Who’s the dumb one now?”

“Still you, because you really don’t know what you’re about to get into,” I said. I rolled my shoulders. “Normally, I don’t like killing my enemies, because I tend to believe that the police should have a chance to arrest you and try you in a court of law. But now? I’m not even going to hesitate.”

Robert smirked. “Hesitate? What, you gonna take off your shoe and throw it at me?”

I shook my head. “No, Robert. I am going to kill you. After all the people you’ve killed, after all the powers you’ve stolen, after all of the stress and worry you’ve put me and my parents through, after kidnapping my friends … you are too dangerous to be allowed to live. I won’t hold back.”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” said Robert. “I’m stronger than you. I can kick your ass six ways from Sunday. By the time I’m done with you, you won’t even remember your own name.”

“Then bring it,” I said. “I’m ready when you are.”

But to my surprise, Robert shook his head. “Nah. I know you’ve got a trick up your sleeve, so that’s why I’m going to make sure I have an advantage over you.”