The Superhero's Son (Book 1): The Superhero's Test (21 page)

Nonetheless, I regained control of my trajectory and flew as far and fast from the school as I possibly could. I glanced over my shoulder to see Black Gold and Iron Horn burst onto the school roof. Like Shade, they were staring up at me in surprise, but they were too far away to catch me now.

And I wasn't going to let them. I increased my speed and flew as fast and hard as I could, not caring what direction I was going in. I just wanted to get as far away from John Smith High School as I could. Once I was safely out of their range, I would figure out where to go from there.

Chapter Eighteen

I
flew high into the sky, well above the clouds, until soon the earth was no longer visible to me. Even so, I didn't let up on my speed just yet. I kept expecting the G-Men to follow me, even though I knew that none of the G-Men in charge of protecting the school could fly. If any of them could, they would have come after me already.

But flying wasn't as easy as it seemed, so eventually I slowed down to a much more reasonable speed. I looked over my shoulder again, just to be sure that no one was following, and once I saw that I was alone, I started thinking about where I should go now.

My mission hadn't changed: Find Master Chaos and stop him for good before he could harm anyone I cared about. The only problem, of course, was that I didn't know where Master Chaos was. Texas, after all, was a big state. He could be in the Panhandle, in the hill country, at the Gulf, or anywhere else. And I didn't even know Texas all that well, having just moved down here a few weeks ago. I could probably spend days or weeks flying all over the state looking for him. That would just increase the chance that I would be caught by the G-Men or even by Dad, who I knew would probably start searching for me the second he learned of my little escape.

I stopped in midair, thinking about where I needed to go. Assuming Master Chaos was already in Texas—which I considered a safe assumption, because I doubted that his transforming robot would have been able to fly from New York to Texas without being noticed—then Master Chaos was probably already somewhere near Silvers. He could be hiding in the countryside, which would make sense, seeing as there were fewer people out there, but at the same time, that seemed too logical. I bet the G-Men and NHA were already scouring the countryside for him, which would make it a bad place to hide. Besides, Chaos still needed food and other necessities, which are kind of hard to get if you don't make it yourself or live near a town or city that you can buy it from. And if he was in Texas, then he probably also wanted to be near his family.

That was when I realized the most likely location of Master Chaos: Fallsville, where the Fallsville General Hospital—and his son, Robert Candle—was located.

-

Figuring out what direction Fallsville lay in was a difficult task, mostly because my sense of direction in the sky was shot. I had to look up the directions to the city on my suit-up watch, which showed me that it was about a hundred miles north. That might have sounded far away, but when you can fly as fast as a jet, it usually isn't much longer than a car trip to the supermarket.

Within minutes, the city of Fallsville came into view below. It wasn't exactly a huge city, but it was much bigger than Silvers. I saw lots of cars below on the highways and roads around and in the city, but I stayed as high in the sky as I could so I would not be noticed.

The question now was, where should I go? Fallsville may not have been a huge city, but it would still take a long time to search, especially for a villain as crafty and deceptive as Master Chaos. Besides, I wasn't as familiar with Fallsville as I was with Silvers, so I would probably just end up getting lost.

Then I remembered that Robert was still in the Fallsville General Hospital. I considered whether or not I should go and talk with him, because he might know where his father was. Would Robert actually tell me where his father was, though? I doubted it. Robert obviously respected and cared about his father a lot. There was no way he'd tell me, even if he knew where his father was.

But maybe I could get some clues from him anyway. Or maybe I would find some clues in his hospital room that would help me locate Master Chaos. It was the only option I had at this point, so I flew over to the hospital, which was easy to find, because it was one of the largest buildings in the city.

Landing in the back of the hospital, I hid behind the dumpster and sent my suit back into my suit-up watch. Then I peered out from behind the dumpster, searching for anyone who might be nearby, but like on my last trip, the area behind the hospital was empty.

Sighing in relief, I walked around the hospital to the entrance. I could have tried breaking in again, but without Dad's gear to make that easy, I couldn't risk it. This was a job for Kevin Jason, not Bolt, although I was ready to put my suit on again if necessary.

The lady at the front desk was friendly and told me where Robert's room was after I explained to her that I was a friend from school who wanted to visit him. That was a lie, obviously, but the lady didn't know that, nor did anyone else in the hospital, either. I noticed a hospital security camera in the corner of the lobby, but I didn't think much of it, because I doubted that the security guards watching the camera would know who I was or why I was here.

Soon I entered Robert's room and found myself standing behind the floral curtains between the door and the rest of the room. Then I stopped and listened. I expected Robert to ask me who I was, but I heard nothing, which made me think that Robert might have perhaps gone to use the bathroom or maybe had even been checked out of the hospital already.

Then I heard loud snoring. Pushing aside the curtains between the door and the rest of the room, I saw Robert lying on his bed. He wasn't in his full-body cast anymore, but his arms and legs were still in casts and he looked like he had a long way to go before he was going to recover. His right hand was stuffed into his shirt, probably to keep it warm or something.

Aside from Robert, the room was empty. I walked as silently as I could, looking around the room for anything that might help me find Master Chaos, like a gift with an address on it or something. But the room looked the same as it had the last time I was here, which meant that this trip may have been pointless. But I didn't give up. I walked over to the drawers under the TV and started quietly pulling them open and searching their contents for anything that might help me find Master Chaos's location.

But just as I opened the first drawer, I heard Robert groan behind me, causing me to freeze. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Robert was waking up. He was yawning and his eyes were starting to flicker open, though he didn't seem to be entirely awake just yet.

My first instinct was to run out the door like a mad man and never look back, but I caught myself. I knew Robert wouldn't be happy to see me, but maybe if I was polite, I could get him to talk with me and we could have a civilized discussion. I mean, he certainly couldn't punch me in the face, after all, what with his arms being broken and everything, which might help civilize him a little.

So, as casually as I could, I walked up to Robert, who was now shaking his head. He didn't seem to recognize me yet, but that was okay, because I figured that once he did, he'd want to tear me limb from limb.

“Hey, Robert,” I said, stopping by his side, a polite smile on my face. “How are you doing? Feeling better?”

Robert looked at me. At first, there was no recognition in his eyes, but the more he looked at me, the more recognition I saw in his eyes. I half-expected him to start shouting obscenities at me or maybe call for the hospital staff to escort me out of the room.

But then Robert said, in a very weak voice, “Kevin? Is that you?”

I was surprised. That was the first time Robert had actually used my name, rather than calling me 'new kid.' That made me worried, but maybe Robert was in some kind of medically-induced personality change. I didn't know what they were pumping into him to help him deal with the pain, after all, though I still kept my distance just to be safe.

“Yes, it's me,” I said. “I came to visit you in the hospital.”

“Why?” said Robert. His voice was bitter. “So you could mock me or maybe punch me through another wall?”

“No, of course not,” I said, shaking my head. “I'm sorry for doing that, Robert. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't even know that I could. I'm here for a different reason.”

“What is that?” said Robert. He still sounded bitter, but also a little curious.

“I want to stop your dad, Master Chaos,” I said. “And I think you're the only one who can tell me where he is.”

Robert looked away from me, a scowl on his face. “Why should I help you? And why would I know where my dad is? I haven't spoken with him since he went to prison. Or ever, actually.”

“Because I know you've been in contact with your dad,” I said.

Robert looked at me in alarm. “What? How did you—”

“Shh,” I said, holding a finger up to my lips. “It doesn't matter how I know. I just do. Otherwise I wouldn't be here.”

Robert's alarm was replaced by annoyance. He held up a remote in his hand, his thumb hovering over one of the buttons. “Tell me, why shouldn't I call the hospital staff and tell them that you're harassing me and making my recovery difficult? I can do that, you know, even if I can't throw you out of my room myself.”

“Because your dad isn't as good as you think he is,” I said. “I don't know what stories your mom has been telling you about him, but your dad is a psycho who needs to be stopped before he hurts innocent people. And I'm the only one who can do that.”

“But Father said that he wants to avenge me,” said Robert. His eyes narrowed. “He knows what you did to me. He's going to kill you, like you deserve.”

“Maybe he will, but do you think he'll stop with me?” I said. “I don't know what Master Chaos's plans for the future are, but I bet he's planning to hurt way more people than just me.”

“Who cares?” said Robert with a shrug, but then he winced, likely because the shrug caused him pain. “Father will protect me and Mother. As long as he does that, I don't care if he kills everyone else on the planet.”

“Come on, Robert,” I said. “Your dad isn't the hero you think he is. He's a madman who wants to cause lots of destruction and chaos. He probably doesn't even care if you or your mom get hurt in the process.”

Robert glared at me with such hatred that I actually stepped back. “Don't you dare say that about Father. He broke out of prison just for me. He would never hurt me or Mother. Never.”

“Can you be so sure about that?” I said.

“Yes, I can,” said Robert. He coughed. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“Well, think about it,” I said. “Your dad only broke out of prison
after
you were nearly killed. If he was such a great dad, why didn't he break out earlier so he could be with you and your mom? Wouldn't you have benefited from having your dad in your life?”

Robert just scowled even more, but I could tell that I had got him. He didn't have a response for that, probably because I had touched a nerve. I didn't know what it was like being raised by a single parent, but I had some friends back in New York who were raised by their mothers and they always missed their fathers. I figured Robert was probably the same.

I noticed that Robert's thumb was on the button on the remote that would probably summon the hospital staff. I expected him to press it any second now, which would mean that I'd have to leave and resume my search for Master Chaos elsewhere.

But then Robert took his thumb off the remote and sighed. “Okay, Kevin, you made a good point. I don't know where Father is, but Mother gave me a few clues about where he is. I can tell you them if you want.”

I nodded eagerly. “Great. I'm all ears.”

“But you have to come closer,” said Robert. He coughed again. “My voice is getting weak, so I want you close enough to hear without me having to raise my voice.”

I drew closer to Robert's bed until I was standing right up against it. I leaned close to Robert's face, turning my ear to his mouth to make sure I didn't miss anything.

“All right,” I said. “What are the clues to your dad's location?”

At first, Robert looked like he was too tired to speak. But then he pulled something out of his shirt and slammed it into my chest with surprising force.

Though the impact didn't hurt, I was nonetheless sent stumbling backwards. I looked down at my chest to see a strange, blinking star-shaped device attached to my chest.

Alarmed, I looked up at Robert, who was now smirking at me with triumph.

“Is this a bomb?” I said. I tried to remove it, but the thing would not come off. “Are you going to blow us both to pieces?”

Robert shook his head. “No. You're just going to meet Father, like you always wanted. Say hi to him for me.”

I didn't understand what that meant until the star-shaped device on my chest glowed with a great white light, completely obscuring my view of Robert.

In the next second, the light vanished and I found myself standing alone in a dark room that clearly wasn't Robert's hospital room.

“What?” I said. I looked around, but could not see anything. “What happened? Where am I?”

Then the lights turned on. The sudden brightness briefly blinded me, but my eyes adjusted rapidly until I could now see someone standing in front of me.

And that someone was Master Chaos himself.

Chapter Nineteen

M
aster Chaos looked a little different from the pictures I'd seen of him on the Internet. For one, he was in an old orange jumpsuit that had splashes of red, blue, and green paint on it. He was almost bald, too, with only a few wisps of hair peaking out from under his cowboy hat. He was much taller and bulkier than me, wearing thick rubber boots that were completely mismatched. He smelled weird, too, like sewage, as if he hadn't taken a shower in his life.

But his eyes … those were just as crazy as the eyes I had seen in the photos. They were extremely bloodshot, looking almost red, like he hadn't gotten any sleep for months.