by Lucas Flint
I was surprised. Edge never admitted when he needed help, much less help from me. This seemed like a genuine moment of vulnerability to me, a moment I definitely wasn’t going to pass up on.
“All right,” I said carefully. “Go ahead and tell us your story. We’re listening.”
Edge took a deep breath. He seemed to be drawing all of his courage just to speak.
Then he looked up at us and said something I never expected him to say:
“I am a clone of Seth Richards . . . designed with the express purposes of killing him in cold blood.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
For a moment, a long silence hung in the air between me and Blizzard and Edge. I could barely believe what I just heard, and based on Blizzard’s shocked expression, neither could she. Edge, however, looked like he was braced for impact as if he was afraid we might attack him or something.
“Let me get this straight,” said Blizzard slowly. “Did you just say you’re a clone of Seth Richards? Did we hear that right?”
“You heard that perfectly right,” said Edge. He audibly sniffled, a sign that he wasn’t holding it together as well as he seemed. He put a hand on his chest. “A clone designed with one purpose only: To kill Seth Richards.”
“This is a joke,” said Blizzard. She looked up at me worryingly. “Right? You know him better than I do. Does this seem like the kind of practical joke he’d pull on someone?”
“Edge never jokes about anything,” I said, shaking my head. “If this really is a joke, it’s a bad one.”
“That’s because it isn’t,” said Edge, annoyance creeping into his voice. “I really am a clone of Seth Richards. I’m not just his grandson. I was created directly from his DNA. He’s more like my father than my actual father is.”
I could tell Edge wasn’t joking because he seemed too earnest and, like I said, Edge wasn’t much of a joker in the first place. Even so, I still found his statement unbelievable. Maybe it wasn’t a joke, but it could have just as easily been a lie, although I had no idea what Edge would gain from telling such a bizarre lie.
“But you just said he’s your grandfather,” I said slowly. “How can he be both your grandfather but also the original version that you were cloned from? It doesn’t make sense.”
Edge rubbed his forehead in exasperation. “Let me start from the beginning. It’s kind of a confusing story, but I’ll explain it as best as I can. Please listen carefully, because I’m not going to repeat myself twice.”
Blizzard and I both went as quiet as we could, watching Edge and waiting for him to start speaking.
With a sigh, Edge began pacing back and forth across the concrete floor in front of us. It was an oddly natural gesture, unlike most of his behavior, which made me suspect that Edge was giving us a glimpse of the real boy behind the mask. “You guys know that my grandfather, Seth Richards, founded Project Revival along with Genius and Mecha Knight, right?”
I nodded. “Of course. Seth called himself Benefactor back then.”
“Yeah,” said Edge, nodding. He kept his eyes on the floor as he paced back and forth. “Project Revival was originally founded with the aim of resurrecting people who died too young. At least, that’s what Genius and Mecha Knight and everyone working on it was led to believe. Seth was really good at lying to everyone, because no one knew what the true purpose of Project Revival really was, aside from Seth, of course.”
“Okay,” I said. “What was the real purpose behind Project Revival? It couldn’t be anything good, could it?”
Edge stopped and looked at me with a sardonic look in his eye. “You catch on quick, you know that? Real smart, you are.”
“Please keep talking,” Blizzard said quickly before I could respond. “We’re really interested in hearing your story.”
Blizzard’s words seemed to reach Edge in a way that mine couldn’t because he nodded and resumed pacing back and forth. “The true purpose of Project Revival was not to bring back people who died too young or deserved a second chance at life. No, the central aim, always and forever, was to help Seth Richards achieve true immortality.”
“Immortality?” I said. “I don’t get it. How does something like Project Revival help Seth achieve immortality?”
Edge looked over at me like I was an idiot. “Isn’t it obvious? Whenever one of Seth’s bodies gets too old or weak, he can transfer his consciousness from his old body into a new, young clone body. By doing so, he can effectively live forever, at least as long he has a steady supply of cloned bodies to jump into whenever his current body starts to decay.”
“Oh,” I said. “It sounds to me like Project Revival was a success, then. Last time I saw Seth, he was in a new younger body cloned from his original DNA.”
“Exactly,” said Edge. “That’s the real reason Project Revival was shut down, not because of what happened to Fisticuffs. Once Seth learned the secret to immortality, he had Project Revival shut down so he could keep all that knowledge to himself.”
I frowned. “But Longworth told me that Project Revival was never really shut down and that he kept it going under his guidance even after the other Vaults were shut down.”
“I’ll admit, I have no idea what was going on there,” said Edge. “It’s possible Seth still has cloning experiments for other reasons, but in any case, the point is that Seth wanted immortality, which he now effectively has.”
“So we can’t stop him, then,” said Blizzard. “If he’s already achieved his goal—”
“Seth can be stopped,” Edge cut her off without looking at her. “He may be immortal, but he’s not invincible. Anyway, that’s off-topic. The point is that Seth supported Project Revival just to ensure his own immortality. Nothing more, nothing less.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I can see Seth doing that. So how do you tie into this?”
Edge stopped pacing again and looked over at us, this time with a more somber expression. “Seth wasn’t a bachelor or single when he started Project Revival. He was married to a woman called Janet, who he had a son with, a son named Sean.”
My eyes widened. “Janet? I met her back on the yacht. She didn’t look that old, though.”
“Janet is also a clone,” said Edge. “The original Janet died about ten years ago due to cancer, but Seth couldn’t bear to let her go. So he had her cloned. However, Janet suffers from the same flaw pretty much all clones suffer from, namely that she has no memory of herself and so doesn’t really remember who Seth is. Or even her own son, for that matter, although that is a deliberate effort on Seth’s part.”
“Back to the son,” said Blizzard. “The one you called Sean. What happened to him? Is he still around?”
Edge sighed. “At first, Seth and Sean were as close as a father and son could be, but eventually, as Seth became more and more obsessed with immortality, Sean started to feel alienated from and then afraid of his own father. The two of them had loads of arguments about Project Revival and how it was hurting the family, which ended in Sean completely severing all ties with Seth and Janet and going on to live his own life apart from Seth.”
I grimaced. “Family trouble. Can’t say I relate, but also can’t say I’m surprised.”
“It gets worse,” said Edge grimly. “Seth didn’t let Sean have any of the family wealth when he severed ties with him. He basically kicked Sean out onto the streets and told him to starve. Well, Sean and his girlfriend, Susan, who would eventually become my mother, who Seth never really liked. Seth also went out of his way to spread all kinds of awful rumors about Sean in order to make it impossible for him to live a normal life.”
“Geez,” said Blizzard. “Seth sounds extremely petty.”
“He is the definition of petty,” said Edge with a deeper scowl. “Anyway, Sean didn’t starve and actually managed to rise out of homelessness and poverty on his own merits. But he never forgot what Seth did to him and made it his mission to stop his father, who he believed had crossed the line with his cloning experiments a long time ago an
d needed to be stopped.”
Edge came to a stop right in the middle of his pacing route and looked directly at us. “So Sean hired someone to break into one of Seth’s cloning facilities and make me, a clone, who was supposed to kill the original Seth. My real name is Samuel Richards, but I prefer Edge.”
“They … made you?” I said. “What do you mean?”
Edge scowled as if I had just asked the dumbest question in the world. “What do you mean, what do I mean? The guy Sean hired to break into one of Seth’s cloning facilities used the technology in there to make me. He took one of Seth’s clones and was going to make it into an adult, but then the security alarms went off and he had to take me—that is, me as a baby—out. That was fourteen years ago.”
“Wow,” said Blizzard. “So you didn’t come from your mom like the rest of us?”
Edge shook his head. “I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a mom. I did. Her name was Susan. She raised me with Sean and she was a good mom. Best mom ever.”
Once again, Edge was letting his sincerity show through when he was talking about his mom. I could tell he really did love her, which made me wonder what happened to her.
Then Edge looked at his feet again. “Mom died three years ago. She also got cancer, just like Janet, but unlike Janet, she wasn’t cloned back to life. She’s dead and is going to stay dead forever, which is probably for the best.”
“Sorry to hear that,” I said. “She sounded like a good mom.”
“She was.” Edge looked up at us again, his one exposed eye glistening with tears. “Sean remarried, so I’ve got a stepmom, who’s been nice, but she’s not the same as Mom, especially after she divorced Sean.”
I bit my lower lip. I hadn’t realized just how much Edge had gone through in his short life. It was amazing he could speak at all, given all the had been through. Perhaps he was tougher than he looked.
“Did you always know you were a clone?” I said. “You said you were Seth’s grandson before.”
“No, I didn’t always know, not until recently when my dad told me so,” said Edge. He put a hand on his hear again. “But I can’t say I am surprised to hear that. I’ve always sort of known I was different from all the other kids. That’s why I became Edge Vigilante. I learned how to fight and use weapons so I could one day kill Seth, the man who ruined my family’s life, the grandfather I never had and never could have.”
“Does your, er, ‘Dad,’ that is, Sean, know you’re doing this?” said Blizzard.
Edge shook his head. “No, he doesn’t. My parents have split custody, so sometimes I stay with Sean, other times I stay with Mom. Right now, I’m staying with Mom for Christmas, which is why I am here in Showdown. Otherwise I’m in New York City with my dad.”
Ah. I wondered why I hadn’t seen Edge in two months. I guess having to split his time between his two parents who lived in two different states explained that.
Pushing that thought out of my mind, I said, “That’s definitely one of the weirdest stories I’ve ever heard.”
“Do you believe me?” asked Edge, taking a step toward me, his eyes locked on my own. “I understand if you don’t. It’s a hard story to believe, especially without proof.”
“I … believe you,” I said. “I don’t get the sense you’re lying. What do you think, Blizz?”
“I believe him as well,” said Blizzard. She looked at Edge. “I don’t know you very well, but you don’t seem like a liar to me, even if you are a bit creepy.”
Edge sighed in relief. “Thank God. I was worried you guys might call me crazy. Nice knowing that someone around here believes me.”
“Right,” I said. “Anyway, thanks for telling us your story. The information you gave us definitely helps us understand Seth better.”
“I hope it does,” said Edge. He rubbed his hands together anxiously. “The reason I came to you guys is because I know I can’t beat Seth on my own. I need allies. I need friends. I need people I can rely on to help me take him down.”
“What about your dad?” said Blizzard. “Is he working with you?”
Edge scowled. “After the botched attempt to make a clone to fight Seth, Sean just decided to raise me as his own child. He even told me not to go after Seth, but he doesn’t understand. If I don’t stop Seth, no one else will. That’s why I became Edge Vigilante: To avenge my family and punish Seth for his crimes against humanity.”
A soft clapping sound could suddenly be heard echoing off of the warehouse’s rafters. The three of us looked around wildly but were unable to see who was clapping.
“Clapping?” said Edge, looking around in a hurry. “Who the heck is clapping?”
“I be clapping, matey,” said a deep, threatening voice. “Clapping at your sad little tale. ‘Twas so sad that I nearly cried. Nearly.”
From between two crates stepped a man in a full pirate costume, complete with cutlass and pirate hat. His girth bulged against the waistband of his pants, which would have made him look comical if his skin wasn’t so red.
“What the—?” said Blizzard. “A pirate? Here? Okay, I am officially confused now.”
The pirate grinned. “I ain’t no mere pirate, missy. You can call me Captain Red Tide, Captain of the Red Tide Pirates, and Captain of The Red Tide, me pride and joy. But tonight, ye will know me only as the last sight any of you landlubbers will lay eyes on.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Uh oh. I remembered Red Tide. He was a notorious pirate-themed supervillain wanted in dozens of countries all around the world for various acts of piracy and criminality. The last time I ran into him was a couple of months ago when I had infiltrated his pirate crew in order to retrieve a stolen weapon for the G-Men in exchange for the Miracle potion that saved Blizzard’s life. I honestly never expected to see him again, which was why I was so surprised to see him now, in the flesh.
“Red Tide?” Blizzard repeated. She looked at me suddenly. “Hey, Bolt, didn’t you tell me about a supervillain named Red Tide once?”
“No doubt he did, girlie,” said Red Tide with a sneer. He gestured at me. “Old ‘Charles’ here told you all about how he deceived his way onto my crew and tried to betray me at the last second. Luckily, he didn’t understand just how clever old Red Tide be, though he still got away regardless.”
I cracked a grin. “”Deceived,’ huh? Is that what you call me beating the tar out of your strongest crew member?”
“I am not referring to that, me boy,” Red Tide snapped, “but go ahead and think you’re oh-so-clever. I’ve dealt with more than a few young kids like you in my time and each and every time I have eaten them up and spat them out like the disgusting barnacles they are!”
My grin grew wider despite myself. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Fingerprints trick you into abandoning your own ship with a really stupid lie? I thought you guys were still adrift on a life raft somewhere in the Gulf of Florida.”
Red Tide drew his cutlass and aimed it at me. “Shut your pie hole, you filthy landlubber. The point is that Captain Red Tide is back for revenge against the man who ruined my business and stole me ship.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Fingerprints was the one who tricked you guys into abandoning ship, not me. Also, Fingerprints took your ship into government custody, again not me. You’re wasting your time coming after me, you know, especially by yourself.”
Red Tide’s crooked smile suddenly grew wider and uglier. “I don’t recollect saying I came by myself.”
A cry behind me made me and Blizzard look over our shoulders. A large man who was at least a head taller than me and had muscles more like stone than flesh stood behind Edge, his massive arms wrapped firmly around Edge’s body. Edge was struggling to free himself, but it was pretty clear that the huge man was too strong for Edge to fight against.
“Tiny?” I said in surprise. “You’re here, too?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” replied Tiny in a smug voice. “I still never got my revenge for you humiliating me
in front of the Captain like that, although I’m happy to take out my hate onto this kid here instead if I have to.”
“And ye may very well have to break that dumb brat’s spine, Tiny me boy, assuming ol’ Bolt here doesn’t want to agree to our demands,” said Red Tide.
I looked at Red Tide again and gritted my teeth. “Two against two. Our odds seem pretty good if I do say so myself.”
Red Tide smirked. “Oh, the odds are much worse than that, me boy. Look around you again and tell me what ye see.”
I looked around at our surroundings again and noticed that we were no longer alone. Pirates began to appear out of the shadows, some on the floor around us, others on the rafters above. It was amazing how silently a bunch of rowdy pirates could move when they wanted to. I would have thought they were ninjas if I didn’t know any better, although something told me that none of the Red Tide Pirates would be very happy to be compared to ninjas.
Soon, every possible exit was blocked off by members of Red Tide’s crew. Normally, I would not have been very worried about that. Between me and Blizzard, the two of us could have easily taken out Red Tide and his whole crew without breaking a sweat.
But it was different with Edge as their captive. Having experienced Tiny’s immense strength personally, I knew for a fact that Tiny could easily kill Edge if he wanted. That he hadn’t yet had nothing to do with his merciful nature and everything to do with the fact that Edge was currently more valuable to them alive than dead, although that could easily change depending on how the next few minutes went.
“What do you want, Red Tide?” I said. I kept my voice calm and level and was glad to feel Blizzard standing calmly beside me as well.
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Red Tide. “No? Then let me explain in the simplest words possible: I want revenge for your destruction of me pirate crew and ship. Oh, and I also want to be paid by Seth Richards, who has hired me yet again for another well-paid mission.”
