A Superhero's Revenge

by Lucas Flint

  “If you suspected this for so long, why didn’t you tell me right away?” I said. “Why not confront me about it immediately?”

  “Because, like I said, I wasn’t sure,” said Dad. He wiped his hands with a dry wash rag. “And, honestly, I didn’t want to believe that one of my sons was going behind my back to play superhero. Knowing you were a superhero—and an illegal one at that—meant knowing that you were putting your life in danger, if not every day, then at least on a regular basis. I didn’t want to think about the danger you put yourself in, so I decided that you were just an ordinary teenage boy who happened to have a nifty watch.”

  I stared at Dad, stunned to hear such a frank admission from him. I had never guessed that Dad would ever be too afraid to confront even the hardest truths. In the time I’d known him, Dad had always made it clear that he wouldn’t put up with crap from anyone and that he was willing to pursue the truth no matter how hard or unpleasant it may be. He had even explicitly taught me to always be honest and truthful even if it was hard. To hear Dad admit that he, like myself, sometimes tried to ignore unpleasant truths actually made me respect him more, rather than less, than I had before.

  “Well, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” I said. “I would have told you earlier, but I have a good reason for not telling you or Mom about my identity, though I guess it isn’t good anymore now, given what I just told you.”

  Dad nodded. “I’m not angry, but I am disappointed that you weren’t honest with me upfront. Still, I’ll accept your apology anyway, because right now, we have more important things to worry about than that.”

  “Like saving Mom,” I said. “Right?”

  “Right,” said Dad. “When I first read Holes’ ransom note, I felt despair because I knew I didn’t have the Trickshot Watch. But now that you have it—”

  “I don’t want to give it up,” I said. I covered the Watch with my hand. “Not to Holes, anyway. He’ll just kill all of us if I do that.”

  Dad rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Jack, what is more important to you? That Watch or your mother’s very life?”

  “Mom’s life,” I said, “but it would still be stupid to give Holes the Watch. I’m the only one who can beat him, but if he has the Watch, then all of Rumsfeld will be at his mercy, especially because Bug Bite is still in the hospital.”

  “And?” said Dad. “I would sacrifice the entire city and everyone in it if it meant saving Mary’s life. And I don’t say that lightly, because I love Rumsfeld and the people who live in it almost as much as I love my own family.”

  “I know, Dad,” I said, “but we can’t play Holes’ game. He won’t uphold his own end of the deal. He wants revenge for what Grandfather did to him and he will do anything to get it.”

  “But how can we save Mary and keep the Watch out of his hands?” said Dad in despair. He rested his face in his hands. “Holes is too strong. There’s no way we can stop him on our own. Our only hope is to give him the Watch and hope that he has enough honor in him to give us Mary back without a fight.”

  I sympathized with Dad’s feelings, but I still didn’t want to make the trade. I wanted to save Mom—wanted to save her more than anything else in the world—but I didn’t want to lose the Trickshot Watch, which, while not as valuable as Mom’s life, was still something I did not want falling into the hands of Holes.

  I had to admit, however, that Holes had us in a tricky spot. If we gave him the Watch, we would be powerless to stop him from slaughtering us. And he would. I knew he would, because even though I didn’t know Holes myself, I knew that he was too obsessed with revenge against Trickshot to think rationally or behave honorably. This whole situation had the word ‘TRAP’ written all over it in bright neon pink ink, yet I could not see any way out of it. It didn’t help that we had less than 24 hours to agree to Holes’ demands before he killed Mom.

  That was when an idea occurred to me. It was a simple idea, one that might possibly help us, but it was also incredibly risky and had the potential to blow up in our face if I didn’t do it right. But it was also our best chance of saving Mom and stopping Holes at the same time.

  So I said to Dad, “Dad, I’ve got a plan.”

  “A plan?” Dad repeated, raising his face out of his hands to stare at me blankly. “What kind of plan?”

  “A plan that will let us save Mom without letting Holes lay even one finger on the Trickshot Watch,” I said. “In fact, if it works, we might even be able to put Holes back in prison. But we’ll have to be smart about it. We can’t just go charging in. And, in order for it to work, we’ll have to do it without the help of the police, which will make it a lot more dangerous for us.”

  Dad cracked a grin. “Sounds good to me. The police are useless anyway. The two of us ought to be more than enough to stop Holes. And if Holes does turn out to be tougher than we think … well, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

  “Good to hear,” I said. “Now listen closely, because we have less than twenty-four hours to save Mom and I don’t want to waste a lot of time talking when we need to spend as much time as we can doing.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Sixteen hours later …

  At midnight that night, I flew silently through the air and landed on top of the abandoned warehouse where the exchange between Dad and Holes was to take place. I looked around briefly, searching for Holes, but it seemed like I was alone up here, which was fine by me, because the last thing I needed was for Holes to notice me. If he knew I was up here, then Holes would either call off the exchange entirely or maybe just kill Mom outright and run away. With luck, Holes would only realize that he was about to be played when things had progressed too far for even him to fix.

  I walked over to the window on the roof and peered through it at the interior of the warehouse. The warehouse was completely empty, which meant that Holes was not here yet, though that wasn’t surprising, because Holes had indicated over the phone call with Dad that he wouldn’t show up until Dad did. I suppose he just wanted to make sure that Dad would actually be here, instead of Dad sending police cops in his place instead. It was logical for him to do, but it did bother me a little, because it meant I’d have to time my intervention very carefully in order to make sure this plan went off without a hitch.

  TW flashed into existence next to me. His form glitched horribly for a brief second or two before he became solid again, though the edges of his holographic form were fuzzier than ever and he still flickered a time or two. “Do you think this plan will work, Jack?”

  “It should,” I said as I rose to my full height and stretched my limbs. “And it has to, because if it doesn’t, Holes will kill Mom and probably Dad, too.”

  “I dislike the idea of putting Gregory’s son in danger,” said TW, folding his arms across his chest. His arms flickered and merged with each other before flickering again and becoming separate. “Unlike you, he doesn’t have any powers that he could use to defend himself.”

  I smiled. “Don’t worry too much about Dad. He might not be a superhero, but he’s got the heart of one. Plus, he did say he was going to carry his handgun concealed on his person, even though I told him that Holes’ powers basically make guns useless against him.”

  “Your powers are not much more useful,” said TW. “We still don’t have a real strategy against him. We don’t even have the Depower that Gregory used to beat him the first time. And of course I’m still g-glitching out, so I don’t know how much help I’ll be in the final fight.”

  “I’ll figure something out,” I said. “I already basically beat him the first time we met. I’m sure I can beat him again, especially if I get the drop on him.”

  “Well, I hope you’re right,” said TW. He sighed. “And I suppose this is really our only option if we’re going to stop Holes once and for all. I don’t like it, but if this is what we have to do, then so be it.”

  “Hey, I don’t like it anymore than you do,” I said. “But like you said, this is our on
ly chance at beating him. We just have to pray and hope for the best.”

  “My cynicism says that’s naive,” said TW. “But maybe that’s just the glitch s-speaking.”

  “Yeah, probably,” I said. “Anyway, you should stay in the Watch for now to conserve your energy. Right now, I need to keep my wits about myself in case Holes has something up his sleeve that we’re not aware of.”

  TW nodded and disappeared with another flash. I knelt down before the window again, but due to the stillness of the night, my mind wandered a bit and I reflected on the plan which Dad and I had hammered out several hours earlier, though it seemed more like a lifetime ago now due to how tense and nervous I was.

  Several hours ago, Dad had called Holes, as per the ransom note, and the two of them had agreed to meet in the warehouse district in eastern Rumsfeld. Dad would bring the Trickshot Watch and Holes would bring Mom and the two of them would make the exchange inside the warehouse itself. Once the exchange was complete, Dad and Mom would be allowed to leave the warehouse unharmed, as would Holes. I doubted that part myself, because there was no way that Holes would ever let the son of Grandfather leave unharmed, but that was what they had agreed to over the phone and it was what we all more or less expected to happen.

  Of course, Dad wasn’t going to give Holes the Trickshot Watch. Dad was going to enter the warehouse with an empty box that he would try to give Holes in exchange for Mom, hoping that Holes might be so desperate for the Watch that he might not even check the box to make sure the Watch was actually in there. Even if Holes didn’t take the box, I would break through the window and jump Holes before he even knew what was happening. Assuming all went well, in a few minutes, Mom would be safe, the Trickshot Watch would remain safely in my possession, and Holes would be back in prison again.

  But that was assuming everything went well and I knew from experience that plans didn’t always work out the way you want them to. There was always an element of uncertainty to even the best plans and this was no different. Still, I had reason to believe that this plan would more or less work out the way I thought it would. As far as we knew, Holes still didn’t know my real identity, and as long as he didn’t know that, then he would never even suspect that we had laid a trap of our own for him to walk into.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out and saw that Dad was calling. Answering the phone, I said, “Hey, Dad, where are you?”

  “Just outside the warehouse,” said Dad. “Still sitting in my car. Is Holes there yet?”

  I glanced through the window and shook my head. “Nope. The warehouse looks pretty much entirely abandoned. I don’t see anyone in there.”

  “Are you sure he’s going to show up?” said Dad worryingly. “I know he told me he would show up with Mary, but what if this is all a trap? He might just show up without her and kill me for being the son of the original Trickshot.”

  “Maybe, but I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you,” I said. “Holes wants the Trickshot Watch. I’m absolutely certain he’ll show up and bring Mom with him, though I can’t guarantee he won’t try to kill you. But that’s what I’m here for. If Holes decides to go back on his end of the deal, then I’ll jump in and save you and Mom like we agreed.”

  “Right, right, I almost forgot you’re there,” said Dad. “Makes me feel better already, to be frank. But I’m still going to be cautious, and if that bastard lays even one finger on Mary’s head, I’ll introduce him to my good friend Samuel Colt. I think the two of them will get along great.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said. “Anyway, are you going to enter now?”

  “Yeah,” said Dad. “And I’ll call Holes to let him know, so don’t worry about that. I still have that jerk’s number on my phone. Hopefully, this will be the last time I ever have to dial it.”

  “Hopefully,” I agreed.

  I ended the call and slipped my phone back into the pocket of my suit. I then knelt in front of the window again, keeping as low as possible so that when Holes appeared, he would not see me. I doubted Holes would see me anyway, given how I was on the roof and he didn’t have any reason for looking up, but it was still best to be as still and quiet as possible in order to make sure he didn’t notice me.

  A second or two later, I heard the faint sounds of rusty door hinges creaking as a door was opened and closed. Another instant and Dad walked slowly into view, the empty cardboard box in one hand, his cell phone in the other. He was talking into his phone, most likely to Holes, though thanks to the glass, I was unable to hear anything Dad said. I couldn’t even see his face, because I was looking directly down at him and could only really see the top of his head.

  Dad himself, on the other hand, was looking this way and that as he walked. I didn’t blame him. The warehouse was pitch black inside, which would give Holes plenty of places in which to hide. I could tell that Dad was worried that Holes might jump him, but my night vision goggles showed me that the warehouse was still empty, so Dad really didn’t have anything to worry about right now.

  Then Dad lowered his smartphone to his side and slipped it back into his pocket. Just as he did that, a large black hole appeared on the other side of the warehouse and Holes himself stepped out of it. He was not alone. He dragged Mom out behind him and I was disgusted to see that he had tied up Mom and stuffed a sock in her mouth to keep her from speaking. She didn’t look injured from what I could tell, but even from up here, I could tell that Mom was absolutely terrified. She was shaking like she was having a stroke and I worried that she might just have a heart attack outright if she became too afraid.

  With Holes now here, I cracked open the window just enough for me to be able to hear whatever they were saying below. I got closer to the crack, putting my ear as near it as possible to make sure I didn’t miss a single word of Dad and Holes’ conversation.

  “Mary,” said Dad as soon as he spotted Holes and Mom. He took a step forward. “Mary, I—”

  Holes pointed a gun at the side of Mom’s head. “Ah, ah, Walter. Take one step closer and you know what I’ll do to your wife’s pretty little head.”

  Mom moaned through her sock. I could tell she was looking at Dad, desperately trying to convince him to run away, but Dad didn’t run. He just stayed where he was, his grip on the box tightening.

  “Wise man,” said Holes, though he didn’t lower the gun from the side of Mom’s head. “You know, I really don’t want to hurt your wife. She’s not related by blood to Gregory. Killing her would not sate my desire for revenge. So I am hoping that you and I will be able to behave like rational adults and make the exchange without any needless drama or problems.”

  I found Holes’ insistence on behaving like ‘rational adults’ hilarious given the circumstances, but I kept my mouth shut and listened as closely as I could.

  “Right,” said Dad. He lifted the box. “This is it. Had to dig it out of the attic, but here it is, the Trickshot Watch, originally owned by my father, just as you requested.”

  “Wonderful,” said Holes. He nodded at Dad. “Come closer so I can get a better look at it.”

  “First, give me Mary,” said Dad. “Then you can look inside the box as much as you want.”

  Holes tilted his head to the side, either in confusion or amusement. It was hard to say, because he technically didn’t have a face. “You’ve got a bit of a sharp tongue there, Walter. Much like your father, only your father usually followed it up with a punch to the face. Because you lack your father’s powers, you have no power over me, meaning you’re in no position to make any demands of me.”

  “But you want the Watch, don’t you?” said Dad, waving the box at him. “I won’t give it to you unless you first give me my wife back.”

  Holes suddenly threw the gun away into the darkness of the warehouse. At first, I thought he was going to let Mom go, but then Holes snapped his fingers and a hole appeared in the air next to Mom’s head. He then forced Mom’s head inside the hole and Mom’s head reappeared
in another hole on his left side.

  “Mary,” said Dad. “Don’t you dare.”

  Mom was whimpering through the gag in her mouth, but Holes held her steady with a strong grip. “Call me whatever names you like. It doesn’t change the fact that I can behead your wife anytime I like. And because you’re alone, you wouldn’t last very long against me in a fight, either. Trust me, I don’t value the Watch so much that I would let myself walk into such an obvious trap.”

  My hands balled into fists. I considered jumping down then and there, but the time wasn’t right yet. If I tried jumping down there now, I’d just as likely get Mom killed as I would defeat Holes. But I could sense that the time to strike was getting closer and closer. I just needed to wait for it.

  Dad’s hands shook. I thought he was just going to throw the empty box at Holes, but instead Dad nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll give you the box.”

  Dad lifted a foot to take a step toward Holes, but Holes shook his head and said, “Ah, ah, Walter, there’s no need for you to walk all the way over to me. Here, I’ll make a hole you can use.”

  Holes pulled Mom’s head out of the hole. A second later, two more holes appeared on the ground, roughly about the same size as the box. One of the holes was in front of Dad, while the other was in front of Holes himself.

  “Just drop the box into that hole and it will pop out of this one,” said Holes, gesturing at the hole in front of himself. “It’s quite simple.”

  Dad bit his lower lip, but he nonetheless bent over and slipped the box gently into the hole. The box disappeared briefly before it popped out of the hole in front of Holes, landing before Holes’ feet. Holes waved his hand and the box fell into another hole, only to reappear in a hole about a foot above Holes. The box fell into Holes’ outstretched hand, which he clutched against his chest like it was his firstborn.

  “There,” said Dad. “You’ve got the box. Now give Mary back to me. Give her back now.”