by Lucas Flint
In seconds, I drifted off into unconsciousness. The last sound I heard was a familiar pop, but I was unable to remember where I heard it from before I fell into darkness.
-
“Please wake up, Kevin.”
“Can you hear us, Kevin? Please open your eyes.”
The two voices floated into my ears. They sounded kind of familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had heard them before. In fact, I wasn't even sure if they were even real. All I saw around me was darkness, which made me think I was in some kind of weird dream. I felt a soft mattress underneath me that was quite comfortable, much better than the plaster and wiring I had landed on in the cafeteria.
But then, maybe it had all been a bad dream. My fight with Robert, Robert punching me through the cafeteria wall, Robert almost shooting me … yes, that was it. It was all just a bad dream, a nightmare, one that I was sure I was going to wake up from soon. I didn't even feel like I was in pain, though my muscles felt soft and stiff.
Opening my eyes, however, was a different story. I had to crack them open bit by bit. It was like they had been sealed shut with glue, not helped by the bright lights around me that made me want to close them again.
Eventually, however, I managed to open my eyes and see that I was lying on a soft bed with white sheets. I recognized it as the bed in the House's medical station, which made me feel relieved, because it meant that it had been a dream after all. Oddly, I wasn't in my costume, but that was okay because I was fine and everything seemed normal.
Then I noticed two people sitting near my bed. It was my Dad—who was in his full Genius costume now, though he had removed his helmet—and my Mom, who was wearing her green dress and blue necklace. They were both looking at me intently, as if they were watching my every move, which was kind of creepy.
“Mom? Dad?” I said. My mouth was dry and thirsty, but I seemed to have all my teeth, at least. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Kevin?” said Mom. She leaned forward in her chair, worry in her eyes. “How do you feel? Any broken bones?”
“Not that I can feel,” I said. I yawned. “I feel pretty good, actually.”
Dad sighed in relief, while Mom gave me a quick but tight hug before sitting back down in her chair.
“See, Ashley?” said Dad with a smile. “I told you that Healing Touch's power would heal him. There was no need to worry.”
“I know, but I'm his mother,” said Mom. “I'm supposed to worry about him, even if he is under the care of another superhero.”
At the mention of Healing Touch, who was the resident healer in the Neohero Alliance, I felt my heart sink, but I tried to keep my spirits up. “Why did Healing Touch heal me? What happened to me?”
“You mean you don't remember?” said Dad in surprise. “I guess that's not surprising. It looked like you crashed headfirst into that wall. Must have messed with your memory.”
My heart sank even further. “Tell me what happened. Maybe that will jog my memory.”
“Well, according to Malcolm, Robert punched you through the cafeteria wall with one blow,” said Dad. “You went flying and crashed into the wall hard enough to break nearly every bone in your body. Even Healing Touch had a hard time healing you, because she usually doesn't deal with injuries that serious. You've been out cold for a day.”
My heart hit the bottom of my stomach. “So you mean that all of that really happened, then.”
“It did,” said Dad. “Did you think it was a dream or something?”
I rubbed my forehead. “I don't know. I thought it was, but … well, how's Malcolm doing?”
“He's fine,” said Dad. “Jumpy and scared last I saw, but he was not injured and he is back with his family, though the G-Men have sent some agents to protect his family in case Robert comes after him again.”
“You mean Robert got away?” I said.
Dad nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. Your friends broke into the cafeteria to stop him, even fought him, but he managed to escape through a portal.”
“A portal?” I said. “Who made it?”
“We don't know,” said Dad, “but based on the description of it that Blizzard gave to us, I suspect that it was made by Hopper. You remember him, right?”
I nodded reluctantly. Hopper had been a member of the last incarnation of the Young Neos, the one that existed before my team. He had had the ability to open portals that could let him go wherever he wanted. He was also a member of the radical cult known as Vision and was crazy as all hell.
“But why would Robert escape through a portal made by Hopper?” I said. I shuddered. “Did Robert convert to Visionism or something?”
“We don't know, but it's possible,” said Dad. “We have no idea where Robert escaped to, but the G-Men are searching for him, as is the NHA.” Dad looked at me with a much more serious look now. “But what happened to you? How did Robert punch you through the cafeteria wall? Robert doesn't have any superpowers at all, much less the kind of super strength that you have.”
I rubbed my forehead. “I don't know how he did it. All I remember doing is walking up to him, knocking the gun out of his hand, and grabbing him. But then he grabbed me and … I don't know, but it felt like he drained me or something.”
“Drained you?” Dad repeated. “What do you mean? Did he draw blood from you?”
I shook my head. “No. It was like … he grabbed my arm with his hands and somehow drained me of my energy. I felt so weak that I could barely stand.”
“How do you feel now?” said Mom in a worried voice. “Do you feel sick?”
“Just … tired,” I said. I leaned backed against my pillow. “Kind of like I just did a really intense workout session, but worse.”
“Well, at least you are still alive,” said Mom. “We were worried that you wouldn't make it. You were out like a rock.”
“I'm glad I made it, too,” I said.
That was when I noticed Dad's expression. His eyes seemed to be focusing on something far away and his chin was resting on his fist, his lips curled downward in a frown.
I recognized the expression. It was how Dad looked whenever he was thinking about something important. And his frown told me that whatever he was thinking about, he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.
“Dad, what are you thinking about?” I asked. “What's the problem?”
Dad looked at me in surprise, like he had forgotten I was there. “What? Oh, I was just thinking about what you told me. About how Robert 'drained' you and your weakness.”
“It probably doesn't mean anything,” I said, shaking my head. “Maybe I just need a few days of rest and then I'll be back in action.”
“I am not so sure about that,” said Dad.
An ominous feeling went down my back, but I tried to ignore it,. “What do you mean? I'm healed. It's not like I'm bleeding internally or whatever.”
“Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about,” said Dad. He leaned toward me, a questioning look in his eyes. “Can you still use your powers?”
“Um, yeah,” I said. “Why wouldn't I be able to? It's not like I forgot how to or anything.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” said Dad. “Try to activate your super strength. Try to lift something.”
“Ted,” said Mom, looking at Dad in horror. “Why are you asking him to exert himself when he clearly needs rest? He's been through a lot and needs to sleep. You heard what Healing Touch told us.”
“No, Mom, it's all right,” I said. “Using my powers won't hurt me. You have nothing to worry about.”
“But—”
“It's fine, Ashley,” said Dad, putting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “I'm not asking Kevin to fight a supervillain. I just want to see something.”
Deep down, I thought I knew what Dad wanted to see, but it was such a horrifying idea that I hoped it was untrue. I focused on activating my super strength, on gaining my power again, but I felt … nothing. Nothing at all. It was like someone had opened me up and draine
d me of every power I had.
I looked at Dad again in panic. “Dad, I can't feel my super strength.”
Mom gasped, but Dad didn't look surprised at all, although his frown became even more pronounced.
“Yes, I suspected as much,” said Dad. “I wish to hell I was wrong, but it looks like my theory is correct.”
“What is your theory?” I said, even though I had a feeling that I already knew what it was.
Dad took off his glasses, rubbed them on his shirt, and then put them on and looked at me again. “Robert stole your powers.”
Chapter Three
“No,” I said. “No, that can't be possible. Maybe I'm just tired. That's probably why I can't use my super strength.”
“Kevin, you know that's not true,” said Dad. “I think you, me, and your mother all know that Robert somehow stole your powers. If you were just tired, you would still be able to use your powers, maybe not as effectively as normal, but you would be able to use them nonetheless.”
“Well, maybe he got my super strength, but I bet he didn't get my flight or super speed,” I said.
“Kevin—” said Dad, but I interrupted him by throwing my sheets off my body and swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
“No, Dad, it's all right,” I insisted. “I'll use my super speed and flight right here, right now and prove that I still have them.”
“Kevin, you should get back into bed,” said Mom. “You won't be able to stand. You're still too weak. And if you do use your super speed, you might hurt yourself.”
I stood up from my bed and stumbled forward before I regained my balance. “No, Mom, I'm fine. And I'll be even finer once I use my super speed and flight again.”
I turned toward the door. I focused on putting extra speed into my legs, giving me a boost that would allow me to run to the other side of the room in an instant. I wouldn't have even minded if I ran straight into the door and harmed myself. As long as I could still use my super speed, I'd be willing to take just about any amount of pain.
But I felt nothing. I did not feel the burst of energy that I usually felt whenever I used my super speed. My legs felt normal; well, actually, they felt weaker than normal, but that wasn't what I was trying to feel.
Dad must have noticed, because he said, “Kevin—” again before I said, “Watch me fly!”
I jumped into the air, but then fell right back to the floor. I didn't jump particularly high, but I still fell on my bottom. The impact wasn't jarring, but the realization that I had indeed lost all of my powers was.
“Kevin, are you okay?” said Mom. “Do you need help, honey?”
I shook my head. Grabbing the side of the bed, I raised myself back to my feet and sat down on the bed. I looked at my hands, which now looked a lot smaller and weaker than they did yesterday, even though I was pretty sure that I was still the same size I had been before I lost my powers. I just felt so fragile, like I would shatter into pieces as soon as someone touched me the wrong way.
At that moment, the door to the medical station slid open and a man in a full metal power suit that looked like knight armor entered. It was Mecha Knight, one of the members of the NHA Leadership Council, and also the supervisor of the Young Neos. He stopped when he saw me sitting on my bed, but it was impossible to tell if he was surprised or concerned, since his helmet blocked his face.
“Ah, Bolt,” said Mecha Knight in his usual cool monotone. “Carl told me that you were awake, so I came to check on you. How do you feel?”
“Awful,” I said. “And weak.”
“Well, you shouldn't feel so bad about yourself,” said Mecha Knight. “Everyone fails at some point, after all, and—”
“Jack, that isn't what Kevin means,” Dad interrupted him, causing Mecha Knight to look at him.
“What is the problem, then?” said Mecha Knight. “Does he still need to rest?”
“No,” I said. I couldn't look at Mecha Knight. “I'm fine. But my powers … my powers are gone.”
Mecha Knight tilted his head to the side. “Your powers are gone? What do you mean by that?”
“Robert Candle stole Kevin's powers,” Dad explained. He shook his head. “We're not sure how, but now Kevin is just a normal human teenager again.”
“Are you certain that he has lost his powers?” Mecha Knight questioned. “Sometimes particularly traumatic events can block a superhuman's powers for a brief period of time, as you know, Genius.”
“Yes, I am aware of that, but that doesn't appear to be what happened to Kevin,” said Dad with a sigh. “He has literally lost his powers.”
“Has this ever happened before?” I said, looking up at Mecha Knight and then at Dad. “Has anyone ever had their powers stolen before? Like, maybe a supervillain in the past did this sort of thing at some point, making a machine that could take away peoples' powers or whatever.”
“Not that we know of,” said Mecha Knight, shaking his head. “Powers are genetic, after all. While some scientists speculate that there may be a way to shut off powers in the brain, the fact is that modern neuroscience has yet to find the 'off switch,' as some call it, or its opposite, the ‘on switch.’”
“The closest thing I can think of is during the Pokacu invasion,” said Dad. He readjusted his glasses. “The Pokacu aliens used an artificially designed gas that negated a victim's powers. But the gas only lasted for a few hours, at which point the effects would fade and the victim's powers would immediately return to their original level and the gas itself would leave no long term effects on its victims.”
“Is Robert like half-Pokacu or something?” I said. “I mean, he's ugly enough to be one.”
Dad just rolled his eyes. “No, but it is a mystery as to how he did it. Kevin, did he happen to have any sort of device or gadget that he could have possibly used to do that? Perhaps some kind of powered glove that let him take your powers?”
I shook my head. “No. He had a gun, but that's not very useful for stealing powers from neoheroes. He just grabbed me with his bare hands and started draining me.”
“I see,” said Dad. He rubbed his forehead in worry. “Then my worst fears have come true: Robert's superpowers have finally manifested.”
“It is only logical,” said Mecha Knight, who didn't sound as worried about this as Dad did, though Mecha Knight generally didn’t emote much anyway. “After all, his father was Master Chaos. It would have been surprising if he hadn't manifested his powers at some point.”
“Hold on, are you guys saying that Robert's power is that he can steal powers from other neoheroes?” I said in shock.
“Unless he has some kind of device embedded under his skin or there is another explanation for it, then yes, that appears to be the case,” said Dad.
I groaned. “Why did he get the most overpowered superpower? That's so unfair.”
“Life is unfair in general, Bolt,” said Mecha Knight. “We must simply play with the hand we are given, even if it isn't as good as someone else's hand.”
I was about to ask how that was relevant when Mom suddenly said, “If Robert has Kevin's powers, does that mean he will use them to attack us?”
“Probably,” said Dad. “I think it is more likely that he will come after Kevin first, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to get you and me as well. After all, I was ultimately the one who killed his father, so he probably doesn't think very highly of me.”
“But how will we defend ourselves?” said Mom. She anxiously rubbed her hands together. “And what if he has other powers as well? Maybe he's stolen powers from other neoheroes besides Kevin. There's no telling what he can do.”
In all of my whining at losing my powers, I had completely forgotten that Mom was just an ordinary human being who didn't have any powers of her own and was therefore defenseless against someone like Robert. I felt ashamed of myself for not thinking about what this meant for my parents, because their lives were in just as much danger as mine.
Dad wrapped an arm around Mom's shoulde
rs and said, “Don't worry, Ashley. Valerie and I will secure the home and make sure Robert won't be able to come within five feet of our house without getting blasted into oblivion.”
“The NHA can also offer you protection, if necessary,” said Mecha Knight. “As you were once a member of the NHA, we would be more than happy to offer you whatever protection from Robert you may need.”
“We may just have to take you up on that offer, Jack,” said Dad. “I can make defenses against a variety of different powers, but it would probably be better if we had at least a few actual neoheroes there to defend us.”
Jack? Was that Mecha Knight's real name or something? I guess it made sense that Dad knew him, because Dad and Mecha Knight used to work together in the NHA, but I didn't know what Mecha Knight's real identity was. He had never seen fit to tell me or the other Young Neos what his real identity was, but then, that wasn't unusual, because most NHA members kept their true identities secret. Still, Mecha Knight worked more closely with the Young Neos than he did with Dad, so I wondered if he would ever share his identity with me at some point.
Not that that was my biggest problem at the moment, however. My biggest problem was figuring out how to get back my powers, but that was such an uncomfortable thing for me to think about that I decided to focus on a new problem I noticed.
“I don't think that sending real neoheroes to protect us will actually work,” I said. “If Robert can steal powers, what's to stop him from stealing their powers and then using them to kill you?”
“Bolt raises a good point,” Mecha Knight said. “Any neohero we send to protect you will be at risk at losing their powers to Robert, assuming we are correct that Robert has the ability to steal powers. Even if Omega Man himself were to protect you, he wouldn't be able to buy you much time against Robert unless he could kill or disable him quickly.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” said Mom. She tugged at her necklace anxiously. “If even the NHA can't defend us, then who can?”
“We can,” said a soft and gravelly voice from the doorway.
We all looked over at the doorway to see a man in his late forties standing there. He wore an old-fashioned suit, with a G-Men patch on his right shoulder and had deep black hair, with a few gray strands here and there that hinted at his age.
