by Lucas Flint
I cracked a grin. “Maybe tonight was a wash for me, but if I remember correctly, you said the same thing to me the last time we met and yet I managed to escape you anyway. You might want to avoid counting your chickens before they hatch.”
“You did get the best of me back then, I’ll admit,” said Bug Bite, “but this time, I’m not going to let you get away that easily.”
Bug Bite held up a button and pressed it with his thumb. I thought it was a detonator at first and that he was going to blow us and the Hive to bits, which seemed entirely out of character for Bug Bite.
But there was no explosion. Instead, I heard hissing sounds below and looked over my shoulder to see a sight out of my worst nightmares.
The test tubes were opening via hinges. As they opened, a disgusting, slimy stink like swamp water wafted out of them, driving away the previously sterile air of the lab and making me gasp slightly. Yet that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst part was that the liquid in the tubes was draining through the bottom of the tubes, leaving the giant insects and bugs shining under the lights from the ceiling.
And then the bugs started to move. They began to climb or fly out of the tubes, surrounding the platform on all sides. Above, the flying bugs formed a loose circle around the platform. Below, the ones that couldn’t fly formed an equally loose circle underneath us. The buzzing of wasp and bee wings, the clicking and clacking of mandibles, and the titters and tatters of feet filled the air, while a terrible stench, like bleach mixed with swamp water, filled my nostrils and made me wince.
Bug Bite didn’t look even remotely afraid of all of the giant bugs that swarmed around us. He merely stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking as if I had just fallen right into his trap. Considering what he just told me, that wasn’t entirely inaccurate.
“I’m going to give you one last chance to surrender, Trickshot,” said Bug Bite. “If you agree to come quietly, I’ll send all of my bugs back into their tubes. But if you refuse to surrender or even resist … well, I think you’re smart enough to know what will happen.”
I was. I had a hard time taking my eyes off the giant wasp floating just behind Bug Bite. If it had looked scary frozen in stasis in the tubes, then it looked absolutely terrifying actually moving about. I had no doubt in my mind that the wasp’s stinger could skewer me as easily as any sword. Bug Bite probably wouldn’t kill me, but he could easily cripple me for life.
Therefore, I had only two choices. I could either surrender, as Bug Bite said, and not only go to jail for being an illegal superhero, but also go down in history as the murderer of Baron Glory, or I could fight back against Bug Bite’s horde of monster bugs. Can’t say I was exactly thrilled about my choices, but I did go into this knowing that I might find myself on the receiving end of a beat down from Bug Bite.
“Jack, you should try to get out of here,” said TW in my head. “Getting arrested by Bug Bite would be the worst possible thing that could happen to you.”
“I know,” I responded in my mind. “But it’s not that easy. Look at all of these bugs. Look at the wasp.”
“I’ll see if I can make a distraction for you,” said TW. “I still have access to the Hive’s security systems, so there may be something I can do to distract Bug Bite or his horde. But I’ll need you to delay Bug Bite as much as you can.”
I was about to tell TW that Bug Bite was not in the mood to be delayed, but of course TW cut off our connection just then. Very well. I’d just have to do my best and hope that it would be enough.
“What are you afraid of happening if I escape, Bug Bite?” I said. “Afraid of the truth getting out?”
“I’m more afraid of a criminal like you getting out onto the streets where you can harm more innocent people,” said Bug Bite. “If that’s the ‘truth’ that I should be afraid of getting out, then let it.”
“You know what I’m talking about,” I said. I pointed at Bug Bite. “You framed me for killing Baron Glory and you’re afraid that the longer I’m free and on the streets of Rumsfeld, the more likely it becomes that I’ll find all the proof I need to prove my innocence.”
Bug Bite actually stepped back when I said that. “What? You think I framed you for the murder of one of my best friends? Where in the world did you get that idea?”
“Stop playing dumb,” I said. “You know the truth. There’s no need to act like you have no idea what I’m talking about. It’s just you and me here, after all, so you don’t have to worry about any of your employees overhearing your confession.”
Bug Bite shook his head and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Baron Glory was a treasured friend and ally of mine. I would never murder him, not even to frame you.”
Bug Bite sounded sincere, but I knew from experience how tricky he could be, so I said, “That’s not what the evidence I’ve collected suggests. Really, you don’t have to keep denying it. It’s not like it will change my mind.”
“Evidence, eh?” said Bug Bite. “Well, I also have plenty of evidence that suggests that you are the actual murderer of Baron Glory. I don’t know what your game is by accusing me of being the real murderer or whatever, but it doesn’t matter. Once you are in prison, it won’t matter one wit what you accuse me of.”
I frowned. I guess I had expected Bug Bite to admit to killing Baron Glory, what with us being alone and all, but maybe not. Then again, perhaps Bug Bite really was innocent and I had just falsely accused him of a terrible crime. Given how sincere he seemed in his denials, that was always a possibility. Regardless, I had no intention whatsoever of letting him arrest me. I didn’t know what TW was planning, but given how I was rapidly running out of time, I decided it was time to take action.
Taking a step back, I said, “Deny the truth all you like, Bug Bite, but the truth always wins out in the end. Someday soon, I’ll reveal to the whole world what you really did. Until then, I’m out.”
I launched into the air, heading straight for the ceiling, but the giant wasp suddenly shot toward me with surprising speed. It jabbed at me with its stinger, forcing me to curve to the side to avoid getting stabbed. I nearly flew into the giant bee, which also tried to sting me and which I also dodged by ducking underneath its massive stinger.
Flying to the left, I made my way toward one of the windows as fast as I could, but then another wasp appeared in my path. I swerved to the side, but then a huge praying mantis standing on top of one of the tubes swiped at me with its forelegs. The foreleg glanced off me, but it was enough to send me crashing to the floor below.
Dazed, I shook my head and looked up in time to see a giant scorpion standing over me. I couldn’t tell you what its species was, but I could tell that it was getting ready to stab me with its stinger tail. The scorpion jabbed its stinger at me, but I rolled out of the way at the last second, causing the stinger to strike against the floor harmlessly.
Rolling to my feet, I pulled two disks out of my pouch and hurled them at the scorpion’s face. The disks hit the scorpion dead on, making it hiss and stagger away from me, waving its tail and claws helplessly. I turned around to fly away, but then found myself face-to-face with a huge spider, which slammed one of its legs into my abdomen and sent me flying to the side.
I crashed through one of the test tubes, sending glass and fluid flying everywhere. The impact of the crash left me briefly dazed, but I shook my head again and tried to sit up, only to feel a sharp pain in my lower back. Feeling my back, I found that I had a bad cut, probably from the glass cutting through my skin. It was bleeding, but I didn’t have time to worry about it.
Rising to my feet, I looked around and realized that Bug Bite’s army of bugs had surrounded me on all sides. The scorpion, the spider, and the praying mantis were converging on my position from the floor, while the bee, the fly, and the wasp had the air above me covered. Even worse, Bug Bite rode the wasp like some kind of horse, looking down at me with his featureless mask like a god about to pronounce judgment on a mortal.
&n
bsp; “One last chance, Trickshot,” said Bug Bite, “before my bugs tear you apart piece by piece.”
My hands balled into fists. I was starting to understand just why Bug Bite was considered such an effective superhero. I also shuddered to think about what would happen if Bug Bite ever decided to unleash his army of genetically-modified insects on the world. It made me feel sorry for the criminals who were unlucky enough to end up on the wrong end of his insects.
But enough of that. If I didn’t act quickly, I would end up as insect food. But how could I beat all of these bugs at once?
“Jack,” said TW in my head suddenly. “I’ve got the Hive’s fire alarm set to go off in a few seconds. It should distract Bug Bite long enough for you to escape.”
“Really? That’s convenient,” I said.
“Right, but once the fire alarm starts, you can’t waste any time getting out,” said TW. “I don’t know how long it will distract him, but it won’t be long enough.”
“Gotcha,” I said.
I looked up at Bug Bite and smirked. “Gotta admit, Buggy, your big creepy crawlies are pretty cool, but it’s going to take more than a few insects to take me down.”
Bug Bite shook his head. “Exactly the kind of answer I’d expect from you, but no matter. Justice shall be served today, whether you come with me willingly or not.”
“Justice?” I said. “There’s nothing ‘just’ about falsely accusing someone of murder, Buggy.”
“You could say the same about yourself,” said Bug Bite.
“Jack, the fire alarm is about to go off,” said TW. “Just a heads up.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Think I’ve got another plan that should work in conjunction with yours.”
I pulled a disk out of my pouch and threw them at Bug Bite and his flying insects. Bug Bite pulled his wasp up out of the way of the disk, but the disk still cut through the wasp’s wing, sending it falling to the floor below. At the same time, a loud alarm suddenly started blaring and the sprinklers on the ceiling started dumping buckets of water down on us.
The sudden alarms and water coming down from the ceiling caused the other insects to start staggering about in confusion, but I didn’t even hesitate. I jumped into the air and flew straight toward the nearest window as fast as I possibly could.
I smashed straight through the window and rocketed out into the night sky, leaving the Hive far behind as I flew as hard and fast as I could. And though I couldn’t be sure of it, I thought I heard Bug Bite cursing my name above the alarms and sprinklers back in the Hive.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Rather than head back to my family’s house, I went straight to Target Practice, because it was closer and I didn’t want to accidentally lead Bug Bite to my home in case he was following me. I mean, I didn’t think that he was following me, what with crashing to the floor on the back of his giant wasp and all, but I still didn’t want to risk it.
I entered Storage Building 1 via the back entrance and stumbled toward the abandoned receptionist’s desk, where I sat on the old office chair that creaked under my weight, though it held me nonetheless. I grimaced and felt the wound on my lower back where the glass had cut. It didn’t feel very deep, so my suit would probably be able to heal it, but it hurt a lot and I still wished the pain would go away.
TW flashed into existence on the other side of the desk, a concerned look on his face. “Are you all right, Jack? That wound looked bad.”
“I’ll be all right,” I said with a slightly strained voice. “The costume, I think, will be able to heal it. Don’t worry about it.”
“Very well,” said TW. “I just wanted to make sure we were not going to need to make another trip to Marge. I don’t want to test her patience by coming to her for a healing session at midnight all the time.”
“Nah, we won’t need to go to her,” I said. I winced at the pain. “But I might need to lay low for a couple days or so. Once news gets out that I broke into the Hive and beat Bug Bite again, I have a feeling that the police are going to pull out the big guns to deal with me.”
“Perhaps,” said TW, “but that probably won’t be until tomorrow. For now, we have other things to discuss.”
“Yeah,” I said, my shoulders slumping, “like how this mission was a complete failure, for starters.”
I pulled out the blank flash drive and tossed it on the desk between us. “Went to all of that trouble to get that flash drive, only for it to turn out to be a complete and utter dud. It would be funny if I wasn’t so exhausted and pissed off.”
“We probably should have seen it coming, in all honesty,” said TW, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Bug Bite is a very intelligent person, regardless of what you think about him. It makes sense that he would do something like this. It’s our own fault for not considering it a real possibility.”
“Maybe,” I said listlessly, “but now we’re no closer to proving my innocence than we were before. If anything, we’re even worse off than before, because of my injury and stuff.”
“I wouldn’t call our mission a complete failure,” said TW. “After all, we learned that Bug Bite does not know anything about the assassin.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
“You saw how he acted when you accused him of murdering Baron Glory,” said TW. “He was absolutely furious. No doubt he was deeply offended by the suggestion that he was the one who killed his own friend. That didn’t seem like the reaction of a murderer or someone who ordered an assassination to me.”
“But the eyepiece,” I said. “Doesn’t that count for more evidence than Bug Bite’s own denials?”
“Perhaps,” said TW. “But we were never really sure about the eyepiece in the first place, were we? Isn’t it possible that the eyepiece might have been stolen by the assassin in an effort to frame Bug Bite?”
“I guess so,” I said, “but it still seems pretty far-fetched to me. If Bug Bite isn’t behind the assassination, then who is?”
TW shrugged. “To that question, I have no answer. Whoever it is, they clearly are out to ruin your life.”
“Ruin it?” I said. I laughed. “They’re trying to destroy it. The only way this could get any worse is if they somehow find out my secret identity and kill my parents. I don’t think that’s likely to happen, though.”
TW shrugged again. “I can’t think of anyone who would try to do this. The Injectors would have been my first guess, but Michael Jones is in jail and the rest of the Injectors are either scattered to the winds or in jail with him. I don’t know who else might hate you enough to want to ruin your life this way.”
“The only other group who might be willing to do this sort of thing to me is Icon,” I said, leaning back in the chair. “Could be they want revenge for what I did to the Injectors, which I’m sure ruined whatever they were trying to do here in Rumsfeld.”
“Possibly, but we haven’t heard anything from Icon since you defeated the Injectors last month,” said TW. “Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. You did run into that Mohammad fellow who was trying to kill your uncle.”
“Yeah, but that’s my uncle,” I said. “As far as I can tell, my uncle’s adventures and my being framed for murder are entirely unrelated. Icon probably isn’t behind it this time.”
“Then I am at a loss for who it could be,” said TW. “If it’s not Bug Bite or the Injectors or Icon, then who could be trying to frame you?”
I sat there, thinking hard about TW’s question. It was a difficult one, because all of the obvious suspects had been more or less cleared. I still wasn’t entirely certain of Bug Bite’s innocence, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made, because Bug Bite was not known to do this sort of thing, and anyway, even if he was inclined to order an assassin to kill someone he doesn’t like, he would never do it to one of his friends like Baron Glory.
My mind kept drawing a blank. No matter how hard I thought, I didn’t have any answers. It didn’t help that I was still tired from my fight wi
th Bug Bite and his insects, and getting rather sleepy, because it was very late and was way past my bedtime.
Yawning, I said, “You know what, TW? I think it’s about time I go home. Whoever is behind Baron Glory’s murder and whoever framed me are questions I will think about tomorrow, when I have a clearer head after a good night’s sleep.”
“A wise decision, I think,” said TW. “Humans require a lot of rest in order to function correctly. It makes me glad that I’m not human. I could not imagine sleeping for eight hours straight.”
“With me, it’s probably going to be more like six,” I said. I slowly rose from the chair. “Come on. Let’s go home, before Bug Bite has every cop in the city searching for me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“You really need to stop picking fights with Bug Bite,” said Kyle the next morning, slapping a physical copy of the Rumsfeld Journal on the table between us. “Look at this picture. Poor guy’s losing his mind.”
Still not entirely awake—I hadn’t slept very well last night, thanks to the fact that my back injury kept me up for most of it—I started when the newspaper was slapped down in front of me, nearly spilling my coffee in the process. But I caught myself before I could fall out of my chair and looked down at the headline on the front page, which read:
ALLEGED MURDERER TRICKSHOT STRIKES AGAIN! BUG BITE VOWS TO BRING HIM IN BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN!
Below the headline was an image of the Hive, showing the broken window where I had flown out of, with police cars surrounding the building. Bug Bite himself was seen in the picture talking with a guy who looked like the police chief, raising one fist above his head like he was about to punch the police chief in the face.
I didn’t bother to read the rest of the article, however. I just looked at Kyle, who sat down on the other side of the table and took a long sip of his own coffee—which he had dumped liberal amounts of sugar into for taste—before he put it down and looked at me with a grim look.
