by Lucas Flint
“And how did you help them?” I said. “How long have you been helping them?”
“She’s been helping us ever since you first came for a visit to get that arm of yours fixed,” said Mohammad. “Right, Ashley?”
“Right,” said Ashley. She looked at me. “Even before that, actually, when I was in the Park and saw you and your friend Kyle discussing the eyepiece. But I left when you guys noticed me, though I lost Grandma’s scarf with her initials because I left so hastily. That’s how I knew you were Trickshot and also how Icon found me, because they had also sent someone to follow you to the Park who saw me as well.”
“And she promised to help us by giving you over to us the next time you came to her house for a visit,” Mohammad finished. “Which she has done today.”
Ashley nodded stiffly. “That’s right. The money I got for doing so little work … well, I couldn’t say no to it.”
“You could have,” I said. “You could have said no and—”
“Shut up,” Ashley snapped. “What do you know about need, anyway? I doubt you’ve ever had to worry about being bankrupted by medical bills.”
“Enough bickering,” said Mohammad. He shook his head. “This is why I hate working with teenagers. Anyway, let’s get back to the main story. We can get into digressions later … if there is time, that is.”
I couldn’t believe that Ashley would betray me like this. It made me angry, angry enough to want to rip off the chains binding me to the table upon which I lay and tear the whole house down. Unfortunately, the poison still kept me paralyzed, which meant that all I could do was feel angry, which wasn’t very helpful for actually getting out of this situation by myself.
“And now, our plan has succeeded, almost wildly so,” said Mohammad. “You are now in our grasp, which means your days of playing the hero are over. Chaser will be very pleased to hear this, even if it means paying Ashley here for her help.”
“I don’t care what you do with Trickshot after this,” said Ashley. “Just give me the money, all right?”
“Don’t worry, Ashley, I’ll make sure that your money is deposited into your grandmother’s bank account once I return to HQ,” said Mohammad. He looked down at me. “Chaser may be a harsh leader, but he always keeps his end of the deal, especially when it results in the capture of a particular thorn in our side like Trickshot.”
I met Mohammad’s gaze defiantly. “Chaser can go suck a gun for all I care. I’m not going to give you the Watch.”
Mohammad shook his head. “I forgot, did I say that I’m done with story time yet? No, I didn’t. You see, our plan involves more than just capturing you. We have one last step that will be completed in downtown Rumsfeld itself about, oh, an hour or so from now.”
I frowned. “One last step? What do you mean?”
Mohammad scratched his beard. “It’s simple: We will assassinate the Mayor of Rumsfeld, Harold Adams, himself, and frame you for it. And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
My eyes widened. “Why? You’ve already captured me. What is the point of killing Mayor Adams and framing me for it? It seems pointless.”
“It’s to destroy your reputation once and for all,” said Mohammad. “Once you become known for not merely assassinating Baron Glory, but also the Mayor, no one will ever believe you are innocent. Even if you manage to escape from us, people will treat you like a supervillain rather than a superhero. Plus, Mayor Adams is the brother of Bug Bite, so by killing him, we’ll make sure that Bug Bite hates you forever.”
I gritted my teeth. “You monster. Once I break out of here, I’m going to—”
“Do nothing, because you are never escaping,” said Mohammad. “Already, I have my car set up to transport you out of Rumsfeld. In a few hours, you and I will be back at Icon’s HQ, where our top surgeons will work on removing your suit from your body. And Chaser, of course, will reward me for my diligence in capturing you and bringing you before him like a trophy.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but at the same time, I was in no condition to do anything about it. Mohammad had me right where he wanted me. The poison was starting to wear off, no doubt thanks to the efforts of my costume, but I wasn’t sure it would wear off enough for me to make a difference. By the time the poison wore off entirely, Mayor Adams would be dead and everyone in Rumsfeld would think I’m a murderer.
“TW, got any ideas?” I said.
“None, unfortunately,” said TW. “The best I can tell you is that you should wait for the poison to wear off, but I will admit that that isn’t much of an answer.”
“Damn right it isn’t,” I said. “Keep thinking, though, and if anything comes to you, let me know immediately, okay?”
I didn’t hear TW’s response, because Mohammad spoke just then and said, “But I’ve talked long enough. The sooner we get you out of here, the sooner Chaser will reward me for my actions.”
Mohammad pulled a phone out of his pocket, but before he could dial a number, the door exploded.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The basement door exploded and went flying toward us. Mohammad and Ashley fell to the floor, covering their heads with their hands, while I just became as flat as I could, just narrowly avoiding the door that flew over me. The basement door crashed into the wall behind us, slamming into the wall so hard that it left a dent and hole in the sheetrock, revealing the stone wall behind it.
“What in the world was that?” said Mohammad, looking back toward the open doorway, which was covered in smoke from the explosion. He dialed a number on his phone and, raising the phone up to his ear, shouted, “Sean, what is going on up there? Sean?”
“Sean isn’t available to answer his phone at the moment,” came a familiar voice from within the smoke cloud, “mostly because I killed him.”
From out of the smoke came Uncle Josh, holding his right hand out, his left hand supporting his right. That was because he wore the Atlas Glove on his right hand, which was still glowing from the charged shot he had fired. I had to admit that Uncle Josh looked cool even in his Hawaiian t-shirt and shorts, which made it easier to believe that he was actually a secret spy himself.
“Joshua Resnick,” said Mohammad with a mixture of surprise and hate. “What are you doing here? How did you even find us?”
“I’m here to save my nephew like the good uncle I am,” Uncle Josh replied. “Not that you would understand, of course, given how you killed your own nephew in cold blood. But I thought I’d let you know why you’re going to die today anyway.”
Uncle Josh aimed and fired a blast of energy from the Atlas Glove at Mohammad. Mohammad tried to dodge, but the energy struck him dead on in the chest and he went flying backwards from the impact. He crashed against the wall and fell onto the floor, where he lay as still as a statue. Blood trickled out from underneath him, which made me think that he was probably in a lot of pain if not outright dead.
Ashley yelped and backed away from me quickly. She looked like a cornered rat, but Uncle Josh apparently either didn’t notice her or care about her, because he rushed over to me and immediately ripped the chains off my body with the Atlas Glove.
“Jack, are you okay?” said Uncle Josh, looking me over with concern on his face. “I came as fast as I could, but I wasn’t sure if you were all right or not.”
“I’m fine,” I said. I slowly sat up, forcing my body to move against its will. “Or as fine as I can be, anyway. The poison in my body is still working, but it is going away quickly now thanks to my costume.”
“Whew,” said Uncle Josh, wiping sweat off his brow. “That’s good to hear. I was worried that I might be too late. I know how much Icon hates you and I thought they would kill you right away.”
“They’re not trying to kill me,” I said. “At least, not yet, anyway. They would have taken me to their headquarters if you hadn’t saved me.”
Uncle Josh’s expression hardened. “Then you would have been worse than dead. Far worse.”
I didn’t know what Uncle Josh meant by that, but I decided we had more urgent things to talk about, so I said, “How did you even find me? I thought you had left Rumsfeld with the Atlas Glove.”
Uncle Josh glanced at the Atlas Glove on his right hand as if he had forgotten he was wearing it. “I did intend to leave Texas and get back to Pinnacle’s headquarters, but I was ambushed by some Icon agents when I got to San Antonio and took them out. They told me that it didn’t matter if I got away, because they were going to capture you and bring the Trickshot Watch back to Chaser. They even told me your secret identity, so I came back to Rumsfeld to help you as fast as I could.”
“But how did you know I was here in Marge’s house?” I said in surprise.
“Your friend Kyle told me,” said Uncle Josh. “I went to your parents’ house as soon as I got back to Rumsfeld, but they weren’t home. But your friend Kyle called the house and I answered the phone and told him who I was. When he found out who I was, Kyle told me where you were and told me to go and help you, because he thought you might be in danger, given how you had been gone for a while without letting him know where you were.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Good old Kyle. Knew I could rely on him in a pinch.”
“Kyle is indeed a good friend,” said Uncle Josh with a nod. “But enough about that. I’m just glad I was just in time to save you.”
“Same here,” I said. Then I started and said, “Wait a minute. We need to leave. Now.”
“Now?” Uncle Josh repeated. “Why?”
“Because Mayor Adams is about to be assassinated and I’m going to be framed for it,” I said. “That’s why.”
Uncle Josh raised his eyebrows in surprise. “The mayor is going to be assassinated? By who?”
“By the same guy who killed Baron Glory,” I said. I gestured at Mohammad. “Mohammad here just admitted that Icon hired an assassin to kill Barn Glory and ruin my reputation as a result. He also said that they’re going to kill Mayor Adams today and frame me for it as a way to destroy my reputation once and for all.”
Uncle Josh rubbed the back of his neck in astonishment. “I shouldn’t be surprised, yet somehow I am. Icon is well-known for staging these kinds of assassinations in order to get rid of people they hate.”
“That’s why I need to leave and get to Rumsfeld now, before the assassination happens,” I said. I swung my legs over the side of the table and stood up, albeit slower than normal due to my limbs still waking up from the poison. “We have to hurry.”
“But where is the assassination going to happen?” said Uncle Josh. “If you don’t even know where Mayor Adams is going to be, then how can you possibly save him?”
I froze. Uncle Josh had a good point. Mohammad hadn’t said exactly where the mayor was going to be when the assassination happened. Rumsfeld was not a very large city, but it was big enough that I could spend several hours flying around it searching for Mayor Adams without any success. And I didn’t have hours. Hell, I didn’t even have one hour. I now wished that Uncle Josh hadn’t shot Mohammad, because now I couldn’t make Mohammad tell me where Mayor Adams was going to be so I could save him.
“He’s going to be at the Rumsfeld City Park,” said Ashley, causing Uncle Josh and me to look over at her. “They’re unveiling a new statue of Harold Rumsfeld there and he’s going to be the one to announce it.”
“How do you know that?” I said.
“I overheard Mohammad mention it to one of his fellow Icon agents earlier,” said Ashley. Her face was pale as snow, but she nonetheless spoke calmly. “Said that the assassination is going to happen in front of hundreds of eyewitnesses plus the media. That’s why they chose to assassinate him today, because that would result in the maximum media impact to destroy your reputation for good.”
I eyed her suspiciously. “How do I know I can trust you? You did poison me, after all.”
“I understand your distrust, but I only did it because I didn’t have any other choice,” said Ashley, averting her eyes. “Grandma and I needed the money. I didn’t—and still don’t—hate you or want you to suffer. And now that Mohammad has been stopped … well, I don’t have any reason to lie to you.”
“You know, I seem to recall hearing about a new Harold Rumsfeld statue being unveiled in the park today,” said Uncle Josh, scratching his chin. “I think your mother may have mentioned it to me before I left Rumsfeld. Said she wished she could be there for it because it was supposed to be the most accurate statue of the founder of Rumsfeld yet.”
I still didn’t exactly trust Ashley, but I decided that she was probably telling the truth this time. “All right, Ashley. Thanks for the info. Uncle Josh—”
“I’ll stay here and clean up the mess,” said Uncle Josh, gesturing at Mohammad. “There’s no way I could get to Rumsfeld in time to save the mayor, but I know you can fly and you can fly pretty fast, so I suggest you go by yourself to save him.”
I nodded. “All right. Thanks again for saving me. You’re a great uncle.”
Uncle Josh just smiled in response. “And you’re one hell of a nephew, Jack.”
I didn’t respond to that. I just rushed out the door and flew up the stairs out of the basement and into the sky.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I pushed myself to the limit, flying as fast as I possibly could. Everything around me turned into a meaningless blur as I went faster and faster. The sky became a blue and white blur, while the ground below me was brown and green. Ordinarily, if I was going this fast, I would have slowed down a little to make sure I didn’t fly into anything, but I was too busy trying to make sure I got to the park in time to stop the assassin to worry about my own safety. I didn’t even pay attention to the poison, though it helped that my suit seemed to be working overtime to remove the poison from my body.
“Five minutes until you arrive in Rumsfeld City Park, Jack,” said TW in my head. “According to my research on the Internet, Mayor Adams is expected to give a short speech at the unveiling of the new Harold Rumsfeld statue. The statue is going to be directly in front of the entrance to the park, near the parking lot.”
“Thanks for the info, TW,” I said. “Let me know when I get there, because right now I can barely see where I’m going.”
“Of course,” said TW. “Just keep going north and you’ll get there eventually.”
I nodded, but despite TW’s reassurance, I just increased my speed even more. I was pushing my flight powers to their limits and I could already feel the strain on my body. The wind whipped through my hair and made my cape billow out behind me wildly. A part of me was afraid that if I went any faster I might tear my entire body apart, but I was willing to handle whatever the consequences of flying too fast were. Besides, what better way to figure out my limits than by pushing against them with all my might?
Soon, the brown and green blur below me became gray and steel, a sign that I had entered Rumsfeld’s city limits. I half-wondered how I would look to the people below. Would they even be able to see me or was I going too fast for the naked eye to follow? It was an interesting question, but one I had no time to ponder if I was going to stop an assassination.
“We’re here,” said TW suddenly. “Stop!”
I came to an abrupt stop in midair, causing my cape to fall over my head. Pushing my cape off my head, I looked down to see that TW was correct. I was floating above Rumsfeld City Park, which looked as green and pretty as ever in the midmorning sun. I saw a few people milling about the Park today, but my attention was drawn to the Park entrance to the south, where I saw a large statue underneath a thick veil surrounded by a couple hundred people. I even saw the van for the local news station, which told me that the media was definitely here, though I didn’t see Mayor Adams himself yet.
Looking around, I tried to see if I could spot where the assassin might be. There were a couple of buildings located across the street from the Park entrance, both of which seemed like likely locations for an assassin to camp, but I couldn’t t
ell which one might be the place. One of them looked like a two-story bakery of some sort, while the other appeared to be a government office, probably the main office for the Park employees. I knew that if I didn’t pick the right building, the assassin would kill Mayor Adams and get away, but it was hard to tell which one was going to be used by the assassin.
“TW, which building do you think the assassin is going to use to shoot the Mayor from?” I said.
“If I had to pick, I would say the two-story bakery,” said TW. “Assuming he is going to snipe the mayor, it would offer the sniper an excellent vantage point from which to shoot the mayor with few if any obstructions.”
“Bakery it is, then,” I said.
I began flying toward the bakery, but then I heard voices below and looked down at the statue. A man had walked onto the stage in front of the statue, a middle-aged man in a blue suit who I recognized as Mayor Adams. He was waving at the assembled people as he took his place behind a podium on the stage. No one seemed to realize that an assassination was about to take place, which meant that I had to be even faster if I was going to stop the assassin.
“Hey, Jack, look in the upper right window on the second story of the bakery,” said TW. “Is that a gun?”
I looked at the window he indicated and realized that TW was right. The barrel of a gun was poking out of the window, shining under the rays of the midmorning sun. And it was aimed directly at the Mayor.
“Damn it,” I said. “No time to stop him. Have to protect the Mayor!”
I changed my trajectory, heading toward the stage itself below. I had no idea how far along in his preparations the sniper was, but if I could get the mayor off the stage in time, then I might be able to avert a real tragedy. The only question was whether the sniper would shoot once he realized I was there or if he would give up and try again some other time.
