Joshua Dread

by Lee Bacon

  It felt like days had passed since my friends and I had first set out that morning for Carrolshire, but it was only early evening. The sun was hanging low in the sky. Heat from the burning hotel cut through the October chill like a gigantic campfire.

  My mom brought her hands to rest on my shoulders.

  “What you did back there was so brave,” she said. “We couldn’t be more proud of you.”

  “It wasn’t such a big deal,” I said. “If Dad hadn’t snuck up on Vex like that, I doubt any of us would’ve survived.”

  Dad twisted at the sleeve of his robe and looked away. I could see the conflict on his face. For years, he had admired Phineas Vex. And now Vex was buried somewhere under the smoking mountain of rubble where the hotel used to be. This was just one more confusing event in a day full of confusing events. In the past twenty-four hours, my parents had been attacked by smoke creatures, teleported to an abandoned hotel, dressed up like giant babies, and rescued by their greatest opponent.

  It had been a pretty weird day.

  “I just stepped forward at the right moment,” Dad said to me quietly. “You were the one who made all the difference.”

  I glanced back at the burning building we’d barely escaped. “I don’t even know what I did. Something happened back there. I’ve never done anything like that before. It was like …” I searched for the right words to describe what had happened. The tide of light shooting out of my fingertips, time standing still. “It was like my Gyft took over.”

  “You remember what we said to you? On the night we told you about your Gyft?” The glow from the nearby fire flickered across my mom’s features. “We told you that you’re Gyfted beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. You have an extraordinary power, Joshua. But that power is volatile. There may be times when it seems as if you aren’t in control of your Gyft, when it seems almost as if—”

  “As if it’s in control of me,” I said.

  Mom nodded, a steady look in her eyes.

  I turned away from her, staring down at the gravel around my feet.

  “Cheer up, Son,” Dad said, jostling me by the shoulder. “You saved the day, remember? Without you, we’d probably all be buried under that.” He pointed at the heap of flaming rubble nearby. “You should be proud of yourself.”

  No matter what he said, I still felt uncertainty kicking around inside my chest. What would happen the next time I lost control of my power, or the time after that?

  My mood lifted a few minutes later when I glanced over and saw Sophie and Milton in the crowd. They squeezed between a group of firefighters and walked toward us.

  “Hello, Milton,” Dad said.

  Milton stared at my parents like he’d just forgotten how to speak. All this time, he’d known them as my mom and dad—two ordinary grown-ups who lived down the street. And now here they were, the Dread Duo, standing right in front of him. It probably didn’t help that they were wearing matching white gowns.

  “I’m sure this comes as a bit of a shock,” Mom said. “We would’ve told you sooner, but, well, secrecy is a necessary part of our job.”

  “Er—that’s okay,” Milton stuttered. “At least now I know why I’m never invited over to Joshua’s house.”

  Mom and Dad both laughed at this. But their laughter died away as soon as their eyes moved to where Sophie was standing. Dad stared at her the way he looked at microorganisms he was studying in his lab. Mom crossed her arms and did her best impression of a stern professor.

  “Mom, Dad,” I began, “this is Sophie—Sophie Justice. She’s my—uh, project partner in class.” I looked from my parents to her. “And my friend.”

  My parents examined Sophie in their unwelcoming way for a little longer, and then a polite smile finally showed on their faces. I guess after everything else they’d been through over the past twenty-four hours, nothing could shock them anymore. The three of them shook hands. I looked on, hoping my parents wouldn’t do anything too embarrassing or life-threatening.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Sophie,” Dad said.

  “You did a great job back there,” Mom added, glancing from Sophie to Milton. “Both of you. We can’t thank you enough for coming here to rescue us.”

  “I’m just glad everyone’s okay,” Sophie said. “And you should’ve seen Joshua. The way he stood up to Vex back there. You would’ve been impressed.”

  I could feel my parents gazing proudly at me. I caught a glimpse of Sophie’s smile.

  “Well,” Dad said, “we might go see if we can help out a few of our … er—colleagues. Some of them seem to be having a little difficulty coming out of their comatose states.”

  He pointed to a couple of white-robed supervillains who were trying to pick a fight with a telephone pole.

  “Taste my wrath, you do-gooding nincompoop!” one of them said to the pole. The other attempted a karate chop and instead flopped onto the ground.

  Once my parents had headed off in the direction of the confused villains, I turned to Milton. “You saved my life back there. You really are a superhero.”

  Milton shrugged like it was no big deal, but I could tell from his smile that he was secretly excited about the compliment.

  By now, the Ocean View Hotel was nothing more than a smoldering pit. Firefighters sprayed the few sparse flames that were still burning.

  “Do you have any idea what happened to my dad’s car?” Sophie asked.

  “What do you mean? It’s right—” I pointed to where the red convertible had been parked when we’d arrived. In its place was an enormous crater. The only evidence that the car had ever been there was a charred license plate lying nearby. It had been split into two pieces. One half read JUST and the other, ICE.

  “Your d-dad’s car,” Milton stuttered, “got blown up?”

  “Apparently so.” Sophie scratched her head, gazing at the crater questioningly. “Any idea how that might’ve happened?”

  All of a sudden, I thought about the rocket we’d accidentally launched while randomly choosing apps on the cell phone. It definitely could’ve caused a crater like this.

  “Nope,” I said. “No idea.”

  “So, anyway, my dad made a call and had Stanley reprogrammed so he can come pick us up in the SUV. And …” Sophie paused. “And he invited you and your parents to come along too.”

  I stared at Sophie, hardly able to believe what I was hearing. “You think my parents should carpool with your dad?”

  “After what they just went through, it beats the heck out of flying all the way back on hover scooters. Especially the way they’re dressed.” Sophie gestured toward my parents in their flowing robes. “I bet the wind gets pretty chilly at night. Besides, we’re all going to the same place.”

  I wasn’t sure how my parents would feel about sharing a ride with their greatest enemy.

  On the other hand, a ride home would be nice.

  27

  The super community is smaller than it seems. Sooner or later, everyone gets to know everyone else.

  So that was how the Dread Duo ended up sharing an armored SUV with Captain Justice and his daughter (not to mention me, Milton, and a robotic butler).

  With the hover scooters strapped to the roof, the SUV pulled onto the highway.

  “Shall I switch to hover mode, Mr. Justice?” Stanley asked, looking back at us from the front seat.

  “Let’s just keep it on the road, Stanley,” Captain Justice said. “Better not to draw too much attention to ourselves.”

  Stanley nodded, and the SUV continued on. We drove for a long time in uncomfortable silence. I could tell that nobody knew quite what to say. It had been only a couple of weeks since Captain Justice had stopped my parents from destroying the world. Not to mention all the times in the past when they’d shot at, insulted, threatened, captured, and tried to kill each other.

  But in the underground lair, they’d worked together to stop Vex. And now nobody quite knew what their status was, if they would go back to being hated ene
mies who tried to kill each other every few months … or if they now had a different kind of relationship. How exactly were they supposed to treat each other in the future?

  Basically, it was awkward.

  “That thing Vex said earlier about your mom,” I said to Sophie. “Was he …”

  I stopped speaking when I saw the way Sophie’s expression had changed. All at once, I knew I’d stumbled onto the wrong topic. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have—”

  “It’s okay,” she said. “I can talk about it.”

  Her head was turned toward me, but she wasn’t looking at me. Instead, her eyes seemed to be watching the scenery pass in the window.

  “Sometimes I wake up at night and it’s like it was only yesterday that I was out in the backyard with my mom, taking photographs of bugs. Other times, I feel like—like I can’t remember anything about her at all.”

  She took a deep breath.

  “My mom was a photographer,” she said. “She worked for magazines, newspapers. She traveled a lot. Europe, South America, LA. My parents were never home at the same time. Either my mom was on assignment or my dad was out saving the world. For my tenth birthday, my mom took a little time off, and the three of us went skiing in Colorado. When we got back home, she was supposed to fly back to her assignment. But she called the magazine and convinced them to give her an extra couple of days so we could all be together, at least a little longer.”

  Sophie shook her head slowly, her eyes still focused on the window.

  “The next day, she was supposed to pick me up from school, but she never showed up. Later I found out why. Someone had planted a bomb in the car.” Sophie exhaled. “She died before she even made it out of the driveway.…”

  Her voice trailed away.

  “My dad eventually tracked the murder back to Vex,” she said, after a long pause. “He did it to intimidate my dad, to make a point. I guess it’s the same thing he was trying to do to me with those Firebottomed Rompers.”

  I thought about the armored SUV that we were riding in, the bodyguard robot, the machine gun towers. It was all to protect Sophie. And even after all that, Vex had nearly gotten to her anyway.

  “Ever since my mom died,” Sophie said, “my dad’s been following Vex. That’s part of the reason why we were always moving around. My dad traced Vex across the country, and we moved from town to town every time he tracked Vex to a new location. A couple of months ago he found evidence that Vex was working on something in Sheepsdale. Something huge.”

  “So that’s why you moved to Sheepsdale.”

  I felt a note of relief. Captain Justice wasn’t there to drive my parents out of town. And now that they were carpooling together, who knew what would happen between them?

  “Does this mean you won’t have to move around anymore?” I asked hopefully. “You and your dad can stay in Sheepsdale now that Vex is dead, right?”

  Sophie’s mouth turned into a thoughtful frown. “What makes you think Vex is dead?”

  “Um, let’s see … A ton of metal and stone fell on top of him. And then he got buried underneath a burning building. I’d say there’s a pretty good chance he’s a goner.”

  “But you never saw him die.”

  “Well, no. But …” I could feel my confidence sinking. “Even if Vex did survive somehow, that hotel was surrounded by police and firefighters. They’d find him and arrest him before he could go anywhere.”

  Sophie’s eyes stayed fixed on the window. I could tell she couldn’t get Vex out of her head.

  In front of us, my parents were trying to make conversation with Captain Justice.

  “Those hologram weapons of yours are quite interesting,” Dad said.

  “Oh, thank you,” Captain Justice said.

  “Do you make them yourself?” Mom asked.

  “No, no. An engineering firm in California designs them for me. And then the wristbands are assembled in China. After that, my public relations department comes up with the name.”

  “Well, they certainly do seem to come in handy,” Dad said. “We would’ve all been crushed back there if it weren’t for that Protective Umbrella of Honor.”

  “Virtue,” Captain Justice said.

  “Pardon?”

  “You would’ve been crushed if it weren’t for the Protective Umbrella of Virtue.”

  “Right,” Dad said. “Of course.”

  Captain Justice cleared his throat. “Yes, well … these wristbands have helped me out of many a jam. Though, I must say, I’ve always admired your technology too. That Deactomatic of yours. Truly innovative. Is it something that you purchased?”

  “Actually, that’s one of my own inventions.” Dad glanced away, trying not to smile.

  Mom placed a hand on Dad’s knee. “He invents most of the technology that we use.”

  “Really!” Captain Justice looked genuinely impressed. “I don’t see how you find the time.”

  “A lot of late nights in the garage,” Mom confessed.

  “And who takes care of the zombies?” Captain Justice asked. “Because I’ve noticed on more than one occasion how well trained they are.”

  “I suppose that’s mostly my responsibility,” Mom said.

  “It’s entirely her responsibility,” Dad confided. “I just try to stay out of the way.”

  “Well, take my word for it,” Captain Justice said, “most zombies are far less disciplined. The last time I battled the Abominator, his zombies were all so poorly trained and unorganized. Half of them didn’t even try to eat my brain.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. They actually seemed to be having a normal conversation—or normal for them, at least—without a single insult or death threat. I guess it shouldn’t have been too terribly surprising. They actually had a lot in common. It was just that in the past, they’d always been too busy trying to kill each other to sit down and talk like civilized human beings.

  I tried to imagine the three of them getting together again at some point under less crazy circumstances. Maybe a cup of coffee or dinner somewhere. If they took off their uniforms and avoided the past— Would something like that be possible? It seemed pretty unlikely. Then again, it had also seemed unlikely that my parents would ever be in the same car as Captain Justice in the first place.

  But there we were.

  28

  Keeping a secret identity can add a whole new level of complication to your life. But for many within the super community, there’s no other choice.

  I was almost happy to return to school on Monday. After the crazy couple of weeks I’d just lived through, it was a relief to get back into a normal routine.

  At home, my dad was working on a new invention, the No Handz WonderGroom, a machine that brushed your hair for you. He’d even tested it out on himself the night before.

  “I think it still needs a little work,” he’d said afterward, carefully touching the brand-new bald spot on the side of his head.

  Mom spent all of Sunday driving around Sheepsdale, rounding up the zombies who’d gone missing after the Dread Duo’s operation at ChemiCo Labs had gone awry. Most of them had broken into the health food store that was just down the highway from the lab. They’d eaten their way through the entire inventory of tofu by the time my mom had gotten there.

  “Just one more on the loose,” Mom said, pouring a jug of water into Micus’s pot. The houseplant flapped his branches up and down appreciatively. “But I’m sure it’ll turn up eventually.”

  One thing my parents didn’t mention was the ride home they’d shared with Captain Justice. I couldn’t help wondering what would happen the next time the three of them ran into each other. With my parents, it was only a matter of time before they got themselves involved in some kind of plot for world domination or destruction. Whenever that happened, Captain Justice was sure to show up eventually. And now that they’d been carpool buddies, it might be a little awkward to go back to trying to kill each other.

  At school, I w
as having even more trouble than usual concentrating during class. My thoughts kept turning back to those last fiery moments in the lair. The way time had stopped. The string of light that had appeared from my fingertips. The jolt that had knocked me backward and had done the same to Vex.

  You’re Gyfted beyond anything we’ve ever seen before, Mom had said. You have an extraordinary power, Joshua. But that power is volatile.

  As annoying and unpredictable as my spontaneous combustion could be, I guess I didn’t have much choice but to live with it. And I had to admit, it had come in handy.

  No matter how I tried to put Vex out of my mind, he kept burning through my thoughts. It seemed impossible that he was still alive. But if he was, I knew he would make it his personal mission to come after us. And if that time came, my friends and I would have to be ready.

  When lunch rolled around, Milton and I took our seats at our usual table. Just looking down at the food on my tray caused my appetite to shrivel. It was Meat Surprise Monday in the cafeteria. They called it a surprise because—well, nobody knew what it was.

  After scooping a little of the brown mush onto my fork, I tried to stomach a bite. The meat was definitely surprising. And not in a good way.

  “Guess what,” Milton said, taking a bite of his sandwich. “James Wendler said he’d give me his chocolate milk for the rest of the year if I let him have the copy of Super Scoop that Captain Justice autographed.”

  “I doubt your mom would be okay with that,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah, but …” Milton’s eyes went all dreamy for a second. “So much chocolate milk …” He took another bite. “Besides, Sophie can always get me another autograph.”

  “You really think she’d do that?”

  “Why not? Captain Justice is her—”

  Milton stopped talking when he noticed the sharp look I was giving him.

  He’d been this way all day. Almost blabbing the truth in the middle of a crowded hallway or making mysterious comments that only we would understand. Unlike Sophie and me, Milton wasn’t used to keeping so many secrets. And the effort seemed to be taking its toll.