by Lucas Flint
“I think he meant that Mastermind is Cadmus and that White Lightning was created in Project Neo,” said Triplet, “but I’ll never know for sure, because that guy ate a cyanide pill and killed himself. I left his body in the forest.”
Blizzard covered her mouth with her hands. “That’s awful. Why did he kill himself?”
“To ensure that the truth would not get out to the people that the government would rather not know it,” said Ivan. “That is typically how things operate in the spy world.”
“Precisely,” said Triplet. “Anyway, I managed to lose the remaining G-Men agents, but I probably would have died if you guys hadn’t been here.”
“Then we have to leave,” I said. “If there are G-Men agents nearby—”
“I doubt it,” said Triplet. “I scattered and confused them so much that I doubt they’ve left the general area where we initially fought. Besides, the G-Men have never been very good trackers; they couldn’t even follow a road off a cliff.”
“But we should still flee anyway, yes?” said Ivan. “If the G-Men find us, they will probably kill us or at least throw us back into prison, where we will probably be killed by the guards.”
“Yes, but fleeing will be difficult to do,” said Triplet. “Aside from my own injuries, the government of New York is no doubt working very closely with the G-Men to find all of you.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But Blizzard said there was an INJ member nearby who might be able to help us. We think that the INJ will be able to keep us safe from the G-Men until we can beat White Lightning.”
“I hope so,” said Triplet. “But the destruction of San Francisco really hurt them. I am unsure how much help they will be against the G-Men, who are as strong as ever, if not stronger thanks to the events of the invasion.”
“The INJ is still our best shot,” I said. “By the way, how do you know that Cadmus is Mastermind?”
“Because it’s only logical,” said Triplet. “Why else would the government not want me investigating Mastermind if he was not someone important? Why would the government send their own agents to kill me if Mastermind wasn’t connected to the government in some way? And Cadmus Smith is about the only person I know of with the kind of intelligence and resources that someone like Mastermind would need to pull off the kind of crimes he’s committed.”
Triplet briefly stopped speaking and closed his eyes, probably due to the pain from his wounds, before opening his eyes again and resuming. “In fact, the only other person who could match Cadmus Smith in terms of intelligence was your father, Genius. There are a few mad genius supervillains out there, but none of them, I think, could be Mastermind.”
“But why?” I said. “Why would Cadmus Smith go to all of this trouble? Why take up the Mastermind identity and why create White Lightning? Does throwing me into jail have anything to do with this?”
“It may,” said Triplet. “I don’t know for sure. But I do know that Cadmus has always been something of a control freak. He’s always seen the superhero community outside of the G-Men as a threat to the United States. He is probably trying to control us.”
“Why?” I said.
“Because that way he can ‘protect’ the United States,” said Triplet. “It’s why he’s establishing a G-Men office on Hero Island, and it’s also why he will probably go after the INJ at some point, too.”
“It still doesn’t explain everything, though,” said Blizzard.
“Right,” said Triplet. “But that’s the best explanation I can come up with at the moment. There’s still a lot of facts I don’t have, so I will need to resume my investigation at some point in order to confirm my theory.”
“But not right now,” I said. “You need to rest and heal up.”
“I agree, but that’s a luxury I can’t afford at the moment,” said Triplet. “It won’t be long before the G-Men agents who tried to kill me will figure out where I am. If I stay here, I’ll definitely get killed, especially in my weakened state.”
“Then we can bring you with us,” said Blizzard. “I’m sure the INJ will help you.”
“No, they won’t,” said Triplet with a groan, probably from another spike of pain in his abdomen, based on how he grabbed it.
“What?” I said. “Why not?”
“Because one of my investigations put one of their members in jail a while back,” said Triplet. “Don’t think the Midnight Menace ever quite forgave me for that.”
I almost asked who that had been, but decided that it didn’t really matter. “Okay, but we can’t just abandon you. You’re in no shape to take care of yourself. We’ll bring you along anyway, and if anyone in the INJ objects or tries to harm you, they’ll have to go through me first.”
“Thanks,” said Triplet. “But I would just slow you all down. You should leave me here. I can take care of myself.”
“We will probably be moving slowly anyway in order to avoid being detected,” said Ivan with a shrug. “Carrying you around will likely not be that big of a problem.”
“I know,” said Triplet, “but …”
His voice trailed off. He was not looking at me, Ivan, or Blizzard anymore. Instead, he was looking straight ahead toward the open doorway, so I looked at it with him, wondering what he saw.
Standing in the open doorway was Rime. I had completely forgotten about him, though now that I thought about it, I didn’t know why he hadn’t come to help us with Triplet. Maybe he’d been in the bathroom or something.
But Triplet was staring at him like he’d just seen a ghost. His hands tightened around his blankets, like he wanted to throw something at him, but he didn’t move because of his injuries.
“Um …” I felt kind of awkward, like I should know what was going on. “Triplet, is there a …”
“So,” said Triplet, his voice more threatening than before. He was addressing Rime, who had not moved an inch from the doorway. “I didn’t know that you were one of Bolt’s fellow escapees, Rime.”
“I saw an opportunity and I went for it,” Rime said, his tone colder than the ice he created. “But I don’t think you’re going to be able to do much about it at the moment, considering you look like you just lost a wrestling match with a grizzly bear.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, looking from Triplet to Rime and back again. “You two know each other?”
“I was the one who put Rime in prison in the first place,” said Triplet, still without looking at me. “And I’m very shocked that you are working with him, Bolt, given his history.”
“I know he’s a criminal, but he helped me escape,” I said. “I’m not saying I support whatever he did, but—”
“No, I mean his history with you,” said Triplet. “Or with one of your friends, at least.”
“What?” I said. “What do you mean?”
Triplet looked up at me, a serious look on his face. “The reason Rime was put in prison … and the reason I was hired to investigate him in the first place … is because he is the murderer of George Reynolds, the father of your friend Tara Reynolds.”
Chapter Fourteen
I felt stunned. I looked at Rime, but Rime wasn’t looking at me or anyone else. His eyes were on the floor and he looked like he wanted to run away, but he didn’t move, probably because he had nowhere to run to.
“Is … is that true?” I said, looking at Triplet again. “Did he really kill Tara’s dad?”
Triplet nodded. “Yes. That was eleven years ago, when Tara was a little girl. It’s a sad story.”
“But Tara never mentioned the murder of her dad to me,” I said.
“Probably because it devastated her,” said Triplet. “And her mother, too. Remember how I told you that Tara’s mother hired me to solve a crime? Well, that is the crime she wanted me to solve.”
I looked at Rime again. Rime hadn’t said a word, but his entire demeanor was all the evidence I needed to confirm Triplet’s statement.
“What happened?” I said to Triplet. “What is the story?”
Triplet looked at Rime again. “Maybe you should ask him. He knows it.”
I was about to say something about that, but then Rime turned and left without saying a word. I heard him walk down the hall, open a door, and then slam it shut, probably going into his room.
“He clearly doesn’t want to talk about it,” said Ivan. “No surprise there.”
“Did you know this, Ivan?” I said. “That he killed the father of one of my friends?”
Ivan shrugged. “I knew that he murdered a man, but I did not know the exact details. He never shared them with me, but then, most of us prisoners rarely shared the details of our crimes with each other, except to boast or brag about our accomplishments.”
“Do you feel up to telling me, Trip?” I said to Triplet. “Or do you need to rest?”
“No, I can tell you,” Triplet said. “It isn’t a very long story, anyway, though like I said, it is sad.”
“Then start,” I said. “I’m listening.”
“All right,” said Triplet. He brushed back some of his messy hair. “Eleven years ago, there was a superhero and member of the Independent Neoheroes for Justice known as Rime.”
“Wait, Rime was a superhero?” I said in surprise. “I thought he was a supervillain.”
“He was a superhero, yes,” said Triplet. “But he was very brutal and dangerous in his methods and was never truly heroic. He mostly fought supervillains and criminals for the rush it gave him. I don’t think he ever really cared about being a hero.”
“But he doesn’t seem like the kind who likes fighting,” I said. “He seems pretty laid back.”
“Perhaps his years in jail have changed his attitude,” said Triplet. “In any case, what matters is that Rime was a member of the INJ for years, always skirting dangerously close to murdering his enemies, but always pulling back at the last second to avoid going to jail. He was never a very prominent member of the INJ until he murdered George Reynolds.”
“Why did he do that?” I said.
“To explain, I need to tell you who George Reynolds is,” said Triplet. He frowned. “Or was, since he’s dead. George Reynolds was a well-known defender of superhuman rights. He wasn’t superhuman himself, but he thought that we are a good thing for society overall and often encouraged cooperation between superhumans and normal humans.”
“Tara never told me that,” I said.
“Yes, I know, but it is true,” said Triplet. He scratched his chin. “But George didn’t necessarily view superhumans as deserving of complete independence. He was well aware of the damage that superhumans caused and was often critical of the way that the big superhero organizations like the NHA and INJ handled collateral damage. He supported laws that would make superhumans more accountable to the government, even though these laws were and still are very unpopular with the general superhero community.”
“Is that why Rime murdered him?” I said. “Because he disagreed with George about superhuman rights?”
“More or less,” said Triplet. “Once, George criticized the way that Rime defeated a supervillain, which resulted in a lot of death and property destruction. So Rime assassinated George and tried to frame another ice superhero for the crime, which everyone believed, except for George’s wife, Stephanie.”
“That would be Tara’s mom,” I said.
“Right,” said Triplet. “She didn’t believe that the framed guy was responsible for it. So she hired me to find out who had really killed her husband. And, after some investigation, I discovered that Rime had been the murderer and brought the evidence to the government, who then arrested and tried him for the murder of George Reynolds.”
“Oh,” I said. “That’s good.”
“It is now, but back then, it was a huge controversy,” said Triplet. “Remember that INJ member I said I put in jail? That would be Rime. Public opinion turned against the INJ for a couple of years even after the Midnight Menace publicly condemned Rime for it. I even got death threats for helping capture Rime, though thankfully no one ever actually went through with them.”
“So Rime is a fallen superhero,” I said. “I didn’t know that.”
“Few do, at least anymore,” said Triplet. “Despite the controversy at the time, no one really remembers it anymore. Except, I suppose, Tara and Stephanie, and myself.”
I thought about that. I knew Tara had always been anti-superhuman, but it had never occurred to me to ask why. Yet if her father being murdered by an alleged ‘superhero’ was the cause of her distrust and hatred toward superhumans, then her feelings made perfect sense. I wished I had known this before; it would have made it easier for me to understand her. Perhaps next time I saw her—if I ever saw her again—I would tell her I understand.
“Is that all there is to the story?” said Blizzard.
“Pretty much,” said Triplet. “I consider it sad because George was a good man who didn’t deserve to die and Rime was a superhero himself. It is always sad whenever a superhero turns to evil, no matter the reason.”
I nodded, but now I was thinking about Rime himself. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to travel with him anymore. How would Tara feel if she knew that her father’s murderer was free again? She was going to know eventually, because there was no way that the breakout of Ultimate Max would just be ignored by the media. And once she knew, she would also know that Rime helped me to escape. Would she hate me for it? Would she think I’m just a bad guy like Rime and the other escapees?
I didn’t know, but I did know that I would need to clear my name soon. And that meant capturing White Lightning and stopping Mastermind, or I should say Cadmus Smith, if Triplet’s theory was correct. Then I would be able to go and talk to Tara about this.
“Well, I suppose that what is past is past,” said Ivan, causing me to look at him. He put his hands on his knees and looked at me. “I am sorry to hear about the death of your friend’s father, but it seems to me that we will need to leave right away and go to that INJ agent that Blizzard was telling us about.”
“INJ agent?” said Triplet. “What do you mean?”
“Blizzard said that there’s a nearby INJ member who might be able to protect us from the government,” I said. “Our plan is to go to this member and ask her to put us under the INJ’s protection.”
“’Her’?” said Triplet. He put a hand on his forehead. “I think I know who you’re talking about, but I would not suggest going to her.”
“What?” I said. “Why not?”
Triplet opened his mouth to explain, but before even one word came from his mouth, a shattering of glass could be heard from the entrance below. We started when we heard that, causing us all to look toward the door, but none of us went over to see what had caused the shattering sound.
“What was that?” said Blizzard in fear. “It sounded like one of the windows on the first floor was broken.”
Immediately, Rime appeared in the doorway, a harried look on his face. “The G-Men are attacking! They’ve smashed the windows on the floor level and are trying to get in!”
“The G-Men?” Triplet repeated. He swore. “Damn it. I knew they’d get here eventually, but I didn’t expect them to find us so soon.”
“What do we do?” said Blizzard. “Fight?”
I quickly thought about our situation and then shook my head. “Here’s what we’ll do: Ivan and Blizzard, you two carry Triplet through the back, while Rime and I will distract the agents.”
“But I want to stay with you and help you fight,” said Blizzard.
“I know, but Triplet needs your help more than me,” I said. “Besides, Rime is strong. He’ll be helpful in a fight. And I can’t have Ivan fight, either, because his powers are too dangerous and he could cause more harm than good.”
“I agree with Kevin,” said Ivan. “Best if we try to get out of here while Kevin and Rime distract the G-Men.”
Blizzard frowned, clearly still in disagreement with the idea, but then she nodded and said, “Okay. But please be careful, B
olt. If the G-Men did this to Triplet, there’s no telling what they’ll do to you and Rime if you’re not careful.”
“I will be,” I said. I turned to Rime. “Now let’s go, before the G-Men get in and trap us all up here.”
Chapter Fifteen
Rime and I dashed out into the hallway outside of the room. We ran over to the railing that separated the second floor from the first floor and looked down to see that the windows on either side of the entrance had indeed been blown inward. It looked like someone had tossed a rock through them, but I didn’t see any G-Men agents below. Perhaps they simply hadn’t gotten in yet.
At any rate, we needed to be down there anyway, so I jumped over the railings and landed on the floor in a three point landing, while Rime created an ice slide that he used to get down to the ground floor with me.
As soon as we reached the ground floor, the front door was smashed open by a force from the other side. The door fell forward with a great, loud crash, allowing two people I had never seen before to enter the mansion.
I had no trouble identifying them both as G-Men; they had G-Men patches on their right shoulders, but aside from that, I did not know who these particular agents were. One of them was a man with wings like an angel, except his wings were metallic and had sharp tips, while the man himself looked kind of like a bodybuilder.
The other agent was a woman who looked pretty normal; at least, she didn’t have any physical abnormalities on her body that might hint at her powers. She did, however, have a gun at her side, though I didn’t think it would be of much use against us, so I wasn’t very afraid of it.
“Who are you two?” I said, holding up my fists.
“We’re G-Men,” the man replied, his voice deep. “We are searching for a Japanese man in a bloody trench coat. You wouldn’t happen to have seen him come this way, would you?”
The woman peered at us closely and started. “Enoch, I know who these two are. The young man is Bolt, while the blue-skinned man is Rime. They’re a couple of the Ultimate Max escapees that we were told about.”
