The Superhero's Son (Book 8): The Superhero's Prison

by Lucas Flint

  “Yes, I know, but you could have been deceived,” said Ivan. “Whoever this man is, I think it would be a mistake to try to see him.”

  As much as I hated to admit it, Triplet and Ivan were right. It was strange that there was apparently some guy going around pretending to be Dad, and it was pretending, because, as Triplet pointed out, Dad was dead and there was no way that he would ever come back to life. Besides, going to big cities like New York City would be very risky, because the G-Men likely had people there keeping an eye out for us and the other Ultimate Max escapees.

  But before I could agree to going along with our original mission, Emma suddenly snapped her fingers. “Oh, and I just remembered something else. When I was speaking with that man, he told me that he knows what the ‘Apocalypse Switch’ is and could help you with it.” She looked around at us. “Do you guys know what an Apocalypse Switch is? I’ve never heard of it.”

  Ivan and I exchanged surprised looks before I looked at Emma again and said, “Yes … well, no. Sort of.”

  “That’s not a very helpful answer,” said Emma.

  “But it is a correct one,” said Ivan. “You see, Emma, we learned from Kevin’s grandfather about something called the Apocalypse Switch. The most we know about it is that it is associated with Project Neo and the government; beyond that, we know practically nothing else.”

  “But Dad—or Fake Dad, I guess—does?” I said. “He told you that a month ago?”

  “Yes,” said Emma. “Why?”

  “Because we didn’t even know about the existence of the Apocalypse Switch prior to the last couple of weeks,” I said. “How did he know we would find out about it?”

  “I don’t know,” said Emma. “All I know is what he told me. I didn’t say any of it made sense.”

  “This is very strange,” said Ivan. “Very strange indeed. I wonder if this fake Genius might possibly be involved in the government.”

  “You mean a set-up?” I said. “Like this fake Dad is just a G-Man agent pretending to be my Dad in order to lure me out of hiding?”

  “Too convoluted, even for Cadmus Smith,” said Triplet. “Besides, Emma’s conversation with the guy claiming to be your father happened before the government threw you into jail. I think this guy is unrelated.”

  “But how does he know about the Apocalypse Switch, then?” I said. “Only the government is supposed to know about it.”

  “Not sure,” said Triplet. “There are a lot of unanswered questions and unclear things about this man and what he says. That’s another reason to avoid him; we can’t waste time going to meet strange men like him, not when we don’t know who he is for sure.”

  “But if he knows what the Apocalypse Switch is, don’t you think he might also know about White Lightning?” I said. “Maybe he could help us understand what Cadmus Smith’s goal is. And if he really is my father … if my father really is back somehow … then I have to meet him.”

  I looked at the others. Ivan looked troubled, while Triplet looked skeptical. Rime kept looking from Triple to Ivan, as if searching for an answer from one of them, while Blizzard just tightened her grip on her hand next to me.

  “I think we should go meet him,” I said. “If this guy, whoever he really is, knows what’s going on, then we have no choice but to go and meet him. He might be able to provide us with the answers we seek.”

  “And what if it turns out to be a trap?” said Triplet. “What then?”

  “We can handle it,” I said. “Whatever this guy’s real plan is, we can deal with it. We’re all strong superhumans here. Besides, the G-Men probably expect us to hide out in the wilderness anyway; they won’t expect us to travel to New York City itself.”

  “Good point,” said Ivan. “But the question is still the same as ever: How do we get there in a timely manner? And what about Triplet and Rime, who both need medical attention?”

  I stroked my chin in thought and then looked at Emma. An idea formed in my head as soon as I looked at her, so I said, “Emma, would you be willing to help us get to NYC? I know you don’t really want to be involved in any of this superhero stuff, but I just need your help for one thing and you won’t have to help us with anything else after this.”

  Emma rubbed her arm, looking a bit hesitant, before nodding and saying, “Okay. You’ve helped me before, so I might as well repay the favor. What do you need me to do?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  A few hours later, we were driving in a van down the main highways of New York, following the road to New York City and to the house where the man who claimed to be my father awaited us.

  How we got the van was pretty simple: I asked Emma to steal it for us. Yeah, I know, as heroes we’re technically not supposed to steal, but I would have you know that I am a prison escapee and a criminal now, so it wasn’t like I already wasn’t going to jail again if I got caught. Plus, it technically wasn’t me or Blizzard who did it, but Emma, and Emma has never called herself a superhero. And we needed a ride to get to New York City, anyway, because I figured that whatever was going to happen there might very well help save the country from White Lightning.

  I don’t know for sure where Emma got the van from. I just told her to go find and steal one using her camouflage and silencing powers. She went off on her own for a few hours before coming back to us with a large, old van that looked like she’d driven it straight out of the junkyard. She didn’t tell us where she got it, only that it had been ‘easy’ to steal the keys and that we should just get going as fast as possible. I didn’t know what that meant, but again I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to know.

  It was a pretty large van, too, large enough for all of us to fit in. Triplet lay on the floor in the back, a pillow put under his head to keep him comfortable, while Rime had one of the back seats all to himself. Ivan drove, though he wore an old blue ‘Make America Normal Again’ hat from last year’s election in order to hide his identity better, while Blizzard and I sat in the second row behind the front seats. As for Emma—who had decided to come along with us, since she had nowhere else to go and thought that the mansion was unsafe since those other G-Men were there—she sat in the front passenger’s seat next to Ivan, which wasn’t a problem, because no one really knew how she looked, so if anyone driving on the highway glanced at the windshield, they would only see an old man and a young woman no one knew. That was why Blizzard and I had to be near the middle of the van away from the windows, because both of us were a lot more recognizable than the others due to our fame.

  So we traveled along the highways for hours, using Emma’s phone map app to get to our location. We weren’t very worried that the G-Men would catch us; after all, we’d been last spotted fleeing in a black government-owned van, not in a beat up old van that looked like it was from the 80s. There was always the possibility of Ivan being identified, but that was why he wore the MANA hat.

  Still, that didn’t change the fact that we were wanted by the government. The van did not have any windows aside from the windshield and the windows on the driver’s and passenger’s doors, which meant we in the back couldn’t see the road, but it also meant we couldn’t see if anyone was following us. Again, it seemed unlikely that anyone would choose to follow a nondescript beat-up old van on the off chance that it might be the getaway vehicle of a bunch of prison escapees, but it was still something I worried about.

  It was a pretty boring ride, all things considered. The seats were lumpy and uncomfortable and the air conditioner apparently didn’t work, but that was about everything interesting about this particular van. No one talked much, either up front or in the back, though we did stop briefly by a fast food restaurant to get some food to eat, which was how we found out that the government had already put pictures of each Ultimate Max escapee on the Internet along with requests for information from anyone who knew where we were. The waitress who brought out our food thought that Ivan looked like the picture of himself that the government had put out, but Ivan managed to reassure h
er that it was just a coincidence and that, unlike Nuclear Winter, he loved ‘American football’ and ‘hot dogs and burgers,’ like a true American (which he said with a very bad and fake attempt at an American accent, though the waitress bought the story despite that).

  Eating lunch helped make the rest of the trip go by quicker, or so it seemed. Soon, we were off the highway and found ourselves driving through a neighborhood just outside New York City, a familiar old neighborhood where Dad had grown up. The streets were still as empty and abandoned as ever, though this time I did see a few people sitting out on the porches of their houses or peering out the windows of their apartments. A part of me worried that the people here might see us and report us to the police, but then I realized that this didn’t seem like the kind of neighborhood where the police were welcomed by its inhabitants, so the chances of being reported to the police by the people here was low if not nonexistent.

  Anyway, we soon arrived at Dad’s childhood home. It looked much the same as it had the last time I’d seen it: Old and abandoned, like every other part of this neighborhood. The front lawn was still dead; in fact, it wasn’t much of a ‘lawn’ anymore; more like a plot of dirt with a few tiny dead plants poking out of the earth. And, of course, the graffiti depicting the hooded superhero with glowing hands was still there, but even now I had no idea who that was. Maybe it was a gang symbol or something.

  In any case, there were no lights in the house, nor were there any cars, trucks, or other vehicles parked out front. It looked like no one was there, but if Emma was telling the truth, then Dad was there. Or someone who claimed to be Dad, anyway.

  But we didn’t park out front; like I said, there were a few people around this time and we didn’t want to risk any of them seeing and recognizing us and calling the police. So we pulled up around to the back of the house, where the secret back door entrance was located, and parked there. The doors of the van flew open and Blizzard and I jumped out, along with Emma, Ivan, and Rime. Triplet was still in the van because he was too weak and wounded to walk.

  “All right,” I said, looking up at the back of the house before us. “This is the place.”

  “I’ll go in first,” said Emma. “With my powers, I can scout out any traps that that guy might have laid out for us. Will be back in a sec.”

  Emma walked past me, but I grabbed her arm and said, “No. I’m going in, though you and Blizzard can come with me.”

  Emma stopped and looked at me in surprise. “Why? What if it turns out to be a trap?”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll be able to handle whatever trap this guy has in store for us. And if it is a trap, I don’t want you or anyone else getting hurt, not when it was set for me.”

  Emma still looked surprised, but she said, in a far less hostile tone than I expected, “Okay.”

  I was actually surprised by how quickly Emma agreed to my plan, but I didn’t show it. I just looked over at Ivan and Rime and said, “You two should stay out here and protect the van and Triplet. While it’s not very likely that someone will try to attack the van while we’re away, the fact is that Triplet is in no position to take care of or defend himself. Therefore, you guys should stay out here. And if something happens, I want you guys to take the van and run, okay?”

  Ivan nodded. “Yes, Kevin, understood. Right, Rime?”

  Rime gave me the thumbs up. “Yes. B-But be c-careful. We have no idea who this guy really is. He could be dangerous.”

  “Sure,” I said. I looked at Blizzard and Emma. “And you two, be ready to fight. I’m not sure we will need to fight anyone, but these types of confrontations, in my experience, usually end with me fighting someone.”

  Blizzard and Emma nodded.

  “All right,” I said. “Follow me.”

  -

  We advanced carefully through the dark hallway that led to the house’s basement. It unfortunately didn’t have any lights, but I could generate enough electricity in my hand to light the way, but I had to keep it small and dim in order to avoid creating a lightning bolt, so it wasn’t that much of an improvement. So if someone was hiding somewhere up ahead, we would not be able to see them in time to react.

  It was very quiet in here, aside from the sounds of our own footsteps and breaths. Of course, that made sense, given that this house had been abandoned for months, but if Dad—no Fake Dad, that’s what I’m calling him until I figure out who he really is—was here, then we should have heard something. Of course, he might have really been on one of the upper floors, so that explained the silence.

  We emerged out of the hallway into the basement. From what little I could see, the basement was basically the same as it had been the last time I was here; the stone tables where I and Grandmother had been tied down upon were even still here. The only thing missing was the Rejuvenator, the machine that my grandparents had intended to use to take my youth away, but I assumed that the G-Men must have confiscated it after they arrested Grandfather. That made me wonder where the Rejuvenator was and what the G-Men were using it for; given what it could do, I shuddered to think about what would happen if the G-Men decided to use it for their own reasons.

  But the basement also seemed to be entirely devoid of anyone else other than ourselves, so we crossed it quickly to get to the staircase on the other side. We climbed up the old, creaky staircase as quickly as we could, until we finally reached the door at the top, which was unlocked, much to my surprise. Then again, if this place had been abandoned for as long as I thought, then I shouldn’t have been so surprised about this.

  Pushing the door open, I peeked through the opening and out into the hallway on the other side. It was totally empty; I didn’t see a single person out there, nor was there any hint that anyone other than us had been through here recently. So I stepped out into the hallway, followed by Blizzard and Emma, but was unsure of where to go to next.

  There was a staircase to my right, which led up to the house’s second story, while if we went to the left we would end up in the living room. Fake Dad could be in either direction, so I wasn’t sure which way to go.

  At least until a light came on at the top of the staircase to the second floor. It was coming from a cracked door at the top, a door I remembered as leading to Grandfather’s study. The light had come on so suddenly that Blizzard grabbed my arm in alarm, while Emma drew a couple of ninja stars from her belt and held them up like she was about to throw them, but no one appeared or showed themselves.

  “Think that’s where he is?” Blizzard muttered, looking at me with a questioning gaze.

  I nodded. “Probably. Get ready. We’re climbing.”

  I walked up the stairs, Blizzard and Emma right behind me. No sounds came from the light, but the fact was that lights didn’t turn on automatically like that. Someone was up there … and whether this someone was Fake Dad or someone else, we were about to find out.

  When we reached the door, I hesitated for a split second before pushing it open and stepping inside. My super strength flowed through my body, giving me the power I needed in case this turned out to be a trap.

  But no one attacked us. The room we had entered was Grandfather’s old study, which looked pretty unchanged from the last time I was here, aside from the thick layer of dust on the fireplace, shelves, and furniture. There were cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling, while the light above seemed dim, probably because it hadn’t been used in a long time.

  My attention, however, was drawn to the desk. A high-backed chair stood behind the desk, obscuring the back of the head of whoever sat there. The desk was bare, but I didn’t care about the damn desk. I just cared about whoever was sitting there.

  “So,” said a slightly muffled voice from behind the chair, “you have finally come, my son, and brought friends with you. I should have expected it, even though I wanted you to come alone. Perhaps the girl didn’t catch that when I asked her to deliver the message to you.”

  The voice did indeed sound eerily like Dad, but there was somethin
g … off about it. There was an undercurrent of anger flowing underneath it, an anger I had never heard in Dad’s voice before. Actually, it did sound kind of familiar, but I didn’t remember where I had heard it before.

  Regardless, I stepped forward and said, “Show yourself. I’m here, so there’s no reason to hide your face.”

  “You have a point, given how I hate mysteriousness and theatrics,” said the voice.

  The chair slowly rotated, inch by inch, until soon I was face to face with Dad.

  And the man sitting in the chair looked exactly like Dad. He wore Dad’s old Genius costume, but instead of being white and silver, it was gray and purple. The armor was pitted and scratched in several areas, yet all of its devices and gadgets looked pretty functional. His helmet obscured his face, so I didn’t know if he also looked like Dad underneath it, but that didn’t matter because there was no mistaking that helmet, that costume, for the helmet or costume of anyone else.

  Blizzard stifled a gasp beside me, while Emma shifted uncomfortably, even though she had already seen Fake Dad before. Then again, she had probably not seen him in his costume, so she was just as surprised as us at the moment.

  “Welcome, Kevin,” said Fake Dad, though there was no warmth in his voice. “The last time I saw you, you were dead.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “I was … dead?” I said, tilting my head to the side. “What do you mean?” I shook my head. “No, you’re just trying to confuse me.”

  “Confuse you? Why would I do that to my own son?” said Fake Dad. “I’m not like Cadmus Smith or any of those other villains. I always speak plainly, especially to my own family.”

  “But … you can’t be Dad,” I said. “Dad is dead. I saw Robert kill him. He died in my arms. I saw his coffin get lowered into the ground and buried.”