by Lucas Flint
Brains looked at me again, a serious expression on his face once more. “Good point. You wouldn’t happen to have any enemies who want you dead, would you?”
I looked at Brains with a deadpan expression. “Yeah, I have a few, but they’re all either dead or in prison. I mean, I guess I could have pissed someone off without knowing, but that seems unlikely.”
“What did he look like?” asked Vanish. “What kind of powers did he have?”
I frowned, thinking. “Well, he seemed to have some kind of teleportation ability, because he seemed to appear and disappear at will. He was a pretty good fighter, too, and great with a gun.”
“Former military, perhaps?” said Brains, stroking his chin. “But teleportation … that’s odd, but if true, it makes him a dangerous threat. Without knowing the limits of his teleportation abilities, we can’t know when or if he will strike again—”
“Brains!” a loud voice suddenly called out nearby, causing all three of us to jump. “Brains, look at this!”
Startled, I looked over to see one of the police cops running toward us. He was a very young-looking man, probably just a few years older than me, but he was a lot fatter than me and was huffing and puffing well before he got to us. He carried a plastic evidence bag in his left hand, but it swung too much for me to see what was in it.
“Officer Charlie?” said Brains, turning to face the police cop as he came to a stop before us. “What is the matter? Did you find something?”
“Yes,” said Officer Charlie. He stood up straight and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “We found some important evidence we thought you might want to look at. It’s a piece of technology we couldn’t identify, so we decided you might be able to identify it for us.”
Officer Charlie handed Brains the evidence bag, which Brains took very carefully. He held up the bag to the light of a nearby street lamp, which allowed us to see a small, thin metal disk inside it. It looked familiar to me, but I wasn’t sure where I had seen it before.
“What is this?” said Vanish, looking at Officer Charlie quizzically.
“That’s what we want to know,” said Officer Charlie, folding his big arms in front of his chest. “We found it in the corner of Earth King’s office. It looks liked it might have been dropped in a hurry by the assassin who took out Earth King.”
“Hmm,” said Brains, lowering the baggy and turning it over in his hands. “Well, I don’t recognize it. Doesn’t look like much to me, but you should probably send it to the lab to be tested for DNA. Could help us identify the assassin.”
I held out a hand. “Hey, Brains, can I take a look at it? I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before and I want to look at it more closely.”
Brains handed me the baggy. “Okay, but be careful with that. It’s important evidence and if you tamper with it too much—”
“Don’t worry,” I said as I looked down at the bag. “I just want to look, that’s all.”
Then I muttered under my breath, “Val, can you scan this disk and tell me what it is?”
“Certainly,” said Valerie. “Scanning contents of bag now … scanning … scanning … ah, I found a match, but it’s odd.”
I frowned and turned away from the others so I could hear Valerie better. “Odd? How?”
“It’s a two six three B model physical disk capable of transporting individuals across great distances in a short amount of time,” Valerie responded promptly.
“In English, please.”
“Fine,” said Valerie. “It is a teleportation disk. And not just any teleportation disk, either. It is one of the teleportation disks that your father, Genius, created.”
I gulped. “Then that means—”
“That this assassin of ours apparently has access to some of Genius’ old equipment, yes,” Valerie finished. “Which, I can assure you, is exactly as bad as you think it is.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much time to consider the implications of this revelation as I would have liked, because Vanish took Brains and me back to the Braindome now that the police no longer needed us on the scene. Both Brains and Vanish were tired and ready for bed, and I was, too, but at the same time, I was so shocked by Valerie’s revelation that it was like someone had injected caffeine directly into my veins.
Luckily, Officer Charlie allowed us to take the teleportation disk with us for further study because he said that the police had found other evidence they could follow up on and that no one would miss the teleportation disk. That would have struck me as odd if I had any time to think about it, but I didn’t because I was still processing what Valerie told me.
We teleported into the Braindome conference room, which was currently empty of people aside from ourselves. It was a large, brightly-lit room with several tables lined up against the walls, a stage for speakers and entertainers, and pictures along the walls of various famous superheroes, such as Omega Man and Lady Amazon. Normally, this was where Brains called meetings for the staff of the Braindome, but because it was after midnight, there was no one here but ourselves at the moment. Even the janitor wasn’t here tonight, but that was fine because I wasn’t very interested in talking to anyone other than Brains and Vanish right now.
“Whew,” said Vanish. She stretched her arms and yawned. “Think I’ll be heading to bed now, though I’m going to check on Mom and Joey to make sure they’re okay.”
Brains also yawned and said, “They’ll be fine, honey. Joey is probably sound asleep by now, and so is your mom, most likely. Joey is a full-time job all by himself.”
“You’re probably right,” said Vanish. “Still, I’d like to say goodnight to him anyway before we go to bed.”
“Right, but first, we have something else we need to talk about,” said Brains. He turned toward me. “What Valerie told you.”
Taken by surprise, I looked at Brains and said, “What?”
“Valerie told you that that disk was made by your father, right?” said Brains. He gestured at the teleportation disk in the bag in my hands.
“Correct,” said Valerie, her voice audible in all of our earcoms. “My scanners indicate that this was one of Genius’ teleportation disks. He made hundreds of them due to how cheap and easy they were to manufacture, though he rarely made use of them himself thanks to his Teleportation Buckle.”
Valerie was right. It had been a long time since I thought of Dad’s old teleportation disks, but now I remembered them. I probably forgot about them because I got Dad’s Teleportation Buckle, so I never needed to use his old disks. Now that I thought about it, I actually wasn’t sure what happened to the disks after Dad died last year.
“How powerful are they?” said Vanish curiously. “Can they teleport as far as I can?”
“I believe the maximum distance which a teleportation disk can send someone is twenty miles,” said Valerie in her usual monotone voice. “Genius pushed the tech to its limits, but he could never successfully teleport something further than that, at least not without risking the safety of the teleportation subject in question.”
“But how?” I said. “How did this assassin get his hands on one of Dad’s old inventions?”
“Didn’t Genius leave a bunch of stuff behind when he died?” Brains asked. “I seem to recall reading an article on Neo Ranks that said something like that.”
I shook my head. “Dad did leave a lot of his inventions behind when he died, but Mom and I gave them to the NHA after his death. No one outside of the NHA should have any of Dad’s old tech.”
“That teleportation disk in your hand tells a different story,” said Brains. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned in thought. “As far as I am aware, there haven’t been any thefts on Hero Island recently, but it’s the only explanation I got that makes any sense.”
“Actually, I think I may know how this mysterious assassin of ours got his hands on some of Genius’ old technology,” Valerie said.
I put my hand on my earcom and said, “Oh
, yeah? How?”
“He most likely got it from Vault B,” said Valerie. “Of course, he could have also broken into any of the other Vaults, but—”
“Vault B?” I repeated. “Val, what are you talking about? What is Vault B and why would Dad’s old gear tech be in there?”
Valerie went silent for a moment—a long moment, longer than I was comfortable with—before saying, “Vault B is one of several Vaults which Genius built and hid all across the country to store weapons, gear, technology, and other inventions he made. I have narrowed down the possibilities to Vault B because it had the largest amount of teleportation disks stored within it, plus it is the easiest to find.”
“Back up a sec, Val,” I said, holding up a hand. “You’ve never mentioned these Vaults before.”
“I haven’t?” There was something fake about her tone as if she was playing ignorant.
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “And Dad never mentioned them to me, either, back when he was still alive.”
“My apologies,” said Valerie. “Your father gave me orders not to tell anyone, even his own family, about the Vaults. He was afraid that the technology contained within them might somehow end up in the wrong hands, so he was always very careful to keep their entire existence a secret from everyone. Even the NHA Leadership Council does not know about them, even though Genius built the first Vault, Vault A, approximately one year after the NHA was formed.”
I exchanged surprised and puzzled looks with Brains and Vanish. “And the reason you waited so long to tell me this is because—?”
“I didn’t think it was important,” said Valerie bluntly. “Plus, Genius ordered me not to tell anyone about the Vaults even after his death. He wanted the Vaults—and the contents within them—to fade away from memory and become lost to the dustbins of history.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I said. “Why did it take you so long to mention this?”
“Because Genius told me not to tell anyone, including you and your mother, about the Vaults,” said Valerie. “But now that it seems like this assassin is trying to kill you with this same technology, I felt it was time to let you know.”
On one hand, I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear this. Although Dad was a great man and superhero, he did have a tendency toward paranoia and distrust. He could be really secretive when he wanted to be. Heck, I didn’t even know he was a superhero at all until I became a superhero myself two years ago or so. Not to mention how Dad never told me about my twin brother, Ronald, until I met him myself not too long ago. That Dad would keep something as important as the Vaults a secret from me was not out of character for him.
Still, I wondered what other secrets Valerie was hiding from me because Dad told her to. Valerie herself said that the only reason she even mentioned the Vaults was because of the teleportation disk we found. If we hadn’t found the disk, would she have ever told me about the Vaults?
“Very interesting,” said Brains. He was stroking his chin in thought. “Genius was a prolific inventor in his day and there were rumors after his death that not all of his inventions had been given over to the NHA. I never believed them myself, though.”
I held up the baggy containing the teleportation disk. “So, Valerie you are telling me that this mysterious assassin of ours somehow found and broke into Vault B? And stole some of Dad’s technology, which he is now attempting to kill me with?”
“Yes,” said Valerie. “I do not, of course, know if that is true or not, but I cannot think of any other way this assassin could have gotten a hold of the teleportation disks if not from Vault B.”
“Assuming the assassin did break into Vault B, wouldn’t it be logical to assume that he’s gotten his hands on more than just teleportation disks?” said Vanish. She rubbed her hands together anxiously. “Including other weapons Genius may have designed when he was alive?”
“That is entirely possible, Vanish,” said Valerie. “But it is not my place to speculate about such matters. All I can do is provide you with the facts you need to come to your own conclusions on these issues.”
I lowered my hand from my earcom. “Then it’s obvious what we need to do: Find Vault B and see if we can find any clues to the identity of our assassin there. Val, do you know where it is?”
“Affirmative,” said Valerie. “I don’t have the locations of every Vault, but I do have the location of Vault B and I can download it into any GPS-enabled device you have.”
“Awesome,” I said. I punched my fist into my hand. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
“Hold on,” said Brains, holding up a hand. “You can’t go yet. It’s very late and you need your sleep, just like Vanish and I.”
“I don’t need to rest,” I insisted. Then I suddenly yawned. “On second thought, maybe getting a good night’s sleep isn’t such a bad idea after all.”
Brains shook his head. “It’s more than that, Bolt. I don’t want you going to these Vaults at all.”
I whipped my head toward Brains, staring at him in confusion. “What? Why not?”
“Because you blatantly disobeyed me earlier,” Brains pointed out. “I said I was going to discipline you when we got back to the Braindome, so I am. You will stay here in the Braindome unless sent out on a mission or if it’s an emergency.”
“What?” I said. I gestured behind me. “But what about Vault B? We can’t just ignore it. It might help us find the assassin.”
“We’ll go and check it out ourselves,” said Brains, gesturing at himself and Vanish. “Probably safer that way, because we have no idea what kind of dangerous technology your father might have left behind. You can stay here and hold down the fort while we’re away.”
“I agree with Brains,” said Vanish. “Besides, you are probably safer here. If that assassin really is after you, then it would be safer for you to stay in the Braindome for now.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but then paused and thought about it. I was already having trouble getting Brains and Vanish to see me as an adult. If I argued with them about my punishment, I would just confirm their view of me as a stupid teenager who doesn’t know anything. I would just have to keep my mouth shut for now and accept it, even though I thought they were wrong to keep me here.
Besides, I was very tired after tonight’s botched mission. A good night’s sleep sounded like just the thing I needed about now.
Reluctantly, I nodded and said, “All right. I won’t go to the Vaults. I’ll just head off to bed.”
Brains looked relieved. “Good to hear. Vanish and I need to go to bed as well. Good night.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The next morning, I was awakened by my smartphone ringing loudly. Lying in my bed in the darkness of my room, I clawed at the desk next to my bed until I picked up my phone and, answering it without looking at who was calling, said, “Hello? Who is it and can it wait until I wake up?”
A familiar giggle came from the phone. “Morning, Bolt! You sound wide awake already.”
My drowsiness vanished as soon as I recognized that voice. “Blizzard? Is that you?”
“Yeah,” came Blizzard’s chipper voice. “Let’s make this into a video call. I like hearing your voice, but I much prefer seeing your face.”
Blinking rapidly, I held my phone out until I could look at the screen. I saw that Blizzard had already changed it into a video call. I now found myself staring into Blizzard’s beautiful face. Her long white hair draped the sides of her tanned face, her soft lips turned in the cutest smile I had ever seen on a girl’s face before. Her dark blue eyes looked as if they had been painted by a master artist. I could feel myself waking up just by looking at her.
“Wow,” said Blizzard, her smile cracking even more. “You look awful.”
“Because you woke me up,” I said, though I smiled back at her. I ran a hand through my messy brown hair. “You interrupted my beauty sleep.”
Blizzard snorted. “I didn’t know you cared about your appearance so much. M
aybe I can ask Talon to give you some fashion tips when you come back to Hero Island.”
I chuckled. “Nah, I like my style as it is. It’s done me good so far. It helped me get you, didn’t it?”
“Can’t argue with that,” said Blizzard with a shrug. “So, how have you been? Fight any supervillains recently?”
I rubbed my eyes. “Not really. Mostly dealing with criminals with more weaponry than sense. Why are you calling me so early in the morning, anyway?”
“Because I miss you, obviously,” said Blizzard. “And we’ve been so busy recently that I haven’t had the time or energy to call you except in the mornings before everyone gets up. I assume you’ve been just as busy.”
I nodded. “Yeah, Brains and Vanish are working me to the bone. They make Mecha Knight look lenient.”
Blizzard chuckled. “Tell me about it. Mecha Knight just gave us a new training regiment he expects us to follow every day. Get up, have breakfast, train for hours in the Training Room, and then repeat for lunch and dinner. Not to mention Stinger has been adding extra ‘team-building’ exercises, which usually have the opposite effect of what he is aiming for, but he’s still a good leader.”
I smiled at that. Prior to becoming a full member of the Neohero Alliance, I had been the leader of the Young Neos, the most famous young superhero team in the country. After I graduated into full NHA membership, however, I had passed on that title to Stinger, my former second-in-command on the team, who as far as I could tell had done a pretty good job leading the Young Neos in my absence. Blizzard, who was my girlfriend, was also still on the Young Neos, though she was old enough to graduate, I think.
“I take it White is handling everything well?” I said, mentioning my twin brother, White Lightning, who was also a member of the Young Neos.
Blizzard actually laughed. “White is the only one having fun, I think. He really likes the stricter regiment Mecha Knight imposed on us. He seems to do really well when you impose external controls over him. I guess it helps that he’s basically invincible, kind of like you, so it’s not as hard on him as it is on us.”
