First Superhero 1: The Second Super (8 page)

“Wow,” I said as I held the suit up to my body. “This is incredible, Mom!”

Mom smiled and looked me over, looking very proud. “I know how worried you are about keeping your identity a secret. It's not bulletproof or has any special gadgets or anything like that, but it'll get the job done. Nobody will know who you are, and we'll all be safe.”

Dad gave me a pat on the shoulder. “Plus, you need something iconic. When people see that suit, they'll know that they're safe.”

I smiled and laughed. “I guess you can say it's all part of the Kane Andrews brand.”

Dad rolled his eyes and Mom laughed.

“Yes,” Dad said. “I guess you could say that.”

I stood there for a moment admiring the suit before Mom waved her hands toward the bathroom. “Go try it on! I worked hard sewing that thing together. I wanna see how good it looks on you!”

“Alright, alright!” I said as Mom ushered me to the bathroom.

I shut the door behind me, and flicked on the lights. I was only wearing a white T-shirt and some basketball shorts, so I didn't bother taking those off. I figured the suit would probably be a bit more comfortable with those on.

I put on the suit like a SCUBA diver would put on their wetsuit. From the back, I stuck my legs into the leather pants, which, while being tight, were surprisingly comfortable and thankfully offered a lot of room around the crotch area.

Next I slipped my head into the mask part of the suit, then stuck my arms into the sleeves. I reached behind me, and thanks to my increased dexterity, zipped the suit up with ease. I took a moment to admire myself in the bathroom mirror.

And damn, I looked badass.

The fabric that wasn't the leather was form-fitting, so you could see the outlines of my abs and biceps, which were growing larger with each passing day. The head piece worked perfectly, as there were no defining features showing. My eyes weren't glowing, however, so I focused on them, and, like flipping a switch, they began to glow bright. Now it'd really be impossible to tell who I was.

I slipped on the navy-blue leather gloves, and was surprised at how thin they were and how little they restricted my movement.

Once they were on, I took one last look at myself in the mirror. The outfit was complete, and I was beginning to feel ready for whatever Richter would throw my way.

I wasn't. Not in the slightest.

14

RICHTER RETURNS

I
’LL NEVER FORGET
the moment when everything I’d feared and had been dreading came to life.

I was sitting on the couch, messing around on my phone with the television playing in the background. I wasn’t really paying attention to the TV, as I was in the middle of a nice text conversation with Macy.

The
Breaking News
jingle played, and the news reporter began her spiel. “We have breaking news for you coming out of Ebon, Indiana. We have reports coming in from eyewitnesses all over the city saying that Richter is in the middle of wreaking havoc. Unfortunately. we cannot be more specific than that, but local news teams are on their way to safely get coverage. Many of you are familiar with the city of Ebon, after reports of a second superhuman surfaced in the recent days, one who actually scared Richter off. There’s speculation that this is a move by Richter to try and draw out this Second Super, but as this story is still developing, there’s no way for us to know for sure. It will be interesting to see how this will all play out, so you do not want to turn the channel.”

“Kane! What are you doing?” my dad shouted at me, breaking me from my trance.

I looked at up him, and he was trying his best to keep his composure and not freak out.

“I’m scared, Dad,” I said, barely above a whisper. I thought I was going to throw up. My palms were practically dripping with sweat, and I couldn’t find the strength to stand.

Dad walked over to me, got down on one knee, and put his arm on my shoulder. He looked into my eyes and smiled. “I believe in you, son. I’ve never been more proud of anyone than I am of you right now. Go out there, and make me even more proud.”

I felt a warmth wash over me. My dad believed in me, and that gave me more strength than superpowers ever could.

I nodded my head. “Okay. I guess it’s my time to shine.”

I heard Mom clear her throat, and I looked up at her. She’d walked into the room while Dad and I were having our moment, and was standing in the entryway holding my suit. She opened her mouth to say something, but her voice just cracked. Instead, she just held out my suit.

I stood up and walked over to her. I took it from her hands and then gave her a hug.

I let go of her and then pulled the suit on over my clothes. I put the suit on so fast Mom and Dad couldn’t even see me do it. To them, I was their son one second, and someone in a super suit the next.

“Keep an eye on the news,” I told them as I walked to the front door.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be glued to our seats cheering you on from here,” Dad said.

I smiled at them and then walked out the door. I stood on the front lawn and took a deep breath.
It’s showtime,
I thought to myself, before launching into the air and beginning my flight to Ebon.

It took only a few seconds to reach Ebon, but that’s all it took to shift my focus away from my parents and on to finding Richter.

Ebon isn’t a very large city, so it took only two quick scans before I saw Richter hovering a few hundred feet over downtown. He was a couple of miles away, but with my superhearing mixed with him amplifying his voice, it wasn’t hard to hear what he was saying at all.

“…you’re out there, come face me. I will tear this city apart if I have to in order to find you. And if you’re not here, I will tear another, and another, and another. I’ll tear this whole damn world apart if I have to.”

Well, you’re not going to have to,
I thought to myself. I focused in on Richter and launched myself right at him, fists at the ready.

I flew as fast as I could, which was a huge mistake. There was a loud sonic boom as I broke the sound barrier, which gave myself away to Richter. Given his own super-speed and reflexes, he was able to duck down. As I flew over him, he reached up and grabbed my suit, and, using my momentum against me, he shifted my course and sent me spiraling straight toward the ground.

I threw on the brakes as hard as I could, but I didn’t have much room to stop. I stopped myself just inches from a cameraman, who had his giant camera pointing directly at my face. I was so thankful for my suit and glowing eyes, because if it wasn’t for them, my bare face would’ve been filling the screens of televisions and computers around the world.

I turned around just in time to see Richter barreling down at me, going full speed. Using my speed and reflexes, I kicked him right in the jaw once he got in range. This knocked him off course, so instead of him crashing into me and, subsequently, the camera crew behind me, he went flying through a ten-story building that was in the middle of construction. Part of the building collapsed, sending dirt flying everywhere and dust billowing into the street.

“Shit!” I shouted, angry with myself. I might have just saved the camera crew, but sending Richter through a building wasn’t exactly the safest thing ever. I hoped that the construction crew had the day off, or were in the side of the building that didn’t collapse.

Richter used that distraction to his advantage. It felt as if I’d been hit by a freight train, as Richter barreled into me as fast as he could, and he wasn’t stopping. I was in too much shock and pain to fight back as the world flew by around me at Mach speeds. Richter pulled me back and then threw me down into a mountain. A deafening boom shot through the air as the Earth exploded around me. The side of the mountain had been obliterated by my impact, and I was lying at the bottom of a giant hole I’d punched into the Earth.

I screamed in pain as I felt my bones popping back into place and fusing back together. Bones that had been obliterated and turned to dust regrew in the matter of seconds. I was alive, but just barely. My body repaired itself just enough to keep it that way, but given the blood I was coughing up and the incredible amount of pain I was in, it’d be a while before I was fully recovered.

The hole I was in was filled with dust, but the sides were perfectly round and smooth, as if someone had taken a hole-puncher and punched a perfect hole into the ground. I looked up, and I could barely see a pinhole of light far, far away. That tiny pinhole was actually the hole leading to the surface, and I would later find it was a hundred yards wide.

A pair of glowing eyes descended into the hole. Even though it was too dark to see his face, I knew it was Richter. He picked up my limp body, and I didn’t even have the energy to protest or fight back. I was in too much pain.

Richter carried me out of the hole, and dumped me at the edge of it as soon as we got outside. I coughed up some dust, and tried to get as much oxygen in me as I could. The oxygen and fresh air sped up my recovery, because I was already feeling much better, much faster.

“When you’re ready to stand, I’m ready to talk,” Richter said as he sat down next to me, dangling his feet over the edge of the pit my body had formed.

I took a few more deep breaths, and, while trying not to scream in pain, I pushed myself up to my feet. I stumbled a bit like I was drunk, but I eventually found my footing. I could feel my insides repairing themselves much quicker now, and my pain was being replaced with anger.

Richter stood up and chuckled. “There we go,” he said.

I took a few wobbly steps toward him, and yelled “You son of a bitch!” as I swung my fist at him as hard as I could muster up. Even though I wasn’t at a hundred percent, it was still a punch fast enough that most people wouldn’t see it coming, and hard enough that it would most definitely kill you.

Still, Richter dodged it with ease, weaving and bobbing his head out of the way like a professional boxer.

I tried to swing again, but Richter just pushed me, sending me flying a hundred miles an hour into a boulder. My spine cracked and broke again. I tried to yell in pain but was paralyzed for a split second. My spine snapped back into place, repairing itself.

Richter was by my side in the blink of an eye. “Now, I can do this all day. You, on the other hand, look like you’re in a lot of pain. Trust me, you’ll get used to it. We can save the ‘getting used to it’ for a later date though. Right now, I just want to have a discussion if that’s alright with you. Or would you like for me to send you down the side of another mountain? We’re in Washington right now, and there’s lots of ’em to choose from.”

I gritted my teeth, rage filling every inch of my body. I spat on the ground next to Richter. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

Richter sighed. “Alright, here we go.” He picked me up, about to take me on another painful ride.

“Wait!” I said. I didn’t want to have to go through pain like that again. “Okay,” I said through heavy breathing. “Let’s talk.”

15

THE MOUNTAINTOP

I
SAT
across from Richter when his eyes stopped glowing. I could see his face clearly and fully. There was a bit of dirt on it, and his longish hair covered part of his eyes until he brushed it aside. He smiled, giving me a toothy, pearly-white grin. His eyes were a deep brown and—for lack of a better phrase—filled with a boyish charm. Like he’d just gotten a new toy for Christmas and was moments away from tearing it open to play.

“So you’re the new kid on the block,” he said, examining my battered body. “Your suit’s a little torn,” he said as he poked at my skin through a hole in the side.

I flinched away, but instantly regretting showing any weakness.

“What’s with the suit, anyways? You think you’re some sort of hero?” Richter let out a laugh. “That’s just ridiculous. You’re no
superhero
.” He spat the word out like it was venom.

“I’m better than you,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Oh really?” Richter turned and looked at the damage we’d done to the mountain. It was almost totally blown apart, more of a crater than a mountain. “Because I think there’s a mountain around here somewhere that would disagree with you,” Richter said. He laughed, proud of his joke.

“What do you want, Richter?” I asked.

Richter raised a hand. “Please, call me Patrick.”

“Just tell me what you want to talk about,
Richter
.”

Richter’s joking expression flashed red with anger, but he was able to hold it back. “I have a proposition for you…?” He looked at me questioningly. “What’s your name anyhow?”

Now it was my turn to laugh. “You think I’d tell you?”

Richter shrugged. “Worth a shot, no? Anyways, as I was saying. A proposition.” Richter cleared his throat and stood. He paced in front of me. “You and I are both special. We’re different. We’re
better.
We could basically do anything we wanted to, with no one to stop us. Or, at least, I can. I have, as I’m sure you’ve seen. I’ve turned to world into my playground. But to be honest,” Richter turned and looked at me, “it can get kind of lonely.”

“And I care about your loneliness why?” I asked, trying to make jabs at him. If I couldn’t hurt him physically, I’d at least try and let my words do some damage.

“Because,” Richter began as he crouched down to get eye level with me, who was still sitting against a boulder letting my body heal. “Soon you’ll be lonely, too. You’ll try and hide your powers, try and keep your loved ones safe.” Richter’s face turned dark. “But then you’ll start to feel a disconnect. Your friends will start to push you away, saying you’ve been acting ‘weird,’ that you’ve been ‘hiding something,’ that they can’t ‘trust you.’” Richter was trying to keep himself from shaking with anger. “BUT YOU’LL JUST BE TRYING TO PROTECT THEM!” he yelled, his words filled with anger.

I jumped up from my seat, and Richter stood as well. “So the next step for you was to go on a rampage?” I said back, as smug as I could.

“No!” Richter snapped back. “It was to tell them who I was. But you know what? They said I was a
freak.
They were
afraid.
But you know what?” Richter got a crazed look in his eyes. “They were right. They were right to be afraid of me. They were right in calling me a freak. Because I am a freak. I’m a freak who’s better than them. Who’s better than every person on this goddamn Earth.” Richter’s voice turned soft; the charm returned to his eyes. “And together, you and I could rule this place. The Earth can be our playground. We could have whatever we wanted.
Who
ever we wanted. So let’s not fight. Don’t make me have to kill you. Because we could have so much fun.”