The Superhero's Summit (The Superhero's Son Book 3) (18 page)

Treehugger was interrupted by a tiny
beep
from my suit-up watch. I glanced at it, thinking it was maybe a message or a call from Dad (who I hadn't talked to yet today), but then I noticed that it was from Strike.

“What?” said Blizzard, who sat next to me. “Who's calling?”

“Strike,” I said. “But how did he get my number? I didn't give it to him.”

“I wouldn't answer it if I were you,” Stinger said. “I don't know what Strike wants to talk with you about, but I doubt it is anything good.”

“Yeah,” said Talon, nodding. “It seems very suspicious that he would call us just as we were discussing the trustworthiness of the INJ, wouldn't you say?”

“I know,” I said, “but maybe he will have some answers. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? It's not like he'll automatically learn any of our secrets if I just talk to him, right?”

“Perhaps, but that still doesn't make him very trustworthy in my opinion,” said Talon. “You'd do better to just ignore him.”

“No, I think I'll talk to him,” I said. I rose from my seat. “I'll do it out in the hall, too, because he'll probably want to talk to me in private. At the very least, I'll see if I can figure out how he got my number.”

“But—” said Talon.

“It's fine,” I said. “The rest of you can stay here. I'll be back in five minutes.”

The others clearly looked disapproving of my decision, but I didn't let their disapproval affect me. I walked out of the Meeting Room and into the empty hallway, closing the doors behind me as I left. Once the doors were closed, I held up my watch to my face and tapped the picture of Strike that was on it.

As soon as I did that, Strike's voice erupted from the screen. “Hey, Bolt! How have you been? It's been a while since we last spoke.”

Strike seemed oddly friendly to me, but then I remembered that he probably didn't know about the lizard monster's attack on the Museum just yet, nor our own theories about the possible involvement of his organization. “Yes. I didn't think we'd get a chance to talk again after my visit to the Cavern.”

“Eh, don't worry about the Midnight Menace,” said Strike in a cheery voice. “He was just worried because you weren't supposed to be down there. He hasn't mentioned you since you left, but I can tell he's starting to relax. I doubt he'll treat you rudely at the Summit or anything.”

I nodded, but I was still curious about what he was calling me about. “Okay, but how did you get my number? I don't remember giving it to you when I was in the Cavern.”

“I have a friend who is really good at finding out this sort of information, but I had to pay a lot of money to get it,” said Strike. “But don't worry, I'm not going to post it on the Internet or share it with random strangers on the street. It will just be between you and me.”

“So you hired someone to dox me?” I said. Anger rose within me. “Why? Are you trying to reveal my secret identity or something?”

“No,” said Strike. “I had to contact you because there's been weird things going on here at the Cavern and at the INJ headquarters and I think they may be related to what's been going on at Hero Island. I'm calling you because you're my only contact in the NHA.”

“Really?” I said. I couldn't keep the suspicion out of my voice. “What's happened? Have you told the Midnight Menace about it?”

“I have, but …” Strike trailed off. “Never mind. I figured that you might be able to help me understand what's going on, because right now things are getting weird here.”

“Why don't you start from the beginning?” I said. “Tell me exactly what happened. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on, after all.”

“Okay,” said Strike. I thought I caught a hint of fear in his voice. “It all started after you left. The Midnight Menace sent some INJ members down to the bottom floor to clean up the mess you made. It was just a couple of our members who could control the earth. They were supposed to fix the ceiling and reinforce the concrete so the Cavern wouldn't collapse and bury us all alive.”

I nodded. “What happened?”

“I … man, I don't know,” said Strike. “I went down there to check on them and …” Strike made a shuddering sound. “They were dead. Both of them. One had been shot in the head, while the other was stabbed with some kind of sword. It was …”

Strike trailed off again, which I took to mean that he was being overcome with emotion.

So I said, “Who killed them? How did they die?”

“I don't know,” said Strike. “There was only one clue: The letters 'NHA' written in blood on the walls.”

I covered my mouth. “Are you telling me that someone from the NHA killed them?”

“That's what the Midnight Menace says,” said Strike. “But I'm not sure. It doesn't make any sense. No one in the NHA has ever come to the Cavern, except for you. We don't have any security cameras down there, unfortunately, so we can't check those to see if they caught the killer on camera, but it still seems unlikely to me.”

“Yeah, I agree,” I said. “That's not what the NHA does. The NHA doesn't send assassins out to kill people, even people we dislike or disagree with.”

“I told the Midnight Menace that, but he just didn't listen,” said Strike. “He was convinced that this was the work of an NHA member who was trying to scare the INJ before the Summit. I told him that didn't make any sense, but the Midnight Menace didn't listen.”

“Why?” I said. “Is it because of his negative relationship with the NHA?”

“I think so,” said Strike. “He's also really stubborn. Whenever he gets an idea into his head, no matter how unrealistic or unreasonable it may be, he clings to it like it's the gospel truth. He just won't listen to anyone who disagrees.”

“What is he going to do about it?” I said. “Is he not going to come to the Summit?”

“No,” said Strike. “He said the INJ will still be at the Summit, but I'm still worried about it. He might try something crazy there, like maybe accuse your leaders of killing two of our guys.”

“You don't think he'll try to fight them, do you?” I said.

“I doubt it,” said Strike. “He knows that would be a mistake, but he's been so angry since the murders that I really don't know. The rest of the INJ isn't happy about this, either, and I don't think it would take much to convince them to fight the NHA.”

“Did you find any other clues that might contradict the idea that the NHA is behind the murders?” I said.

“No,” said Strike. “I searched, but couldn't find any other clues. Whoever killed those two wanted to make sure no one found out who he or she is.”

“But they left the letters 'NHA' on the wall in the blood of their victims,” I said. I stroked my chin. “Odd.”

“Odd? No, it's horrifying,” said Strike. “I don't know who did it or how they got into the Cavern. The Midnight Menace even moved us out of there for now until we can figure out who got in there and how they got in without anyone noticing. He's afraid that the murderer might strike again and might target us next.”

I was still thinking about how odd it was, but then something clicked in my head and I said, “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh?” said Strike. “What is it? Did you just see something?”

“No,” I said. “I just realized why that killer left the NHA initials on the wall. He wasn't trying to make it easier for you guys to find out who he is. He is trying to provoke a reaction from the INJ, make them hate the NHA and want to fight us.”

“Why?” said Strike. “Why would he do that?”

“Because he's trying to instigate a conflict between the two organizations,” I said. I put a hand on my forehead. “He's trying to instigate a superhero war.”

“A war?” said Strike. “How do you know that? Do you know who the killer is?”

“No, but I think he may be related to some things that have happened here on Hero Island,” I said.

I explained to Strike about the practice bots and the strange lizard creature attack in the Museum. I explained as quickly as I could while not omitting any important details as Strike listened.

“So you're saying that this mysterious woman may be connected to whoever killed those two guys,” said Strike when I finished. “That someone is trying to manipulate both organizations into fighting each other.”

“Exactly,” I said. “I doubt that either the NHA or the INJ is behind any of these things. Clearly, there is someone out there who wants to take down both organizations and thinks that the best way to do that is have us destroy each other for them.”

“Do you think it is the G-Men?” said Strike. “I know that a lot of the G-Men don't like the NHA or INJ. And I also know that their leader, Cadmus Smith, is well-known for this sort of manipulative behavior, so if they're behind it, then this is serious.”

“That's certainly a possibility,” I said. “And I did run into Shade in your base, but she only wanted those documents I found about Project Neo and didn't seem to know or care about anything else.”

“Could be another G-Men agent who is doing this,” Strike suggested. “But it's hard to know for sure because we just don't have a lot of evidence to link the G-Men to any of this stuff.”

“Which, I am sure, is exactly how they like it,” I said, shaking my head. “I bet the next major move by this person, whoever he or she is, will happen at the Summit.”

“That's what I was thinking, too,” said Strike. “We'll need to keep an eye open for anyone acting suspiciously while we're there.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I'll talk with my team about this. I will also mention this to the Leadership Council.”

“Ah, I wouldn't do that, if I were you,” said Strike. “The Midnight Menace wouldn't be very happy to learn that the NHA Leadership Council knows about what's been going on in our base. He's ordered the rest of the INJ and the New Heroes to keep these murders secret from the rest of the world because he is paranoid that it might harm the INJ's reputation if they became widely known.”

I frowned. “But this is exactly the sort of thing that the Leadership Council needs to know about. I think they'd be interested in knowing about these murders. It might even convince them that the INJ is not responsible for the bad things that have happened here, which might help us figure out who is behind it.”

“Maybe, but I'm technically not supposed to be telling you or anyone else outside of the INJ and New Heroes about this,” said Strike. “It would be best if we kept this among ourselves for now. There's no telling how your leaders would react if they knew about what I told you.”

“I guess you have a point,” I said. “Anyway, I'll call you later so we can talk about what we'll do at the Summit. I want to tell the rest of my team about this so everyone will be on the same page.”

“Okay,” said Strike. “Talk to you later, then.”

With that, I tapped the 'end call' button and the call ended. Lowering my arm, I turned around, opened the doors, and walked back into the Meeting Room, hoping that we would be able to stop whoever was trying to manipulate both sides into destroying each other before it was too late.

Chapter Sixteen

O
n the first day of the Neohero Summit, I stood in the Hero Hall, where hundreds of heroes from all over the world were gathered. Hero Hall was a massive hall located in the NHA headquarters, usually used for big events like this. It was a wide-open space, with dozens of tables on the edges of the room with food, drinks, and other refreshments for the visitors and attendees. Banners from the NHA and INJ hung along the walls, while the sounds of dozens of different languages being spoken crashed together to create a confused cacophony of noise that made it impossible for me to hear anyone in particular, not helped by the fact that peoples' shoes were scraping against the floor and glasses and plates tinkled together.

At the far end of the room was a platform upon which stood a single round table, with the NHA insignia inscribed upon it. No one was sitting up there yet, but I had been told that that was where the NHA and INJ leaders were going to sit and begin their discussions soon.

I stood next to one of the refreshment tables, a little ways away from the hundreds of heroes talking. It wasn't that I was shy or nervous; oh, no, I certainly wasn't. I was just busy keeping an eye out for anyone behaving suspiciously, anyone who might be trying to cause trouble.

So far, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Looking around, I saw High Fly, one of the NHA Leadership Council members, flirting with some cute female Brazilian heroes I didn't recognize, while Big Muscle—who had survived the poison dart shot into him, thankfully—was deep in conversation with a large Japanese guy who looked like a sumo wrestler. I also spotted a team of Japanese heroes who kind of looked like the Power Rangers, in addition to a British guy walking around wearing a suit that looked like the Union Jack.

But I didn't recognize most of the international heroes because I wasn't as familiar with them as I was with the American ones. I was aware, of course, that neoheroes could be found all over the world in nearly every country, but seeing so many different heroes from so many different cultures made that fact a lot more real in my mind than it had been before.

I raised my suit-up watch to my mouth and whispered, “Guys, see anyone acting suspiciously yet?”

“Nope,” came Stinger's voice from the watch. “Shell and I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Well, Mr. Miner seems to be drunk, but he always gets drunk at events like these, so that's pretty normal.”

“Same here,” said Treehugger's voice. “Well, Talon is flirting with a couple of Spanish guys from that Mexican team whatever-their-name-is, but aside from that, I haven't see anyone up to anything suspicious yet.”

“Good,” I said, glancing up to look at the crowd again. “I haven't, either, but we should still keep our guard up. This is their last chance to spark a war between the INJ and the NHA, so I bet they're going to go all out today. We can't let them do that. Call me again in ten minutes with another report.”

“All right,” said Stinger.

“Sure,” said Treehugger.

I turned off my watch just as someone shouted, “Bolt!”

I looked over and saw Strike walking toward me, making his way through the crowd, although he kept stopping because other heroes kept wanting to shake his hand or have him give them his autograph. I had forgotten just how popular Strike was, which suddenly made me jealous again, even though I knew better than that by now.