The Superhero's Clone

by Lucas Flint

  I glanced over my shoulder at Blizzard and said, in a sardonic tone, “No, I’m not doing anything important at all.”

  “Excellent,” said Sean, apparently missing my sarcasm. “As your assistant might have told you, I am the son of Seth Richards.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, she mentioned that.”

  “As I am sure you also know, my father and I had a falling out a long time ago,” said Sean. “For over seventeen years, I’ve been trying to undermine my father’s efforts to achieve immortality, but I failed every time until just recently when you and some of your friends killed him and destroyed his final Vault.”

  I nodded again. I was wondering when he was going to tell me something new.

  “Even better, you saved my son, Ethan,” said Sean. “Or, as you know him, Edge Vigilante. He’s back home safe and sound with me. For that, I must thank you. Without your help, my son would be gone and my father’s plans would have gone off without a hitch.”

  “No problem, Mr. Richards,” I said. “Your father was a monster. I kill monsters. It’s pretty simple.”

  “Yes, yes, thanks,” said Sean. “But I don’t want to merely thank you. I want to reward you somehow.”

  “No, you don’t need to do that, Mr. Richards,” I said, shaking my head. “The only reward I need is the satisfaction of stopping a bad guy. That’s all I need.”

  “Even so, I must do something for you,” said Sean. “So I’ve decided to donate over one million dollars to the Neohero Alliance in your name.”

  “Wow, really?” I said in surprise. “That’s awfully generous of you.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Sean. “So long as you are with the NHA, I feel that it is a worthwhile investment. And if you ever need any help, please call me up anytime. I am always happy to help.”

  “Uh, thanks,” I said. “Is that all you wanted to talk with me about or—?”

  “That’s it,” said Sean. “Oh, and Ethan says hello. He’s no longer going to be Edge Vigilante anymore, but he still wants to be a superhero, despite not having any powers.”

  I smiled. “Tell him I said hi as well and that he can be a hero even if he doesn’t have any powers.”

  “All right,” said Sean. “Goodbye, then, and Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas to you, too.”

  I hung up but did not immediately turn around to face Blizzard. Talking about the Seth Richards situation made me think about everything had happened over the last week or so since we escaped Vault Z.

  Vault Z was completely and totally destroyed after it self-destructed. It was in even worse shape than Vault B. There was nothing left. Not even any of the cloning tubes were in any decent shape. That included all of Seth’s backup memories and personalities, meaning that Seth was truly gone for good. Thus, it seemed unlikely that anyone would be able to continue Seth’s experiments, for which I was very thankful.

  As for the Neo-Killer clone, he had been sent off to Ultimate Max, where he was put in Cell Block Z. It was kind of an ironic fate for someone who hated superhumans so much, but I didn’t feel too bad for him. He would probably be able to defend himself from the other prisoners, although if he killed some of them, I wouldn’t cry about that, either.

  The G-Men, as usual, took control over the remains of Vault Z, although I didn’t see why given how there was literally nothing left there. I guess they just wanted to be safe and make sure that nothing really had survived the blast. The only thing they found was the body of a woman who apparently died in the blast. I didn’t know who it was, but I seemed to remember Seth mentioning a woman named Anna working for him. Perhaps that Anna was the same woman whose body the G-Men found.

  No one knew where Phaser was, but I suspected he would show up sooner or later. But probably not for a while. He didn’t strike me as a particularly independent type and without either Longworth or Seth to guide him, he was probably not as big a threat as he normally was. Still, we’d definitely have to keep an eye out for him, just in case he decided to come after us again.

  Mecha Knight had gone back to Hero Island, where he rejoined the Leadership Council. He was doing well from what I heard, although I knew it would be a while before he fully recovered from the brainwashing that Seth had subjected him to. Black Blur was also supposed to be on the road to recovery from the wounds the Neo-Killer had inflicted upon him.

  And Blizzard and I had returned to Showdown, where we finally got to go on our date. Before that, however, Blizzard went to Arizona to visit her family while I went to Texas to visit mine, hence why we had to wait a week before we could actually resume our date.

  Suddenly, Blizzard’s arms wrapped around me and I felt her chest pressed against my back. “What did Sean Richards want to talk about, Bolt?”

  I looked over my shoulder and saw Blizzard had rested her head on my back. “It wasn’t anything important. Not as important as this date, anyway.”

  “Glad you finally see it my way,” said Blizzard. Then, she said abruptly, “If we ever have children together, what would you name them?”

  Caught off guard by this question, I said, “Wow, that’s kind of random. We’re not even married.”

  “I know,” said Blizzard. She pressed more firmly against my back. “I still want to know.”

  Frowning, I looked out over Showdown, admiring the beautiful Christmas lights that adorned every street. “If it’s a girl, Ashley, after my mom.”

  “What if it’s a boy?” said Blizzard.

  I smiled, knowing what Blizzard was getting at. “Ronald, after my dad. And his middle name would be Jake.”

  -

  THE END OF LIGHTNING BOLT.

  Read on for more titles by Lucas Flint!

  I hope you enjoyed my little tale. Please don't forget to give this book a quick review wherever you bought it. Even just a two-word, "Liked it" or "Hated it" review helps so much. Positive or negative, I am grateful for all feedback from my readers.

  Other books by Lucas Flint

  The Superhero’s Son:

  The Superhero’s Test

  The Superhero’s Team

  The Superhero’s Summit

  The Superhero’s Powers

  The Superhero’s Origin

  The Superhero’s World

  The Superhero’s Vision

  The Superhero’s Prison

  The Superhero’s End

  The Young Neos:

  Brothers

  Powers

  Counterparts

  Dimensions

  Heroes

  Minimum Wage Sidekick:

  First Job

  First Date

  First Offer

  First Magic

  First Mentor

  First War

  The Supervillain’s Kids:

  Bait & Switch

  Tag Team

  Blood Gems

  Prison Break

  The Legacy Superhero:

  A Superhero’s Legacy

  A Superhero’s Death

  A Superhero’s Revenge

  A Superhero’s Assault

  Dimension Heroes:

  Crossover

  Team Up

  Amalgamation

  Lightning Bolt:

  The Superhero’s Return

  The Superhero’s Glitch

  The Superhero’s Cure

  The Superhero’s Strike

  The Superhero’s Clone

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  About the Author

  Lucas Flint writes superhero fiction. He is the author of The Superhero’s Son, The Young Ne
os, Minimum Wage Sidekick, The Supervillain’s Kids, The Legacy Superhero, Dimension Heroes, Lightning Bolt, and Capes Online.

  Find links to books, social media, updates on newest releases, and more by going to his website here. You can also sign up to be the first to learn about his newest releases by subscribing to his mailing list here.