by Lucas Flint
“All right,” I said. “What I am about to show you will probably blow your mind, so you have to promise me not to scream. Okay?”
“Um, okay,” said Malcolm, although he sounded really hesitant. “You don't have a dead animal or something in your backpack, do you?”
“Of course not,” I said. I dropped my backpack on the ground. “But you're sure you won't freak out?”
“Absolutely,” said Malcolm. “I am a very calm person. I never freak out over anything. When you come from a family as large as mine, you kind of get used to seeing freaky things.”
“All right,” I said. “Here we go.”
I pressed the button on my suit-up watch. The screen flipped open, my suit shot out, and I was suddenly dressed from head to toe in my super suit.
I looked at Malcolm again. His mouth hung open and he was staring at me like he had just been electrocuted. In fact, I was almost convinced that he had died right there and then, which would have been really hard to explain to Dad if he found out.
“What …” Malcolm seemed to have lost the ability to speak. “What … Huh? … Um …”
“Your eyes aren't deceiving you,” I said. I patted my chest. “This suit is the real deal. It's not some kind of fancy cosplay or anything.”
“No way …” Malcolm shook his head. “Nah, man. This has got to be a joke. Did you and Tara get together to make me think that you're Bolt?”
“No, I really am Bolt,” I said. “This isn't some kind of joke. Besides, you know that Tara would never have gone along with a joke like this, if it was one. She hates neoheroes so much that she'd probably punch me if I suggested this plan to her.”
“Right,” said Malcolm, who didn't sound entirely convinced. “Well, I don't see any proof that you're Bolt, aside from that convincing-looking suit you're wearing, but it could just be a replica you bought from a store or something.”
I sighed and, focusing on my flight powers, hovered a few inches off the floor. It was a very gentle movement, but Malcolm stumbled backwards, almost falling onto his behind. He stared at me in horror, like I had just transformed into some kind of monster.
I gestured at my suit again. “Is this proof enough? Or should I lift the entire school above my head?”
“Okay, man, okay,” said Malcolm, holding up his hands like he was afraid that I was going to punch him through the bathroom wall. “I believe you. Can you stop floating like that? It's creepy.”
I raised an eyebrow as I landed on the bathroom floor. “Creepy? I thought you were going to say it's cool.”
“Cool?” said Malcolm. “Look, if you weren't, well, you, then I might think it's cool, but knowing that my best friend is a neohero … I dunno, man. It's weird.”
“Well, it's also true,” I said. “But I won't use my powers around you right now if it will freak you out like that.”
“Thanks, man,” said Malcolm. Then he looked at me with more curiosity. “How long have you been a neohero? When did you get your powers?”
“I—” I began, before Malcolm interrupted me by whipping out his smartphone and saying, “Hold on. I need to get your Neo Ranks page up so I can include this information in your bio.”
I dashed over to Malcolm before he could open the Neo Ranks app, however, and snatched his phone out of his hand, holding it just outside of his reach as I stepped away from him.
“Hey!” Malcolm protested. “That's my phone! Give it back.”
“Not if you're going to be putting up all my secrets on Neo Ranks,” I said, shaking my head. “I'm technically not supposed to be revealing my secret identity to anyone. I'm just revealing it to you because I think you deserve to know, because you're the only person outside of my family I trust with this information.”
Malcolm lowered his hands. “Okay. I won't post anything about Bolt that you tell me on your Neo Ranks page. Now can I please have my phone back?”
Sensing that Malcolm was telling the truth, I handed him back his phone, which he put into the pocket of his jeans. Then he looked at me again and said, “All right. I'm ready to listen to your story.”
“Okay,” I said. “I'll try to be quick so we're not late for class.”
As quickly and briefly as I could, I explained my origin, where I got my suit from, who my dad was, and everything else I thought Malcolm needed to know. Malcolm listened, his expression becoming more and more excited the more I told him. I didn't understand what he was so excited about, but I didn't ask him about it until I finished.
“And that is why the G-Men are protecting the school,” I finished. “Master Chaos is after me. Or really, he's after Kevin Jason, though he doesn't like Bolt, either.”
Malcolm looked like he was trying to process everything I had told him. I expected him to start asking me some pretty serious questions, like what I thought Master Chaos was planning or if I felt prepared to risk my life to fight him.
Instead, however, Malcolm said, “Your Dad's the Genius? One of the Four Founders? That's badass. Can I get his autograph?”
“What?” I said. “Is that your biggest concern? Aren't you worried that your best friend is on the hit list of one of the world's worst supervillains?”
“Yeah, sure, that's serious, but my other question still stands,” said Malcolm. He rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Oh, man. This is awesome. I'm best friends with the son of one of the most famous superheroes in the world. And here I thought you were just a kid from New York.”
I was starting to rethink my decision to share my secret identity with Malcolm, but I supposed it was too late now and anyway Dad wouldn't trust me with the Memory Hacker.
“Well, I'm glad you're supportive, at least,” I said. “But it doesn't matter whose son I am. What matters is that Master Chaos is after me. That's why Black Gold and Iron Horn are protecting the school.”
Malcolm's eager grin suddenly vanished, replaced by an anxious frown. “Holy cow. You mean Master Chaos is after you specifically?”
“Yeah, I just said that,” I said, feeling annoyed that Malcolm apparently hadn't been listening as closely as I thought. “But I'm not going to wait until Master Chaos comes knocking at my front door or attacks the school. I'm going to search for him and fight him on my own terms.”
Malcolm's face turned pale. “You're going after Master Chaos? Why? Do you want to get yourself killed or something?”
“I'm not suicidal,” I said, shaking my head. “I'm just tired of living in fear of Master Chaos attacking me or my family or friends. I don't want to risk your lives just to keep myself 'safe.'”
“You sound like a real neohero, you know that?” said Malcolm. “Like Omega Man, actually.”
“Well, I'm just doing what's right,” I said with a shrug. “I figure if I can track down Master Chaos myself and fight him on my own terms, then I can limit the amount of collateral damage a fight between us would likely cause.”
“So do you know where he is?” said Malcolm. “'Cause both the NHA and the G-Men have been searching for him and still haven't found a clue to his location.”
“No, but I know that Master Chaos is after me,” I said. “If I search for him, he'll probably come to me or reveal himself at some point. Remember, Master Chaos wants me dead, so I don't think I'll have to work hard to find him.”
“Okay, but how are you going to leave?” said Malcolm. “What about your schoolwork? Have you told your parents what you're planning to do?”
I looked down at my feet sheepishly. “Well, no, I haven't. My parents would never approve of me hunting down Master Chaos on my own. Dad doesn't think I'm ready to face him yet. He just wants me to let the NHA and the G-Men handle it and only to fight Master Chaos if I have no other option left. I think Dad is wrong, but I know I won't be able to convince him of that, so I didn't tell him what I'm going to do.”
“I think your dad might be right,” said Malcolm. “I heard that one time Master Chaos fought Omega Man, the Midnight Menace, and Lady Amazon all by himself and actually
fought them to a draw. Those guys are some of the strongest and most experienced neoheroes in the world, so I don't know how well you'd stand against him in a fight.”
“I know,” I said. “I don't look forward to fighting him, but I must. I'm tired of hiding from him and hoping that the NHA and the G-Men stop him before he harms me or someone I care about. I want to be proactive.”
“If you say so,” said Malcolm with a shrug. “Listen, man, I'll support and pray for you whatever you choose to do. If you think that you need to do this to save your family and friends, then I'll help however I can.”
I smiled. “Thanks, Mal. I knew I could count on you.”
“Besides, you're the first neohero I actually know,” said Malcolm. He rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Man, I'd love to be able to go onto Neo Ranks and brag that I'm friends with a real neohero. Everyone else will be so jealous.”
“Let's focus on what's important at the moment,” I said. “First things first: I need your help to get out of the school without anyone noticing.”
“My help?” said Malcolm. “How am I supposed to help? Do you want me to tell Mrs. Tanner that you got sick and had to go home?”
“No,” I said. “Well, I mean, that's one excuse, but I'd need to get a note from one of my parents excusing me from school if I pretended to be sick and I don't have time to do that. I really just need help distracting Black Gold and Iron Horn.”
“Why would they stop you?” said Malcolm.
“Because I'm not supposed to be going after Master Chaos,” I said. “If they see me trying to leave, they'll try to stop me. I need you to distract them so I can get away. It doesn't need to be for long; I can fly very fast, so by the time they figure out what you're doing, I should be long gone.”
Malcolm gulped. “What if they get angry at me? They're neoheroes, after all.”
“I doubt they'll harm you,” I said. “After all, you're not doing anything illegal or harmful. You might get in trouble with the school, though.”
Malcolm ran his hands through his short hair, looking disturbed. “And my older brother really wouldn't be happy if he learned I got in the way of some of his colleagues. Nor would my parents, for that matter.”
“I know, but I need a distraction if I am going to get out of here and stop Master Chaos,” I said. “Can I count on you to do it? I know you are already in a lot of trouble with the school for other things you've done, but you said you would help me no matter what.”
“Yeah, I did,” said Malcolm. “All right, bro, I'll help you. Even if it gets me expelled from the school, I'd like to be able to tell everyone that I helped the famous Bolt defeat Master Chaos.”
“Famous?” I said. “I'm not famous, except maybe here in Silvers.”
“Yeah, but you will be famous after you defeat Master Chaos all by yourself,” said Malcolm, patting me on the shoulder with a large grin on his face. “Maybe you'll even be as famous as Omega Man.”
I briefly imagined myself flying down to some city somewhere, landing in the streets, and being mobbed by hundreds of fans (mostly hot girls). It distracted me for a moment before I shook my head and focused on the situation again.
“Yeah, that would be awesome, but that's not important,” I said. “Right now, I need to focus on getting out of the school without being caught.”
“Like I said, man, I'll help you in whatever ways I can,” said Malcolm. “So what's the plan?”
I glanced at my suit-up watch to see the time. “Okay. We don't have much time, so I'll keep it quick. Here's the plan.”
Chapter Seventeen
When I finished telling Malcolm the plan, we had to go to class because we didn't want to be late. We were going to attempt to get me out of the school at lunchtime, which I figured would be the best time to attempt to leave the campus due to the fact that everyone would be in the cafeteria, which would lessen the chance of a teacher or someone else catching us. I would have left right away, but Malcolm said that he didn't want to miss any of his first period classes.
It was hard to wait, though, because I really wanted to leave right away. I kept looking either at my watch or at the clocks on the walls of our classrooms, but it seemed like time had been broken, because their arms never seemed to move. I barely paid attention in class (which earned me more than a few criticisms from my teachers) because I spent almost all of my time thinking about my upcoming confrontation with Master Chaos.
When lunchtime finally came, Malcolm and I went to the cafeteria with everyone else, because it would look suspicious if we didn't. We even went as far as to pick out our lunch and sit at our usual table, although this time Tara was already there before we were. As usual, she didn't seem to be paying much attention to us. I almost considered letting her in on the plan at the last minute, but I decided against it; she was so anti-neohero that I figured she would be more of a liability than a help. Besides, it was too late to involve anyone else in the plan at this point.
So Malcolm and I sat down at the table, but Tara, as usual, didn't even greet us. She was just swiping through what looked like her Instagram account, looking through pictures, but I couldn't tell what she was looking at, nor did I care.
“Hi, Tara,” I said. “How was your weekend?”
“Average,” said Tara, without looking at me. I noticed a hint of anger in her voice for some reason. “Yours?”
“Uh, pretty good,” I said. I hesitated and then said, “You seem a bit angry.”
For once, Tara looked at me, unimpressed. “Oh? What makes you think that?”
“Just your tone,” I said.
“Well, that was awfully perceptive of you,” said Tara, looking at her phone again. “I thought you'd have guessed why I was angry, too, but I guess your powers of perception don't go that far.”
I glanced at Malcolm, who just shrugged like he was saying I don't know, man. Girls, am I right?
I looked at Tara again. “Um … is it because you didn't get enough sleep last night?'
“No,” said Tara. “It's because of those two super jerks in the front of the school, Oil Face and Colonel Pokey or whatever their names are.”
“Oh,” I said. I felt like an idiot for not realizing that she was angry about the fact that two neoheroes were protecting the school. “Well, they're just here to protect the school from Master Chaos.”
“I still don't like them,” said Tara. “They're freaks and probably perverts, too, or at least the guy with the horn on his head is. All those neo freaks are the same to me.”
I looked at Malcolm again. I tried to non-verbally communicate Time to go.
Thankfully, Malcolm seemed to understand, because he stood up and said, in the least convincing voice I had ever heard in my life, “Well, gee whiz, guys, it looks like I really need to use the restroom. Do either of you wish to join me?”
Tara looked up at Malcolm like she thought he was an idiot. “Malcolm, I'm a girl. We use different bathrooms.”
“Ah, but I am not,” I said as I stood up. “Because you see, Tara, I am a boy and I also need to use the restroom. The boys' restroom, that is. Because I am a boy.”
Tara looked from me to Malcolm with the most confusion I'd ever seen on her face. Then she shook her head and said, “Whatever. I'll make sure that Robert's friends don't take your lunch while you're away.”
“That is awfully kind of you, Tara,” said Malcolm, his voice still really fake. “Truly, you are a wonderful friend to Kevin and I.”
“Indeed she is,” I said, nodding. “Now, Malcolm, let us go to the boys' restroom, which is where we need to go. Because we are boys.”
Tara didn't look at either of us as we left, but I had the distinct impression that she thought we were both idiots. And I felt like an idiot, but I didn't say anything about it until we left the cafeteria and were walking alone through the school's hallways.
Then I looked at Malcolm and said, “What the heck was that?”
“What?” said Malcolm, looking at me. “I was
just trying to make sure Tara didn't suspect us of doing anything we aren't supposed to do.”
“By talking like an idiot?” I said as we turned down a corner. “Seriously, you could have just said, 'I need to use the bathroom' and I could said, 'Hey, me too. I'll go with you.'”
“If you thought that, then why did you go along with my way of doing things?” said Malcolm.
I shook my head. “Never mind. As long as no one follows us or suspect us of being up to something, then I guess it doesn't matter. Still, you could have at least acted a little less suspicious.”
“Hey, I'm not an actor,” said Malcolm, folding his arms over his chest. “If you wanted me to act differently, maybe you should have told me in the bathroom.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. We're out of the cafeteria now, so you know what the next step of the plan is.”
Malcolm nodded. “Right. I distract Black Gold and Iron Horn while you slip away unseen for your big fight with Master Chaos.”
“Good,” I said. “So we'll need to split up. I'm going to head for the school's roof, where I will don my costume and fly away, while you go to the front of the school and distract the G-Men.”
“Okay,” said Malcolm. “But what will happen when everyone notices you are missing? What should I tell Tara or the teachers?”
“Tell them I got really sick from the cafeteria food and had to go home without telling anyone,” I said. “Tell them you don't know when I'll be back in school but not to worry about me and that I will be back soon.”
“Okay,” said Malcolm, though he sounded doubtful about that. “So I guess this is where we part, then.”
We stopped in front of the school's trophy case. To the right, at the end of the hall, was the school's entrance, a set of glass doors through which I could see Black Gold and Iron Horn, who had their backs to the doors. To the left was another hall, which I knew would eventually lead me to a set of stairs that would take me to the school's roof.