The Nameless Hero (29 page)

It was like returning to the scene of a nightmare. All of a sudden, I was back in the corridor. Seeing nFinity’s icy gaze, as he waited for us to die. And Vex looming over everyone else in his bionic suit.

Only after Captain Justice rescued us could I relax and feel embarrassed about how sweaty and nervous I looked whenever the cameras got close.

As I watched my friends and me standing around in our uniforms, I thought maybe it hadn’t been such a bad start to the summer after all. Sure, we nearly got killed a bunch of times. And becoming famous hadn’t been quite as great as I’d thought it would be. But we all made it out alive, and the Nameless Hero had gone into early retirement.

I looked at the others sitting around me. We weren’t superheroes any longer, but at least we were still friends.

Once the show was over, Miranda’s mom came by to drive Sophie and Miranda home. Meanwhile, Milton was putting all his effort into convincing my parents to let him spend the night.

“After being banned from coming over for the past three years, we have lots of catching up to do,” Milton explained. “I was thinking, five slumber parties a week for the rest of the summer.”

My parents gave Milton their most supervillainous glares.

“Uh … on—on second thought,” Milton spluttered. “How about just tonight?”

“Very well,” Dad agreed. “You can stay over tonight.”

“Wahooooooo!”

Milton ran home to get his things. When he got back to my room, he was lugging a Captain Justice—themed duffel bag stuffed with junk food, sodas, and video games.

“And look what else I brought.” Milton reached into the duffel and removed a lump of spandex material, along with a mask and a pair of bulky red jet-boots. “My uniform!”

“I thought we were done with all that,” I said.

“Aw, come on! It’s not like we’re gonna go out and fight crime. I just thought we could take a little spin around Sheepsdale. Didn’t you keep your uniform?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Awesome! This is gonna be so much fun!”

I glanced toward my closet, where my uniform was folded next to the laundry hamper. Maybe the Nameless Hero wasn’t quite as retired as I’d thought.

After changing into our uniforms, Milton and I tiptoed downstairs, carrying our boots to make less noise. We made our way through the living room, into the dining room (luckily, Micus was sleeping), and then the kitchen. After opening the door to the garage, I flipped on the light. There in the corner were the hover scooters.

“Ahem!”

Clutching my chest, I spun around as if I expected to
see Multiplier behind me. But it was even worse than that. It was my mom. She was standing in the middle of the kitchen, her arms crossed sternly.

We were so busted. Sneaking out at night was bad enough. But when the Nameless Hero and Supersonic were the ones to blame—that only made things worse.

Dad appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. He didn’t look any happier to see two superheroes lurking around his garage.

Then something surprising happened. A slight smile formed on my mom’s face.

“Here are the rules,” she said. “You both wear helmets. You remain far enough off the ground that nobody spots you. And if you’re not back home by ten-thirty, we’re coming after you.”

“And we’ll bring our plasma pistols with us,” Dad warned.

“You mean you’re actually okay with this?” I asked disbelievingly. “Uh … thanks!”

Dad stepped forward, slinging an arm over Mom’s shoulder. “Have fun.”

Five minutes later, we were in the air. Milton soared ahead of me, jets of fire streaming from the soles of his boots. I eased forward on the scooter’s handlebars, accelerating to catch up with him.

“Your parents are the coolest supervillains I know!” Milton hollered to me.

“Yeah, I guess they are!”

Giving the handlebars another nudge, I shot forward. Milton surged to keep up. The warm wind rushed over me like a wave. Below us, the lights of Sheepsdale blurred together. Summer was just getting started.

Superheroes
are everywhere. Leaping across cinema screens, appearing in commercials, and starring in novels like
J
OSHUA
D
READ
by Lee Bacon.

Okay, fine—I’m not
technically
the star. That would be Joshua Dread, the twelve-year-old son of my archnemeses, the
Dread Duo
. Joshua just wants to be normal, but it’s tough to do when your parents are involved in an evil scheme to destroy the world. Especially now that Joshua is developing a strange power of his own.

If you haven’t read
J
OSHUA
D
READ
already—read it now! Because let’s not forget,
J
OSHUA
D
READ
features a celebrity guest star—
me!

Superheroically yours
,
Captain Justice
,
Internationally Famous Superhero,
Defender of Justice

LEE BACON
grew up in Texas with parents who never once tried to destroy the world (at least, not that he knew of). He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit him at
leebaconbooks.com
.