The Superhero's Son Omnibus Volume 1

Chapter Five-2

In the center of the room was a large, round table that appeared to be made out of black marble. Four people sat around the table and looked like they had been in the middle of a discussion, but had stopped talking when we entered the room.

I recognized the first one right away: Incantation. She had ditched her robes, but still wore her cape, and she looked as beautiful as ever. She sat at the head of the table, in between the other three, probably because she was the leader.

To her right sat a bald guy who I could see through—Literally. He was totally transparent; in fact, he was so transparent that I wondered how he had not just fallen through the floor already. Maybe he was really floating and only appeared to be sitting.

And to Incantation's left was a girl who had a mechanical right arm. She was taller than Incantation and looked very much like an athlete. She wasn't nearly as pretty as Incantation, but she was good-looking, I thought, and she could probably handle herself pretty well in a fight, though I couldn't guess what her powers were.

Then there was the fourth and final person, another girl. She seemed to be slightly younger than the others—maybe fifteen –and wore an ordinary pink tank top and jeans. Her hair was a weird green color; at least, if you could call the thing on her head 'hair,' because it was shaved so low that she looked nearly as bald as the transparent guy.

The girl seemed fearful, because she had her hands folded over her lap and was leaning slightly away from the others. While the others looked at me without any shyness, the girl seemed to shrink back when she saw me. I didn't know why, nor did I know what her powers were. She didn't even wear a super suit, which made me wonder if she was even a member of the team or not.

“Hi, Bolt,” said Incantation, waving at me. “I'm glad you decided to join us. Why don't you sit down on one of the free seats and we can talk about your spot on the team?”

“Oh, I'm not ready to join the team just yet,” I said as Hopper and I walked over to the table. Hopper took a seat next to the transparent guy, while I sat down on the end of the table directly opposite Incantation. “I just came to meet the team and see what the House is like.”

A brief look of annoyance crossed Incantation's features, but then she said, “Oh, that's fine. I understand. Joining the Young Neos, after all, is a big commitment. And I'm sure that by the end of the day, you'll be more than eager to join us.”

I nodded, but then noticed the strange girl looking at me. But when I glanced at her, she was looking away, although I thought I saw an angry scowl slowly crossing her features. Maybe I reminded her of someone she knew or maybe her annoyance had nothing to do with me.

“Anyway, let me introduce you to the team,” said Incantation. “You already know who Hopper and I are, of course. I'm the leader, while Hopper is my deputy. Just so you are clear on the hierarchy here.”

I nodded again and noticed the weird-looking girl make an ugly face when Incantation mentioned the word 'hierarchy.' Maybe the girl was just jealous that she wasn't the leader.

“This is Ghost,” said Incantation, pointing at the transparent guy. “He has the ability to turn transparent and intangible. He can even float.”

“Just like a ghost,” said the transparent guy, who sounded laid back and relaxed. He smiled. “Nice to meet you, Bolt. I saw your fight with Steel Skin at the Plutarch rally. Really cool, even if Plutarch is a jerk.”

“Thanks,” I said.

Then Incantation pointed at the athletic girl sitting next to her. “This is Technical. She's our resident mechanic and tech genius and also our best athlete.”

“Hello,” said Technical, waving at me. “I hope you enjoy the House. We have race tracks, weight rooms, and other places where you can work out, if that's what you're into, plus a workshop for working on technology. We also have a general Training Room, too, for practicing your superpowers.”

“Sounds like I know where I'm going first after this meeting,” I said.

Technical nodded and then leaned forward and looked at me eagerly. “By the way, your dad is Genius, right?”

“Um, yes,” I said. “Why?”

Technical seemed to be trying to restrain herself. “Can I … do you think you can introduce me to him? I've studied his inventions and discoveries and they are amazing. Even the stuff he made when he was a kid is revolutionary. I could learn so much from him. Please?”

I didn't want to tell her that Dad didn't even know I was here, but she looked so cute that I found it impossible to say no. So I said, “Yeah, sure, I can do that, but maybe some other time. I'm sure my dad would be happy to meet a fan.”

Technical practically squeed when I said that. “Thank you, thank you! I can't wait.”

It was hard not to feel excited with her, but I also felt really strange, because I hadn't known that Dad had fan girls. It made sense, of course, because Dad was a popular superhero in his day, but I wondered what Mom would say if she knew about this.

It looked like Incantation had introduced me to pretty much everyone except for the mystery girl, but I was in a good mood due to how nice they all were, so I looked at her and said, “All right, what's your name, then? What kind of powers do you have?”

My tone was friendly and light, but then she gasped and immediately started sobbing into her hands. Technical draped an arm over the girl's shoulder immediately, while the other Young Neos glared at me like I had just said the most offensive thing in the universe.

“There, there, Sarah, it will be all right,” said Technical, her tone soothing. “That insensitive jerk won't hurt you. It will be all right.”

“Huh?” I said, looking around, feeling embarrassment creep up my neck even though I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be embarrassed about. “What? What did I say? I just wanted to know her name.”

“Bolt,” said Ghost. He sounded serious now, not nearly as relaxed or laid back as I initially pegged him. “You asked Sarah what her powers are. That's extremely insensitive.” He looked at Incantation. “And you want this jerk on the team?”

“Hey, I didn't know he was a jerk,” said Incantation. Then she glared at me. “Then again, when I saw how buddy buddy Plutarch treated him, maybe I should have realized just what kind of person he really is.”

I was so confused right now. I didn't think I'd done anything wrong, but everyone was looking at me like I had just kicked a puppy. I thought about getting up and leaving, but since I didn't want to get lost in the House, I just sat there, wondering if maybe everyone in here was on some kind of drug or something.

“Hey, uh,” I said, scratching the back of my head again, “er, I'm not sure what I did wrong.”

“Yes, you are!” the girl wailed at me before going back to sobbing. “And it doesn't even matter, because your words are hurtful anyway!”

“No, I genuinely do not understand what I did wrong,” I said. I looked at the others for help. “Can anybody help me? Incantation?”

Incantation looked like she was about to order me to leave the room, but then she sighed and said, “Okay. While I normally am not one to forgive such obvious and flagrant insensitivity to our teammates, I can let it pass just this once, seeing as you are new and obviously don't know about Sarah.”

“What, does Sarah have some sort of problem or—”

I didn't get to finish the sentence because Hopper suddenly was next to me. He grabbed me by the throat with surprising strength, glaring at me through the slits in his mask.

“Don't say Sarah has a 'problem,' you jerk,” said Hopper. He no longer seemed as friendly as he had before; now he seemed like the devil himself. “Remember what I said about creating voids.”

Okay, I wasn't going to put up with this. I grabbed Hopper's arm and ripped it off my throat, causing Hopper to stagger backwards. I was going to stand up and fight him when Incantation said, “Bolt, Hopper! Sit down, both of you. If you fight, you'll just upset Sarah even more.”

I looked at Sarah. She wasn't sobbing quite as hard anymore and actually seemed to have calmed down a little, but she still wouldn't look at me. It was like she was afraid that if she looked at me she'd catch some sort of terrible disease.

I was still angry, angry enough to take on the entire team, but I knew I'd get into trouble with the NHA—and, more importantly, my parents—if I did that. So I stayed where I was, seething in anger, while Hopper returned to his seat next to Ghost.

“Now,” said Incantation, who was still looking at me like I was garbage, “let's have a nice talk about our final—though by no means least important—team member, Sarah Jane Watson.”

I glanced at Sarah, who was sniffling now. Technical kept her arm draped around Sarah's shoulder, like she was going to protect her from me, even though I had no desire whatsoever to even touch her.

“So …” I thought very carefully about how I should phrase this question, because I wasn't interested in being torn apart by the hyenas again. “Does she have a superhero name?”

Sarah looked like she was about to cry again, but Technical said something soothing to her in a low voice. Sarah relaxed slightly.

“No,” said Incantation. “In fact, Sarah doesn't have any powers whatsoever.”

I raised an eyebrow. “No powers at all? Then what's she doing on a team for young neoheroes?”

“Are you saying she doesn't deserve to be on this team any more than you do?” said Ghost, leaning forward and glaring at me. “Huh? Is that what you're saying? That you're better than her? Huh?”

I was about to snap back at him, but then Incantation glared at Ghost and he sat back, though he still looked offended for Sarah nonetheless.

“What Ghost was trying to say is that we are an inclusive team,” said Incantation, looking at me again. “We don't discriminate. Our motto is that you don't need powers to be a hero.”

“Well, I guess it's true that you can be a hero without powers,” I said. “Police cops and firefighters and soldiers and even ordinary people prove that all the time. But this is a team for young, up-and-coming neoheroes. I'd think that the bare minimum requirement for team membership would be, well, that you have a power of some sort, even if it isn't the fanciest or coolest power in the world.”

Technical giggled. “But Sarah is a neohero. She identifies as one, after all. And we respect the rights of people to identify however they wish. That's what being a neohero is all about.”

“What?” I said. “No, that's not. While no one knows the exact cause of neohero powers, we know they are biological. You can't just call yourself a neohero and somehow become one just through sheer thought alone.”

Incantation rolled her eyes. “Oh, so you believe in that old theory, do you? Get with the times. Super powers are a social construct, no more objectively real than the laws of the land.”

“As long as you feel like a neohero, then you are one, no matter what the rest of the world says,” said Hopper, putting one hand on his chest. He glared at me again. “Now apologize to Sarah.”

“Why?” I said. “I haven't done anything wrong. I'm just stating facts.”

“No, you aren't,” said Technical. She scowled at me. “You're just trying to force your own reality on the rest of us.”

“What?” I said. “I'm not trying to force my—”

“If you don't apologize to Sarah, we'll send you home and never speak to you again,” said Incantation.

“That doesn't sound so bad now,” I said. I shook my head. “You're all crazy.”

“So you want to be put on the NHA's ban list, then,” said Incantation.

“Huh?” I said. “What ban list?”

“The NHA maintains a list of neoheroes who are not allowed to join the organization under any circumstances,” said Incantation. “And since I am Thaumaturge's apprentice, I have direct access to it. If you refuse to apologize to Sarah, I could have your name on that list and the NHA will never let you join. Ever.”

I gulped. “Ever?”

“Ever,” Incantation confirmed. She smiled. “You do want to join the NHA at some point, yes? Most young neoheroes do. But if you're on that list, not even Omega Man will contest it, because he will know that you are not allowed to be on it.”

“This is crazy,” I said.

Ghost snorted. “Crazy? Hardly. We're just trying to be inclusive here. You're the crazy one, denying Sarah the right to identify however she wishes. Typical oppressor talk.”

I was tempted to just get up and walk away right this instant. I didn't sign up for this. I didn't sign up for any of this. I would rather face my parents' anger at lying to them than apologize to these guys for something I didn't do wrong.

But … I didn't want to be put on the NHA's ban list, either. After all, while my parents might have forbid me from superheroics for the moment, I was going to be an adult and in college next year, which meant I'd have the freedom to what I wanted. And I really wanted to join the NHA, because they were the biggest and best superhero organization in America and in the world. Being put on their ban list would mess up those plans.

Besides, maybe I was being too harsh toward Sarah. It seemed ridiculous to me that just 'identifying' as a neohero was enough to be considered one (and it made me wonder whether the rest of the NHA was aware of this), but maybe arguing about it was useless. Would it really hurt me if I just went along with Sarah's, uh, 'identity,' as long as it gave me access to the NHA at some point?

So I made my decision. Although every fiber of my body told me not to, I looked at Sarah and said, “Sarah … I apologize for being mean to you. Can you forgive me?”

Sarah actually looked at me this time. Her tears had vanished, but she still seemed like an emotional time bomb about to go off any moment.

“Why?” said Sarah harshly. “Why should I forgive you for doing the bare minimum? Typical privileged talk. Acting like I owe you forgiveness for doing what you're supposed to do.”

I was about to ask her what the hell she was talking about, but I held my tongue when I saw Incantation shake her head.

So I said, “All right. You are … right. I guess I don't deserve forgiveness for what I did.”

“You're damn right,” said Sarah. “And I want you to never question my identity ever again. Got it?”

I bit my lower lip, but I nodded slowly and said, “Okay.”

Suddenly, Sarah smiled, but it wasn't a kind, friendly smile like we had put all our conflicts behind us. Maybe I was over-thinking things, but she looked just like Robert whenever he successfully bullied someone, like she had just succeeded in dominating me and was pleased with herself for it.

And in a way, I think that she did.