The wallet sizzled. The seal over the disk burned away, leaving behind a medal of gold attached to a leather cord. Smoke rose from fiery letters engraved on the surface. When the smoke cleared, I read the words out loud. “Superhero – Eddie Hertz (aka Archimedes).”
“It’s real gold,” the recording continued, “and it’s for you. Good-bye, and may you be the greatest superhero the world has ever known.”
The sound died away, and the screen blinked off.
Sam whispered, “Wow.”
My hands shaking, I lifted the medal, draped the cord over my neck, and tied it in the back. As the disk swayed at my chest, the gold glimmered.
Mom and Gilbert both patted me on the shoulder. “You deserve it,” Mom said. “Your father would be so proud of you.”
I turned to her. “You think so?”
“I know so.” She kissed my forehead. “You’re my superhero.”
“Hooray for Eddie!” Sam bounced from my bed.
I caught her in midflight and spun her in a circle. “I couldn’t have done it without you, squirt.”
She grinned from ear to ear. “That’s ’cause we’re a team.”
“You better believe it.”
“Uh … excuse me?”
We all turned toward the voice. Barney stood at the bedroom doorway, Milligan pacing behind him. Barney pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. “This … er … gentleman says he’s family. Is that true?”
Mom nodded. “Thank you, Barney. I was expecting him.”
When Barney left, Milligan walked in and took off his baseball cap, revealing tangled hair matted with blood. A line of stitches ran along each cheek. His fight in the Dead Zone had taken quite a toll.
Mom looped an arm around his and faced us. “Eddie. Sam. Your Uncle Milligan wants to say something to you. Just remember, he saved our lives. Yours. Sam’s. Gilbert’s and mine. And he led us to find you and Sam.”
I lowered Sam to the floor and held her hand, trying to keep my composure. The thought of his treachery stabbed me once again. “I understand. Let’s hear what he has to say.”
Milligan cleared his throat. “Yeah … well … Eddie. I’ve done a lot of bad things in the past, but I hope we can forget about all that and let bygones be bygones. I got a lot of connections, and I can help out here financially. You and your mom and Sam deserve a lot better than this hole you’re living in. Maybe I can make up for my … well … I’ll just come right out and say it. My crimes against your family. Our family.”
I tried to read his eyes. Maybe I should believe him, and maybe I shouldn’t. But if Mom could give him a second chance, so could I. “Sure, Uncle Milligan. It’ll be great to have your help.”
He blew out a relieved sigh. “Thanks, Eddie. I appreciate it.”
Sam ran to him and threw her arms around his waist. “Welcome to our family.”
He picked her up and held her at his hip with one arm. “I also have some news. That big guy I clubbed got away in a helicopter. After I told your mom where I thought she could find you, I spotted the chopper in the air and followed it on foot as far as I could. He picked up some other guy in the Dead Zone. By the time I got there, they were out of reach. The second guy wrote something, tied it to a weight, and dropped it.”
Milligan withdrew an envelope from his pocket and handed it to me. From inside, I withdrew a small scrap of paper and read the neatly printed words out loud. “It’s not over, Eddie. Ask Gilbert about the hypnotizing gas. Until next time. Mephisto.”
Gilbert’s eyes widened. “Oh, dear.”
I showed him the paper. “What do you know about this?”
As he read it, he fidgeted in his seat. “I created such a gas to hypnotize my birds so I could do minor surgery when needed.”
I slid the note back to the envelope and tossed it to the desk. “Damocles mentioned getting a hypnotic vision after being shot by a poison pellet. I guess that means it works on humans.”
Gilbert nodded. “Quite well. I hypnotized myself once. I didn’t come out of it for several hours.”
“Can it be used on a large scale?”
“I’m afraid so. Under the right conditions, quite large. All of Nirvana, in fact.”
I picked up my gadgets belt, strapped it on, and slid my hand around Mastix. The thongs glowed, ready to be whipped into action. “Then we’ll just have to stop him again.”
Sam wriggled down from Milligan and grasped my hand. “Together. We’re a superhero team.”
“Always together.” I scanned the others in the room — Mom, Gilbert, Milligan, and a gray tabby named Prince Edward Thomas Oscar Stephen Horsey O’Ryan. Who could ask for a better team?
“Well, Sam,” I said, “it looks like we have new candidates. Think they’re ready to join us?”
She grinned. “Only if I’m allowed to give them superhero names.”
“Perfect.” I winked at her. “If they can remember their new names, then they’re on the team.”
Bryan Davis, Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World
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