Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Story of Johnny and Herman
The Mountain View Home wasn’t a sanitarium, exactly. There were no straitjackets or padded cells, but it wasn’t a day at the spa either. The grounds were lovely, with well-kept lawns trimmed with bright flower beds that gave the place a soothing garden feel. That was, until you wandered past the flowers and bumped into the high-walled perimeter fence with cameras that followed your every move. The security guards all wore neatly pressed suit coats instead of officers’ badges, and at least half a dozen rooms actually had a view of the mountain, but these were reserved for only the most special guests. It was one of these rooms that Daniel found himself standing outside—the topmost room actually, with the very best view.
Herman Plunkett, locally famous philanthropist, had been presumed dead right until the moment when he was delivered to the Noble’s Green sheriff’s station by a group of young Good Samaritans who’d found him roaming the streets the morning after the Blackout Event. Herman Plunkett, who was no longer presumed dead, was now simply presumed insane.
Mountain View was a place for healing, but Daniel would have preferred Herman to be in a place where the walls were just a little bit higher. They really didn’t know who they had in there.
The visiting room was just off the main floor, but due to Herman’s unique position within the town, he was allowed special privileges. He was allowed to take visitors in his private room, which was at the end of a long, secluded hallway. At one end of the hall was a nurses’ station, which was currently unattended. At the other end was Herman’s closed door. And seated in one of the chairs just outside was a familiar, well-dressed gentleman with a graying beard.
He was watching Daniel.
The man smiled, but it was all Daniel could do to swallow down the hot pit of anger that had risen in his throat. He suddenly wished he hadn’t destroyed the black ring, wished that he had the power to make this man sorry for all the things he hadn’t done. For all the kids who’d suffered at the hands of the Shroud.
Powerless to actually threaten the man, Daniel had to settle for calling him the first word that came to mind.
“Coward,” Daniel said.
The man’s smile cracked just for a second, but it didn’t break.
“I can understand why you’d think that,” he said. “But it’s a little more complicated.”
“What’s complicated about it? The people here have been worshipping you for decades, they’ve built monuments to you, they even named the town after you, and you left their children alone with him!”
What happened next shocked even Daniel. Without thinking about it, without meaning to, he punched the man square in the face. He’d never hit anyone out of anger before, but his face felt like it was on fire, and the more he talked, the hotter he got until he couldn’t help himself. He just struck.
It was like punching a cold marble statue. He was pretty sure he broke at least one finger, if not two. He doubled over, clutching his fingers to his belly as the pain in his hand shot up his arm. It hurt so much, the room began to tilt under his feet.
Someone took him by the shoulder and sat him down in one of the chairs. The man was saying something, but Daniel could barely listen. It hurt too much.
Strong hands took his broken fingers in theirs, and there was a flash of light that left spots in Daniel’s eyes like a camera bulb had just gone off. But the blinding pain was gone. He flexed his fingers experimentally and found that they were a bit stiff and sore but definitely no longer broken.
“I wouldn’t try that again,” said the man. “I’m hard to hurt.”
“You … healed me? You can do that?”
The man stood up and smoothed his beard where Daniel’s fist had connected with his jaw. The tousled hair was the only mark Daniel had left.
“I can heal small things,” said the man. “Although it’s not really healing—more like sharing my own body’s healing power with you. I can only do it for a second, but a second is usually all it takes.”
Daniel took the opportunity to get a good look at Johnny Noble. He’d only ever gotten glimpses before, and then he hadn’t even been sure that this was the fabled superhero. The statues and few surviving photographs were all of Jonathan Noble as a young man, around the time of the St. Alban’s fire. Though this Johnny was older, he didn’t seem decrepit like Herman. Something had preserved him so that he looked maybe sixty, and a very healthy sixty at that. Remarkable, considering the man standing before him had to be nearly a hundred years old.
But if there was any doubt as to his identity, all you had to do was look into his eyes. He had Herman Plunkett eyes, only less reptilian. The two men shared the same brightness, the clarity. Those eyes had seen much.
That and the fact that his skin was as hard as stone. That was pretty much a dead giveaway.
“So why are you here?” asked Daniel. “Visiting your friend the Shroud?”
Johnny’s face darkened slightly at the mention of that name.
“I could ask the same of you,” he said.
“But I asked first.”
Johnny smiled again. “All right then, far be it from me to argue with a child’s logic. I’m not visiting, but I like to check up on him now and then. He never knows I’m here, but I like to make sure he’s keeping out of trouble.”
Daniel laughed at this. He actually laughed out loud. He couldn’t hit Johnny again or else he would have. The situation suddenly became so absurd it was funny.
“Out of trouble? What do you call the Shroud? What do you call what he’d been doing to those kids for all those years?”
“Necessary, I guess,” said Johnny. “I called it necessary.”
Daniel stopped laughing. “I hate you.”
“I know. But I need to explain as best I can. I doubt it’ll change your mind about me, but I need you to hear it.”
“Fine,” said Daniel. “Explain.”
Johnny took a deep breath. He looked suddenly uncertain. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at his shoes rather than at Daniel directly. He looked a bit … childish.
“Herman and I fought, you know,” Johnny said as he looked at the door to Herman’s room. “When I first caught wind of what he was doing here, I confronted him and we fought. Johnny Noble versus the Shroud, just like in one of his stupid comic books.”
“He told me,” said Daniel. “He said that you won, but I wasn’t sure whether he was telling the truth. It’s impossible to tell with him.”
Johnny nodded. “Oh, he told the truth all right. It was close, but in the end I was just a little bit stronger and a little bit smarter. And that little bit can make all the difference in the end.
“Beaten, Herman begged for mercy. I couldn’t destroy the source of his power, that meteor stone, without risking losing my own powers, but I made him promise to stop using it. More than that, I threatened him.”
“You threatened him?” asked Daniel. “That’s it? You could’ve figured out a way to destroy the stone without actually touching it!”
Johnny held up a hand to quiet him. It was an unexpected gesture and had just a tinge of anger behind it. Daniel shut up at once.
“I threatened him, Daniel. I threatened his life. Do you understand what that means? Herman was just a young boy when I first met him. When we fought, he was fully grown, but all I saw was that scared little kid. And I threatened to kill him. That was no small thing for me to do.
“And he did as he was told. For a few years, at least, he stopped being the Shroud. But then World War Two broke out and I … thought I needed to be elsewhere.
“I saw things in that war, Daniel. I saw men die in horrible ways, while I couldn’t even be scratched. I kept my powers secret, used them only when no one else would see. I witnessed what men are truly capable of, and I learned a valuable lesson.”
“Which was?” asked Daniel.
“Man has never invented a weapon he didn’t use. Nothing so terrible that
he couldn’t resist trying it out. And this town is just full of weapons unlike anything the world has ever seen. Herman was afraid of what these super-kids would do to the world; I became afraid of what the world would do to these kids. In the end, Herman’s way was kinder than what was waiting for them out there. No powers, no memories of powers, but they still had their lives to live. They could grow up, have families, live in peace.”
“He terrorized them!” said Daniel.
“Yes,” said Johnny. “And as the years went on, he got darker and more frightening. By the time you came along, he was teetering on the edge. That’s why I helped you in your final fight with him at the quarry. He’d crossed the line, threatening to kill you all. That was too much.”
“You helped us?” asked Daniel. “Rose. Rose said she saw you in the Shroud-Cave.”
Johnny nodded. “I shared a little of my power with Eric while he was unconscious. The way I just did with you, to get him back into the fight. I knew you’d need his help to defeat the Shroud. Rose saw me do it, though. That girl’s sneaky.”
“So what’s different now?” asked Daniel. “Why show yourself now?”
“Everything’s different now, Daniel,” said Johnny. “You’ve changed the world, and there’s no going back.”
Johnny walked over to the window and gestured outside.
“You’ve either saved Noble’s Green or doomed us all,” said Johnny. “I’m not sure which yet.”
“Either way, with no help from you,” said Daniel.
Johnny smiled and shook his head. “You’re right. I’m sure I’m not the first adult to disappoint you. I wish I could say I’d be the last.” He held up his hands. “It might be that none of this really matters. Herman told you about the Witch Fire Comet, yes?”
Daniel nodded.
“It’s still up there,” said Johnny. “And if it follows the same path it’s been following for thousands of years, it’ll return this year. Then, who knows?
“Of course, that’s assuming that it really is a comet. That it’s not something else entirely.”
“What do you mean?” asked Daniel.
Johnny laughed. “I don’t really know. Isn’t that a terrible answer? But I’ve long suspected that there’s more to that comet than any of us know. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Johnny gazed out the window for a moment, lost in his thoughts. After a minute he glanced over at Herman’s closed door.
“So are you going in to say hi? Match wits with him for old times’ sake?”
Daniel shook his head. “No. I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think I want to see him at all. In fact, I’m done with both of you. I’ve got friends, people who aren’t afraid of the future. I’ll stick with them.”
Johnny raised an eyebrow. “So you don’t even want to know whose side I’m on now?”
“Don’t know,” said Daniel. “Don’t care. We’ve done fine without you so far. We’ll manage. And if you try to hurt me or any of my friends, we’ll beat you just like we beat the Shroud.”
With that, Daniel turned and walked away from Johnny Noble. He was shaken by the encounter, a mix of emotions tugging and twisting in his heart, but as he emerged from the Mountain View Home into the sunshine, he glanced up at the sky; and if he squinted, he could just barely make out shapes soaring and sailing above the town. Perhaps it was Mollie or Michael. Perhaps Mr. Madison was up there with them, laughing as he rolled and spun through the air like an out-of-control balloon. Daniel knew the feeling. He’d known it for a heartbreakingly brief few minutes, but he’d never forget it.
No one would take it away from them now. And they were in for a real surprise if they tried.
Matthew Cody, Super
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