Other People's Heroes (The Heroes of Siegel City) Read Online Free Page B

chase, am I the product of a top-secret government conspiracy?”
    She gave me the sigh that let me know I had gone too far. “Josh, I know you’ve always wanted to be a superhero. I blame your father.”
    “Dad never said anything to me about superheroes.”
    “Your dad never said much of anything to you, that’s why you adopted guys like Lionheart as surrogates. I promise you, Josh, you have led a perfectly normal life, utterly devoid of radiation baths, magic spells and alien abductions. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
    “Meow,” said Achilles. He still wasn’t convinced my latest project wasn’t edible.
    “That’s okay, Mom.”
    “Why are you bringing all this up now? Did something happen at work?”
    “Yeah. I was writing a story about Capes whose powers didn’t manifest until late in life and I was just thinking...”
    “Maybe you could be one, right?”
    I held out the tunic I’d just finished stitching my superhero emblem. “Yeah. That’s it exactly.”
    “All I can say, son, is that if you start emitting radiation, it’s not my fault.”
    “Okay. I guess I should go; I’ve got work to do. Oh, and I’m sorry if I wasted your time.”
    “Any time, Josh. Oh, and son?”
    “Yes?”
    “If this is the last time I hear from you before your birthday, you don’t get a present.”
    “It’s a deal, Mom.”
    After the line was disconnected, I wiggled into the half-finished uniform I’d been stitching. It was exactly as I’d envisioned it. “Well, Achilles?” I asked. “What’s the verdict?”
    “Meow,” he observed.
    “My thoughts exactly.”
     
    PATROL
    You write about superheroes long enough and you learn that the first thing, the most important thing any new hero needs is a good costume. Something proud and strong. Something that makes a bold statement. Something that strikes fear in the hearts of evildoers and inspires awe and respect amongst the peace-loving general populace.
    “You look like a dork,” Sheila said.
    “Is it the trenchcoat? Is it too much?”
    “Oh, I think you crossed the ‘too much’ line when you decided to go with the gold trim,” she said.
    I turned back to the full-length mirror Sheila had in her apartment and ran my eyes along the improvised get-up. Wisely choosing to eschew the tights, I’d elected for black trousers and boots and a pair of black leather gloves. My domino mask was the same royal blue as my tunic and a line of gold trim formed the initials “GP” on my chest. I’d topped off the whole ensemble with a black trenchcoat -- partially to give myself a more imposing look and partially in the hopes that any evildoers I ran across would find it distracting enough not to notice they were being jumped by a 250-pound reporter.
    “I think it looks pretty good,” I said.
    “You look like a dork,” she reiterated.
    “You know, my mother always says that clothes do not make the man.”
    “Your mother is far more forgiving than our editor will be if you turn in a story about some geek in a trenchcoat with gold laces.”
    “I’m not going to write about this! A reporter who’s really a superhero and turns in stories about himself ? How unethical would that be?”
    To be perfectly honest, I kind of felt like a dork, too, but there was no way I’d admit that to Sheila. Instead I just flexed my leather-clad fists and said, “Open the window.”
    “The window ? For what ?”
    “So I can go on my first patrol.”
    “Josh, you’ve read way too many comic books. What happens if you come across a mugger? Or a bank robber? Someone with no powers for you to duplicate? You could get killed.”
    “So I only go after Masks. No non-powered opponents.”
    “Oh, that’ s better. Now it’s between you -- a novice with no clue as to what he’s doing -- and people who have dealt with these abilities every day of their lives.”
    “Come on, Sheila. It’ll be a massacre.”
    “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
    Frowning at her skepticism, I