The Super Power Saga (Book 1): Super Powers of Mass Destruction by Knuth Jaron Lee

Author:Knuth, Jaron Lee [Knuth, Jaron Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Superheroes | Supervillains
Published: 2017-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

20

HECTOR

When he entered their secret headquarters, he found Miguel sitting in front of the display case that housed his old costume. The boy sat on a folded chair spun around backward, with his chin resting on his arms. He was so lost in thought, he didn't notice his father enter the room.

“Miguel?”

His son jerked a bit at the sound of his name, and he jumped up from the chair, standing at attention.

“It's okay,” Hector said, sipping the morning tea Esmeralda had prepared for him. “At ease.”

Miguel glanced back at the costume. “I was doing my history report last night. I was reading about some of your early exploits.”

“Oh?” Hector sat down in front of the bank of computer screens and perused the flagged phone calls the system had collected for him. “And which of these feats inspired you to study my old costume?”

Miguel shrugged his shoulders and stared at the ground. Hector could tell he was holding something back. He was afraid to ask whatever it was that he wanted to know.

Hector sat his cup of tea down and spun around in his chair. “What is it? What do you want to know?”

Miguel became uncomfortable when he realized he was being so transparent. “I just-”

Hector cleared his throat, giving his son only one warning.

Miguel stood up straight and asked, “Did people think you were a supervillain?”

Hector's eyebrows tightened up and he grabbed his cup of tea again. “That's a strange question.”

“It's just that when I was reading through the old news articles, it wasn't clear. Sometimes they were talking about how grateful they were, and sometimes they were calling you a menace, or a terrorist, or worse.”

“Well, technically, I wasn't a superhero or supervillain, as I don't have the disease.”

“But you wore the costume. The media didn't know or care that you weren't born with the disease. And neither did the public.”

“Neither did the guys I punched.”

“You're not answering my question.”

Hector smiled. He knew his son wasn't going to back down. He was growing stronger. More sturdy. More defiant.

“I'm not answering your question because it's a complicated answer,” Hector said, sipping the last of his tea and setting the empty cup on the saucer. “For one thing, the media is a fickle creature. They can change their minds at the toss of a coin. One day they say you're a hero, and the next day you're a villain. And the public? They go along with whatever the media tells them. Like good little sheep.”

“But they never changed their minds about Mermaid. Or Everlast. Or Negaton. Or-”

Hector laughed so loudly it made his son stop.

“And why do you think that was? Do you think it was because they were perfect beings that never made mistakes? Do you think they are inherently good people without a selfish bone in their bodies?” His smile faded away and his hands clenched the arms of his chair as he leaned forward. “Or do you think they hired publicists and media consultants and market tested their

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