The Superhero's Son Omnibus Volume 2

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Mimic gestured at Hernandez with his gun. “Now, put the serum down in the box and let me take it.”

Hernandez looked like he was about to do it, but then I held up a hand signaling the Professor to stop. His hand froze halfway down, but Hernandez himself looked too scared to even speak to me.

I looked at Mimic, who was now glaring at me as if I had just insulted him, and said, “What are you even talking about? When did you become a Visionist?”

“Why should I tell you?” said Mimic. He waved his gun at me threateningly. “I'm not afraid to shoot you. Even with your bullet-proof suit, I'll still kill you if you keep talking.”

I almost went along with his demands, but I was too curious about this revelation to care. “No. I'm going to call for backup.”

I raised my hand to tap my earcom, but Mimic pulled the trigger on his gun and bullets flew out. But they didn't hit me or Professor Hernandez; instead, Mimic had aimed his gun at the ceiling, putting bullet holes up there, though he lowered his gun at us again when he finished shooting.

“Don't try to call for backup,” said Mimic. “I can turn you into paste faster than you can even blink.”

I slowly lowered my hand to my side, but I wasn't about to give up yet. “So you are a Visionist. Why have you chosen to reveal yourself now?”

I expected Mimic to just snap at me and tell me that it was none of my business, maybe even shoot at me, but Mimic just said, “Because I have you where I want you. In this private area, it won't matter one way or another whether you know my true identity, because only I will be leaving this place alive.”

“How come the G-Men don't know?” I said. “Cadmus Smith is a telepath. Why didn't he read your mind and know your true intentions?”

Mimic glanced at the window like he saw something, or maybe was expecting something to appear, though what, I didn't know. “Because the Visionary, prior to his unfortunate accident, placed a mental barrier around my mind to keep the Director from seeing my true thoughts. I am Vision's agent on the inside, the Visionist whose job is to ensure that the G-Men becomes another wing of the Vision.”

“So what, you've been spreading Vision propaganda in the G-Men or something?” I said. “Trying to get new recruits for your cult?”

“Originally, yes, but when your actions put the Visionary into a coma, I had to keep quiet, lest I be found out and thrown into Ultimate Max where other Visionists were put,” said Mimic. “I have been awaiting my moment to avenge the Visionary, however, and now it is finally here, within my grasp. Once you are dead, there will be nothing to stop the Vision of equality and justice from spreading all over the world.”

“If you've been with Vision this entire time, why didn't you just kill me in the Spinner?” I said. “Or even in the Compound? I was just as defenseless there as I was here.”

“Where do you think Ring Out and Tornadess came from?” said Mimic. “How do you think they found the Spinner? Because I gave a tracking device to Thaumaturge, who then gave it to them. Otherwise, they would never have found it on their own and we would never have crashed into the ocean like that.”

“Why did you save me and my Mom from Robert?” I said. “Why didn't you let him kill me?”

“Your father forced me to find you,” said Mimic. He shrugged. “If I had said no, he would have found out where my real loyalties lie and probably would have killed me or at least defeated me. I could not allow that.”

“Then why didn't you kill me in the Compound?” I said.

“Because there were too many people there that I wouldn't have been able to make a quick escape even if I used my shape-shifting powers to sneak out undetected,” said Mimic. He gestured at his face. “They likely would have closed down the entire Compound if they found you and your parents' bodies, which would have made it impossible to escape. Renaissance is very professional and would probably have beaten me to within an inch of my life with his bare hands if he found out what I had done.”

“So now you choose this moment to attack,” I said. “Is that what all this is for, then? Get me in a private place where you have power over me, and then kill me?”

“And get the serum,” Mimic added. “You see, Vision has been aware of Professor Hernandez's serum for quite some time now.”

“You have?” Professor Hernandez croaked. He was sweating hard, probably because he was afraid that Mimic was going to shoot him. “How? I've never told anyone about it.”

“We have our ways,” said Mimic. “So I was tasked with getting it and bringing it back to Thaumaturge. If the serum truly can give people powers, then it is an evil thing that must be destroyed.”

“Evil?” I said. “What's so evil about giving normal people powers?”

“Because superpowers are a social construct,” Mimic insisted. “It is yet another example of the oppressive social construct that is keeping us all from achieving true equality. After all, anyone can have powers if they would just choose to identify as a superhuman. Using a serum implies there is something biological about superpowers, which is obviously wrong.”

“No, they can’t,” I said. “But regardless, you won’t get the serum.”

Mimic snorted. “Oh? How do you intend to keep me from getting it? Remind me, who has the gun in this situation and who only has mere words and insults?”

“You may have the gun,” I said, “but you aren’t going to use it.”

A flash of fear crossed Mimic’s features, but then he said, in a mocking voice, “Why would I not use it? I have no reason to spare either of you. All it takes is one bullet in the right place and you are dead.”

I shook my head. “No. If you were going to kill us, you would have done it by now. After all, we’re both pretty powerless compared to you. There’s no reason for you not to kill us and take or destroy the serum for yourself.”

“Shut up,” said Mimic. His finger rested on the trigger of his gun. “Shut up or I’ll shoot.”

“No, you won’t,” I said. “You won’t shoot me, at least.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” said Mimic. “Maybe the reason I haven’t shot either of you yet is because I want you to die in despair, knowing exactly how you have failed to defeat Vision.”

“That’s not the reason you haven’t shot us yet,” I said. “The reason is because you’re stalling.”

“Stalling?” Mimic repeated. “Stalling for what?”

“For Robert,” I said. “You know just how much Robert wants to kill me. You know how much he wants to kill me personally. If you killed me, he’d probably kill you just to satisfy his lust for revenge.”

Mimic’s gun shook in his hands briefly before he redoubled his grip on it. “How do you know if Robert Candle is even on his way here?”

“Because there’s no way he’d ever just let you or anyone else kill me, even if you are one of his allies,” I said. “And because you fear for your own safety, you’re just hoping to use your gun to scare Professor Hernandez into giving you the serum. Then you’ll leave us to be killed by Robert.”

“What a silly theory,” said Mimic, though I noticed that he didn’t exactly sound confident when he spoke. “I simply would rather get what I want without making noises that would attract the attention of the other G-Men. Guns are quite loud, after all, particularly guns like this one.”

“I know, but you still haven’t killed us and it is only a matter of time before someone outside of this room tries to contact us,” I said. “What will you tell them then? And even if you do kill us, you’d have to get past the other G-Men, who will find out you killed us eventually. You’re hoping that Robert will appear and distract the other G-Men while you slip away unnoticed with the serum.”

“Who cares if your theory is correct?” said Mimic. “Professor, I want you to give me the serum now or else.”

I looked at Hernandez. He appeared very shaken, maybe because he didn’t believe what I said about Mimic just stalling. Not very surprising, of course, given that Mimic—whether he intended to kill us himself or not—still had the gun and could still shoot us both anytime.

So that meant that I had to figure out a way to stop Mimic. I couldn’t reach for my earcom without Mimic blasting my ear off, so I couldn’t call in backup. And without my powers, I was even less able to beat him before he could pull the trigger. I needed to get close to him, close enough that he wouldn’t be able to shoot me, but if I stood up and tried to tackle him, he’d probably panic and shoot me anyway.

Then I glanced at the duck-shaped paperweight on Hernandez’s desk and an idea occurred to me.

Looking at Hernandez, I said, “Professor, you should put the serum back into the box. It’s pretty clear we can’t beat Mimic or survive against him, so it’s best that we just go ahead with his demands.”

Hernandez looked at me in surprise, but I tried to communicate to him with my eyes that I had a plan. Whether or not Hernandez understood what I was trying to get at, I don’t know, but he nodded and then lowered the serum into the box.

“Okay,” I said, looking at Mimic again. “The serum is in the box. Why don’t you come over and get it?”

Mimic snorted again. “And give you a chance to disarm me? I think not. Take the box, put it on the floor, and push it toward me with your foot. Don’t try to take the serum, either; if I even think I see your hand moving toward the vial, I will riddle you with so many holes that you will look like Swiss cheese.”

Damn. I should have seen this coming. Mimic might have been a coward, but he was clearly no i***t.

But, because I didn’t have any other choice, I turned around and grabbed the box. For a moment, I was tempted to just pull the vial out and try to drink the serum, but I knew that without my super speed I would just get us killed.

So I turned around, placed the box carefully on the floor, and then pushed it with my foot toward Mimic. Mimic walked over to the box quickly, his gun never leaving me or the Professor. He bent over, picked up the box with one hand, and then looked at its contents briefly before looking back up at me and Hernandez.

“Thank you, Professor,” said Mimic. “I am glad to see that you were smart enough not to risk your life. You academics truly are intelligent.”

“Are you going to leave now?” I said. “Will you spare us?”

Mimic shook his head and leveled his gun. “I am leaving, but not without first putting a few bullets in your body. Robert may want to be the one to kill you, but that doesn’t mean I will just let you walk away unharmed. Robert will certainly appreciate, I think, any help I give him in making it harder for you to escape.”

Even before Mimic stopped speaking, I wasn’t about to let him shoot me. I grabbed the duck-shaped paperweight on Hernandez’s desk and lobbed it at Mimic. The paperweight struck Mimic in the face, causing him to stagger backwards and aim his gun away from me and Hernandez.

Without thinking, I jumped off my seat and ran at him. I punched Mimic in the face, which wasn’t as powerful a blow as it could have been due to my lack of superpowers, but it connected anyway and made him drop both his gun and the box containing the serum. I immediately picked up his gun and aimed it at him in an instant, causing Mimic to freeze, his right hand reaching for the pistol at his side.

“Don’t move,” I said in a warning voice. “Or I’ll shoot.”

“You? Shoot me?” Mimic said. “Please. I doubt you have ever even held a gun before. You are probably at a higher risk of shooting yourself than me.”

My finger rested on the trigger. “Do you really believe that? Because I’m pretty sure all I need to do is point and shoot, which isn’t exactly rocket science.”

I gestured at his hand. “Now, Mimic, lower your hands to your sides and don’t try anything. I’m going to call Dad and have him call the G-Men here so they can take you away.”

Mimic scowled, but he lowered his hands just like I asked. But I didn’t take my eyes off him as I tapped my earcom and heard it crackle for a moment before Dad said, “Kevin! Thank god you just called. Are you and Mimic with Professor Hernandez right now?”

“Um, yeah,” I said. “But what’s the problem? Are you hurt or something?”

“Not me,” said Dad. “But I just received a call from Cadmus. He told me that Robert Candle is in Fallsville.”

I froze. “Where is he? Is he coming to the University of Fallsville?” I glanced at the window, but Robert’s ugly mug didn’t coming bursting through it.

“No,” said Dad. “Robert Candle isn’t very far from your location, however, but you will never guess where. Or who he has with him.”

“Just tell me,” I said. “Where is Robert? And who does he have with him?”

“Robert is in the warehouse where you and I fought Master Chaos last year,” said Dad. “And he has taken your friend, Tara Reynolds, hostage.”