Chapter Twenty

Hero's Call: Chapter Twenty

Captain Amazing sat in the passenger seat of this grandson’s slightly used BMW watching the houses amble past slowly. The speedometer only once went over 40 mph, but Captain Amazing suspected that had only happened because a pretty young girl had pulled up next to them at a light, and Barton wanted to keep pace to get a good look at the lovely young thing. When she had taken a left and they a right, Barton had returned to his meager pace that proved to get no one anywhere with any kind of urgency. Luckily, Captain Amazing didn’t want to return to his depressing room at the retirement home any sooner than he had to, so his grandson’s feather foot on the gas wasn’t an issue.

Brooke had made them an excellent dinner of cheeseburger pie and mashed potatoes after their long day of training Milo and Calliope. They had returned home after confirming that Cali hadn’t received any kind of injuries from being shot across a field and nearly all the way through a rather thick tree trunk. Cali and Bill had stuck around for an hour or so at the Radcliff house, but both returned home to have dinner with their own families. Captain Amazing worried about Bill, of all people. He was enthusiastic enough, sure, but that would wear off eventually. Where would he be then if his Gene didn’t activate? Bitter? Betrayed? Angry? Captain Amazing had seen more than a few friends turned at odds because one had gone on to protect the world while the other was left to live a normal life working a nine to five. He silently hoped that Bill would activate while he was still enthusiastic about the possibilities instead of bitter and looking for revenge. That was the last thing anyone needed.

Barton pulled the BMW into the parking lot of Buckland Retirement Home and steered the car through the entryway drive.

“Thanks, Barty,” Captain Amazing said to his grandson as he put the car into park. “Tell Brooke I said thanks for dinner.”

“Sure thing,” replied Barton. The old Hero began getting out of the car, but Barton stopped him. “How’s he doing?”

Captain Amazing stopped with the door half open and one foot on the pavement. He regarded his grandson coolly. Barton wouldn’t meet his eyes for some reason. They’d talked about Milo’s training at dinner. He should know quite well how his son was doing. This seemed like something else, something deeper.

“What do you mean?” he asked Barton, pulling his foot back into the car and shutting the door.

“I guess,” started Barton, “I should ask how he’s holding up?”

There it was. Just a father worried about his son. Barton was never particularly affectionate toward Milo for some reason, but Captain Amazing knew Barton loved his son more than anything whether he showed it or not. Some people just weren’t good at showing their feelings.

“Seems to be okay,” he told Barton. “He’s not the most powerful Hero that’s ever lived. He’ll be in a little more danger than I was, but there are ways around that. He just has to train up. I wouldn’t worry any more than you have to.”

Barton nodded silently. Whether it was what he wanted to hear or not, Barton didn’t say. He just nodded.

“Thanks, granddad,” he said with a genuine tone that could have just as easily been feigned. Captain Amazing’s heart went out to his grandson. His own father didn’t have to worry about his son being in danger because he died long before he’d ever gotten the chance. Captain Amazing didn’t have to worry about it because his own son was part of the first generation born under the regime of The Dreadnaught Virus. He didn’t know what to say.

“Thanks for the ride, Barty,” he said finally, opening the door again.

“No problem,” his grandson replied.

Captain Amazing stepped out of the car with more effort than he would have liked, and shut the door behind him. The BMW’s engine hummed to life as the car moved back down the drive, through the parking lot, and out into the street. Captain Amazing watched the car until it disappeared around a corner. There was a sullen tone to Barton’s mood that had rubbed off on Captain Amazing himself. The thought of going inside the retirement home was even more unappealing after that short, but powerful conversation. They had barely spoken but there was so much conveyed between them silently that it could have filled a book.

When he entered the lobby of the retirement home, Captain Amazing found a much larger crowd gathered in the common area than there normally would have been for that time of night. By seven-thirty, most of the residents of Buckland Retirement Home were either fast asleep or well on their way to being so. Now, anyone who could move freely on their own or could at least find someone to push their wheelchair was in front of the television that was not nearly big enough for all of these people to watch it easily. Even the nurses and orderlies were staring intently at screen. Captain Amazing spotted Harold at the back of the crowd staring up at the ceiling and twiddling his thumbs like he was just happy to be out and about.

“Hey, Harold,” he said to the old dementia patient, “What’s going on?”

“Oh, hey, Cap,” replied Harold jovially. “Big news. They’ve been watching it all day. Something about a bank robbery by greedy little dwarves. Don’t see how that’s news. They’re taking my stuff all the time.”

Captain Amazing nodded to Harold. He wasn’t really listening much. He wasn’t even sure why he asked Harold anything in the first place. A mind nearly destroyed by Alzheimer’s and dementia is not the best place to get an update on current events. He left Harold to twiddle his thumbs and edged his way into the crowd to get a better look at what everyone found so engrossing.

The television showed a news report, no surprise. It was a national new channel with an anchor Captain Amazing didn’t recognize. He was a middle-aged man with finely primped hair and a smart suit and tie. His non-regional diction was well into a story, and Captain Amazing couldn’t help but wonder how he never seemed to catch a news story at the part where they recapped what was happening in case you hadn’t been watching previously.

The precision and expertise that were employed, the anchor reported, suggests military involvement, but which countries military is, as yet, unclear. Experts have run extensive test on the only piece of evidence left behind and have yet to report any significant findings.

The screen cut away to a snapshot of what was clearly a business card attached to a vault door that was clearly doing no one any good since the vault was empty. The symbol on the card was more than enough to tell Captain Amazing exactly what was going on. He’d seen that symbol too many times to count, and not one of them was a pleasant encounter. A mixture of rage and panic welled up inside him as he pushed his way back out of the crowd.

“Have they caught the dwarves yet, Cap?” Harold asked him when he had finally emerged from the crowd.

“Yeah, Harold,” Captain Amazing replied distractedly. “They caught the dwarves.”

“Ha!” laughed Harold. “Nazi b******s.”

Captain Amazing walked as quickly as his old body could take him to the elevator a little ways down the hall off the common area. The stairs just weren’t going to work for him at the moment. The doors slid open immediately when the button was pressed and deposited Captain Amazing on the second floor moments later.

His eyes weren’t what they used to be, but there was no mistaking the two burly men standing at the other end of the hall. Captain Amazing didn’t have to have good eyes to know they were standing directly in front of his door. He marched down the hall as confidently as possible. There were two possibilities for the men’s identities. They were either bruisers hired for Czar Destructo that had come to deliver a message of fists, or they were government employees of some sort. Either were just as likely, Captain Amazing knew. No matter what, he was going to meet them head on. He suddenly felt like it was a good day to die.

“Howdy, boys,” he said to the two men as he approached. Both were wearing cheap black suits and red ties. Their eyes were covered by sunglasses even though the sun had gone down hours before. Their hands were clasped formally in front of them and a wire ran from their right ears down into their collared shirts. They were G-men alright. No hencher in his right mind would wear such a cheap suit. “Can I help you?”

They regarded him with a long silence. Captain Amazing wasn’t even sure they saw him. They didn’t react the least bit to his presence.

“Captain Amazing?” the one on the right asked.

Before Captain Amazing could give a snarky reply, a call came out from inside his room.

“Let him in, boys,” a male voice instructed.

The man on the right motioned with his head for Captain Amazing to enter.

“Keep up the good work, boys,” he said wryly and stepped passed them into the room.

Inside, his room was just as he’d left it earlier that morning. The only exception being the man standing on one side of the small space looking over the pictures hung on the wall as if he were in a museum. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a light blue polo shirt under and windbreaker. His graying hair was visible under the Ohio State baseball cap. His back was to Captain Amazing and he didn’t turn around when the old Hero made his presence know by clearing his throat.

“I loved hearing stories about you when I was a kid,” the man said as he continued to look at the photos on the walls. “My grandfather used to tell me all kinds of them before he died. He was a marine, part of one of the squads that responded to the White House when Destructo tried to take it over. He used to tell me how amazing it was to see you in action first hand.”

“Cute story,” Captain Amazing replied. “You should tell it at weddings. You want to tell me what you want you’re doing here, Mr. President.”

The man laughed and turned around. For being the leader of the free world, he was taking Captain Amazing’s bluntness with good humor. Captain Amazing had met more than a few presidents. He had admired and respected all of them. Once The Dreadnaught Virus took effect, the whole world went to hell and politicians changed from pillars of the community to eely weasels that were all about the bottom line and what was best for the country so long as it kept the rich people rich and the poor people poor. That was not the kind of person Captain Amazing would ever even feign to respect. It didn’t matter what position of power they held.

“Right to the point,” the President said. “Very well. I assume you’ve seen the news.”

Captain Amazing nodded. He should have known. “Lose track of somebody?”

“Destructo escaped from his prison in Antarctica two weeks ago,” the President confirmed. “We would have known sooner, but the state-of-the-art aircraft he stole during his escape fired an EMP on its way out that rendered all of the communication devices in the prison useless. As you’ve seen, he’s wasted no time in reverting to his old ways.”

“News said the authorities didn’t know who did it,” Captain Amazing commented. “You wouldn’t be lying to us taxpaying folks, now would ya?”

“If the truth got out, there would be chaos, Captain,” replied the President. “You know that as well as I do. A Villain on the loose with no Hero to oppose him. It’ll take everything we’ve got to take him down. If he gets his forces back to full force, he’ll have the world conquered in a matter of weeks. We can’t let that happen.”

“If you’re looking for me to take him down again, Mr. President,” Captain Amazing scoffed, “I suggest you take a better look at me. I’m not exactly in fighting form here anymore.”

The President nodded as if that much was obvious.

“We have our best people working to locate Destructo and form a plan to eliminate him,” he said evenly. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Well spit it out,” said Captain Amazing. “It’s been a long day.”

“I’ve come to offer you protection,” said the President. “We both know that Destructo will come looking for you eventually. As you said, you’re no longer in any kind of shape to stand against him. We are offering to move you to an undisclosed, secure location until Destructo can be apprehended, upon which time you will be returned he to the peace of Buckland.”

Captain Amazing laughed roughly.

“You want to protect me?” he chuckled. “No offense, Mr. President, but I can take care of myself. I appreciate the offer though.”

The President gave him a pitying look that made Captain Amazing want to punch him through the wall.

“I urge you to reconsider, Captain,” the President pleaded. “You are the last of an era that brought hope to millions. If Destructo finds you and kills you, hope will disappear, and our jobs will be that much more difficult.”

Captain Amazing knew what kind of a predicament the President thought the world was in. Before a week or so ago, he’d have been right. But he wasn’t the last Hero. Far from it. Captain Amazing made a mental note to talk to Seven about accelerating Milo and Cali’s training.

“Don’t you worry about little old me,” he answered sarcastically. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get to sleep. I’d like to be well rested when my old friend comes calling.”

The President exhaled loudly.

“Very well,” he said curtly. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card which he set on the night stand next to him. “If you change your mind, call this number and someone will be sent to collect you and take you to safety. Please give this some serious thought, Captain. We hope to hear from you soon.”

The President moved to leave the room, but Captain Amazing stopped him.

“Just so you know,” he said to the President’s back, “I voted for the other guy.”

Choosing to overlook the comment, the President left the room flanked by his Secret Service agents. Captain Amazing changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. His mind was racing with the thoughts of Destructo on the loose and Milo in a position to oppose him. It wouldn’t be easy for the young man or his friend, but there was no better person to take up Captain Amazing’s mantle than his own flesh and blood.

They had a lot of work to do.