Chapter Twenty Eight

Hero's Call: Chapter Twenty Eight

Wednesday came with a fair amount of nervous anxiety and trepidation. After seeing the broadcast from his great-grandfather’s greatest enemy, Milo’s first reaction was one of stolid determination. Deep down, he knew there was only one possible option. He’d meet Destructo at the specified date and time. He’d do everything he could to stop the Villain from taking over the world. If he couldn’t then he would die trying. It was really that simple in his mind. There was no arguing the fact. It was his responsibility. He was the one that Destructo had called out. He would be the one that answered the call, for better or worse.

That line of thinking lasted for all of three minutes. Before he had even spoken his desire to stand and fight, Captain Amazing had put the kibosh on the idea.

“It’s a trap, Milo,” he had said. “Anybody that shows up there is more likely to leave in a body bag.”

Hearing that, his parents expressly forbid Milo from doing anything going any nearer to New York City than school could bring him. Captain Amazing knew Destructo better than anyone else on Earth. If the old Hero was sure that his nemesis was setting a trap, then he most probably was. Milo begrudgingly agreed not to go to New York to meet Destructo, the final nail in the coffin being the fact that he would have to get a ride from his parents and they were refusing to take him anywhere. So he’d wait and see what happened when no one showed up at the given meeting time.

It didn’t sit well with Milo, though, sitting on the sidelines. The Hero’s Call was urging him more than ever to be a beacon of hope for the people, to fight against the injustice that would occur. Bill and Calliope weren’t exactly eager to let things go either, but they were more keen on letting things go for now. Milo had a feeling that Destructo having such a close personal tie to him was making him a little more eager for a fight than he should have been. The way Destructo had spoken about Captain Amazing during his broadcast had been a personal offense, and one that he would certainly seek retribution for.

Sitting in Mr. Hanson’s history class wasn’t the best way to go about finding said retribution. Being an avid follower of current events �" history in the making, he called it �" Mr. Hanson had been engaging students in heated debates on the ethical and economic concerns of a full scale take over. He was particularly adept at pitting opposing viewpoints against each other while remaining an impartial mediator. Milo was surprised to see just how many students believed that a crash in the entire world’s technological systems would actually be a good thing for everyone. He also couldn’t help but notice that they conveniently avoided the topic of supreme rule by a raving lunatic hellbent on seeing the planet’s population kneeling at his feet.

“Okay, guys,” Mr. Hanson said after the bell rang to signal the start of the school day, “today is a big day. Czar Destructo has extended an offer with a deadline. What I’d like to discuss today is whether or not this mystery Hero or Villain should go to New York tonight and why or why not. Who wants to open up the discussion?”

“It’s clearly a trap,” a young girl in the front row said without raising her hand. Her name was Annalisa Barton. She was heavyset with thick black-rimmed glasses and a streak of electric blue in her brown hair. “Whoever it is would have to be insane to go there. If Destructo even is there, it’ll probably just be to kill the new active himself to make sure the job gets done. And then we lose the one chance we have of stopping him. No way they should go.”

Another student scoffed. His name was Brett Danvers. He was a hotshot freshman basketball star. The Varsity basketball coach was already grooming him to take over as captain of the team once he was a sophomore. “It’s his job, Annalisa,” he argued. “Like you said, he’s probably our only hope to stop Destructo. It’s his responsibility to show up.”

Annalisa glared at Brett. “First of all, who says it’s a man?” she countered icily. “Second, who’s to say him or her will even choose to be a Hero at all? They could show up and join Destructo. I’m sure he’s a smooth enough talker to convince some new active to join his cause.”

Brett retorted, but Milo didn’t hear it. He was focused on Xander, still sitting in Devon’s empty chair. The guy was fidgeting enough to power a light bulb with a kinetic generator. His leg bobbed up and down like the flutter of hummingbird wings. Xander’s eyes were nervously darting around the room. Clearly the discussion that Mr. Hanson had made him uneasy, but Milo couldn’t imagine why. It had nothing to do with him. He was jerk, sure, but Xander wasn’t the one that Destructo was talking to during that broadcast. He had no real reason to be so nervous. At least not any more nervous than anyone else in the world.

Unless it wasn’t the discussion at all that had unsettled him. Much to Milo’s chagrin, Cali had been spending a lot of time with Xander since he’d first arrived at Buckland High. She had mentioned somewhat off-handedly a few days prior that Xander was acting off somehow, distant. Milo had shirked off the comment without really thinking about it at the time. Xander had always struck him as being a little off. He just figured Cali was finally coming around to his line of thinking. But now Milo could see a change in his demeanor. Normally and expert at acting aloof and apathetic to the universe, Xander was now a ball of nervous energy.

First period ended without Milo even realizing time had passed. He was so focused on Xander that the fifty minute class had only felt like five minutes. All the students in the classroom got up from their desks and made for the door, still arguing heatedly about whatever topic they had ended their debate on. Cali was waiting outside the door, whether it was for him or Xander, he wasn’t sure.

“Hey, guys,” she said happily as they both exited the room at the same time. “How was class?”

Xander mumbled something in audible and Milo didn’t answer at all. They turned and moved back down the hall towards their next classes. Milo reluctantly broke off from the others to retrieve his Geometry book from his locker before the tone signaling the start of second period chimed. When he arrived in class minutes later, Xander was already seated in the back corner of the room as always, but his demeanor hadn’t changed a bit. He didn’t seem to notice anyone else as they entered the room. Milo took his seat in the same row as Xander but three desks ahead just as Mrs. O’Brien entered the room in her typical flustered manner.

The rest of the day passed by much the same way that Milo’s first period had. He couldn’t focus on anything his teachers were saying. All he could think about Xander. When he couldn’t directly look at Xander without being remonstrated for not paying attention, he bent his every thought to what could possibly be causing Xander’s behavior. The best he could come up with was that Xander had also possibly activated and had felt Destructo was talking to him. That didn’t make sense, however, as Milo knew full well that he was the one that had put Devon Macledowny in the hospital, and Destructo had directly referred to that in his broadcast.

During their lunch break, Milo, Bill, Cali, and Xander sat around a table in the cafeteria. None of them spoke as they ate. Even Bill and Cali couldn’t help but focus on Xander’s constant anxious movement. They would exchange glances between the three of them here and there, but no one knew what to say.

“Xander,” Cali said finally, “we can tell something is bothering you. Want to tell us what’s wrong? We’re your friends.”

Milo rolled his eyes inwardly. It was easier to go along with Cali’s notion that they were all good buddies, but he and Bill both could sense something off with Xander since day one.

“It’s…” answered Xander, eyes darting to each one of them in turn. “It’s nothing. I’m just nervous for Mr. Hikalis’s test later. That’s all.”

That seemed to pacify Cali, though Milo had no idea why. It was common knowledge, even among the teaching staff that Mr. Hikalis’s tests consisted of all essay question, all of which could be answered with any information a student wanted whether it pertained to the question or not, and they would still get full credit so long as they wrote enough. No one was ever nervous for those tests. Bill and Milo exchanged knowing glances as Cali packed up the remainder of her lunch and stuffed it back in her book bag.

Once they had gotten to Mr. Hikalis’s class, seventh period, Milo had never seen a human being write so fast. Xander’s hand flew down the page at an incredible rate. His scrawl was sloppy but clearly legible. He couldn’t believe smoke wasn’t rising from Xander’s page like he had seen in the old cartoons. Xander had finished the test long before everyone else, and asked Mr. Hikalis to be excused as he had a stomach ache. The teacher agreed with a half-hearted mumble. Milo knew he had to follow Xander, but he still had three questions left to answer. He scribbled out some random words about unicorns and vampires for each one and hastily slapped the test down on Mr. Hikalis’s desk before rushing out of the room without asking for permission. Mr. Hikalis didn’t even seem to notice.

It was too late, though. Milo rushed down the halls in every direction but they were all deserted. He cursed under his breath and made his way back to his own locker once the final tone of the day chimed and eager students came flooding from their classrooms.

“Hey, Milo,” Cali greeted him when he caught up with her and Bill at the bike rack. “Do you know what happened to Xander? He didn’t come to his locker.”

Milo nodded. “He left class early,” he explained. “Said he had a stomach ache.”

Another knowing glance passed between him and Bill with Calliope oblivious. They each unlocked their bikes from the rack and climbed on, pedaling towards home with the cold air whipping at their faces. Milo barely noticed the chill. All he could think about was where Xander had gone, and what was so nerve-wracking for him that he felt the need to leave school early.

 

Once Milo had left his friends and returned home, all thoughts of Xander had stopped. Captain Amazing was sitting on their sofa watching news reports, and it instantly brought the scheduled rendezvous back to his mind. On the screen, a field reporter was sitting with their back to an office window. The camera moved past them and focused on the building across the street. It was unmistakably the Empire State Building. The camera zoomed in on the entrance briefly and then panned back to show the reporter once more.

As you can see, the reporter said into the camera, we have the main entrance to the building under constant surveillance from the building across the street. Local law enforcement have been stationed around the building since the pirate broadcast ended. There has been mention of government officials also being present, but that is, as yet, unconfirmed. We’ll be posted here until the zero hour to give the latest updates on the situation.

Captain Amazing snorted. “Idiots,” he said derisively. “Idiots, the lot of them.”

“Hey, Captain,” Milo said, announcing himself. “Any news?”

Captain Amazing shook his head. “With any luck, there won’t be any either.”

“Are you staying for dinner?”

“Would I miss your mom’s cooking for anything?” the old Hero answered with a playful glint in his eye.

Milo just smiled in reply and left the room. His parents had essentially checked out Captain Amazing from the retirement home indefinitely since things had started escalating. Milo knew they wanted him close by to both keep watch over his great-grandson and stay out of the way of danger if Destructo had gone back on his word that his old nemesis was no longer important. It was nice having the old dog around, but he was starting to grate on everyone’s nerves with the seemingly constant tirade he had been on since the broadcast.

Milo hopped up the stairs to his room to drop off his book bag and coat before taking a quick bathroom break and returning to the family room to watch the news with his great-grandfather. Time inched on as it crawled its way to half past eleven. Milo and Amazing had only walked away from the television long enough to eat dinner, and it was only because Brooke had refused to bring their dinner in to them so they could eat on the sofa. They both wolfed down their meals without tasting much, and hurried back to the sofa to wait out the clock.

As the deadline drew closer, Milo noticed Captain Amazing nervously toying with a small piece of paper.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Huh?” Amazing asked then realized what he was doing. “Oh, that. President gave it to me. Said I could call it if I ever wanted them to take me to a secure location where they could protect me from Destructo.”

Milo then noticed the cordless phone that was tucked carelessly between the couch cushions. “Are you going to call them?”

Captain Amazing looked down at the phone next to him and chuckled. “I’m going to call them, all right. But not for that. I’m waiting to see how they play this situation. If they try doing something stupid, this is the only way I have to contact someone. Don’t know if I’ll even get through to anyone important enough to help, but I’ll have to try, you know?”

Milo nodded his agreement. With any luck, the number wouldn’t have to be dialed. They just had to keep well enough away. Let the deadline come and go. Maybe it would convince Destructo that he was wrong about what had happened to Devon. Milo thought that was about as likely as the government not getting involved. Yet, as eleven o’clock rolled around, no one had been seen going in or out of the building that shouldn’t have. At least not through any of the known entrances. Milo knew the active wasn’t going to show up since it was him and he was sitting on the couch a thousand miles away. But he had at least expected to see some sign of Destructo.

At a quarter past eleven a quiet knock came at the front door. It was so silent that Milo had barely heard it. Even so, he had almost ignored it, figuring he was just hearing things. But something made him get up from the couch and walk to the door even though it meant taking his eyes off of the television for an undetermined amount of time. He decided tell whoever it was to get lost and get back before he missed anything too important.

When he opened the front door, no one was there. Milo was about to chide himself for believing a knock really had come to the door when he noticed the small scrap of paper taped to the door just under the knocker. It was folded in half and nothing was written on the outside. Milo unfolded the piece of paper to find a handwritten note in a handwriting that seemed familiar but not completely so.

 

The Empire State Lobby is rigged to blow. Anyone who goes in won’t be coming out. Warn someone!

 

Milo stepped out of the front door and looked around the quiet, sleeping street. There was no sign of anyone other than him outside. He went back in the house and shut the door behind him. He had seen that handwriting before. He knew he had, but he couldn’t quite place it. The words themselves didn’t even seem to register in his mind. It was the handwriting that was nagging at him. Where have I seen this handwriting? He asked himself, wracking his brain for the answer that didn’t seem to want to present itself no matter how hard he concentrated.

When he re-entered the family room, Milo found Captain Amazing pacing the room with the cordless phone up to his ear.

“What’s going on?” Milo asked in confusion.

Captain Amazing pointed at the screen. “Yeah, I’m still here,” he said testily into the phone. “Yes I would mind holding a moment longer. Get me someone important. Tell them it’s Captain Amazing.”

Milo turned his focus to the television. A small phalanx of armed military personnel was moving toward the main entrance of the Empire State Building. Their weapons were at the ready, scanning the surrounding buildings for any signs of potential danger. In center of the ring of soldiers stood a familiar form that was most decidedly of An’Fari origin. Milo’s mind was seized with a sudden realization of what was about to happen. He recalled the note’s message perfectly without having to re-read a word. They’re all going to die, a voice in his head screamed, Do something!

Milo did the only thing he could think of. He shoved the note into Captain Amazing’s hands. The old Hero looked at his great-grandson with confusion before turning his eyes to the note. He processed the words in a split second. Captain Amazing snarled and crushed the note in his free hand.

“Listen, lady,” he spat into the phone. “The team walking into the Empire State Building are going to die unless you put me in touch with someone that has some authority. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“It’s too late,” Milo gasped. “They’re inside.”

Captain Amazing spun to look at the screen. The last soldier had slipped inside the glass doors of the Empire State Building and it closed behind him like the lid of a coffin built for eight. He was never sure if he could believe in God, but, at that moment, he did the only thing he could think of.

Captain Amazing prayed.