Joshua Dread (2 page)

“Actually,” Mom said, “Captain Justice doesn’t concern us. It’s you who should be worried. All of you. Because soon—”

She was interrupted by a booming voice in the distance.

“DID SOMEONE SAY ‘JUSTICE’?”

A flurry of excitement passed over the reporters. One of them pointed to the other side of the intersection, where a figure had appeared from the storm, floating above the rooftops, flying in our direction. I recognized
him right away. I’d seen him in countless commercials and on magazine covers. He was wearing a tight silver jumpsuit and a shiny blue cape. His teeth were blindingly bright as he smiled.

Captain Justice had just arrived.

M
ilton pressed closer to me, trying to get a better look. For as long as I’d known him, he’d been obsessed with superheroes and supervillains, but he’d been especially obsessed with Captain Justice. Milton had Captain Justice posters on his wall and Captain Justice trading cards. The only cereal he would eat was Frosted Fuel Flakes (sponsored by Captain Justice).

And now Captain Justice was floating just outside the window.

“If it isn’t the Botanist and Dr. Dread.” Captain
Justice’s voice echoed across downtown Sheepsdale. “How unpleasant it is to see you again.”

My parents glared back at him.

“How did he get here so soon?” Dad muttered to Mom.

My dad’s hand dropped down to his waist, his fingers running over a small gray box that was hanging from his belt. The control box for the Weather Alterator. It contained a button that could trigger total meteorological meltdown, destroying the world—or at least everything outside the Vortex of Silence—in a matter of seconds. And nobody, not even Captain Justice, could stop it.

“You are a truly wicked pair,” Captain Justice said. “Flooding the earth. Terrorizing a group of journalists. Holding innocent children hostage. Is there any act of treachery that is too evil for the Dread Duo?”

My dad glanced at our school bus as if he hadn’t noticed it until now. “We aren’t holding any children hostage!”

“Silence! I didn’t come here to listen to your pitiful excuses.” Captain Justice turned to our bus. “Worry not, dear children! Captain Justice shall rescue you from the clutches of these vile enemies!”

Swooping downward, he gripped the bus roof. A wrenching sound filled the air as he tore the top half of the bus off. Some kids screamed. Milton snapped a photo with his cell phone.

“Be free, children!” Captain Justice said, holding the
top half of the bus above his head with one hand as if it weighed nothing at all. “You are trapped in this bus of death no longer!”

My classmates remained in their seats, stunned.

“Go on,” Captain Justice urged. “You’re all free now.”

“Captain Justice?” said a girl a few rows ahead of me.

“What is it, little girl?”

“The bus driver said it wasn’t safe for us to go outside the Vortex of Silence on foot. Because of the storm and all.”

Captain Justice glanced up at the top half of the bus like he was trying to figure out whether he could re-attach it.

“Never fear,” he said. “Captain Justice will find a way for you to return to your homes safely.”

He shrugged and then tossed the top of the bus over his shoulder like a crumpled piece of paper. The enormous metal object crashed into the post office, destroying the entire front wall.

I watched my dad with a rising sense of fear. He looked panicked, on the verge of pressing the meltdown button. I wished that they’d never gone ahead with this plan in the first place. What were we even supposed to
do
with a private jet full of hundred-dollar bills? Our driveway was barely big enough for my parents’ Volvo.

I thought about calling out to them. Maybe I could convince my parents to give up their scheme and let
everyone go. But what if someone realized that I was related to them? What if everyone in school found out that I was the son of the Dread Duo?

On second thought, I was better off taking my chances with world annihilation.

The weather continued to worsen. The tumble of clouds turned from gray to black. Rain lashed the sides of buildings; wind ripped street signs loose. But everything within fifty feet of our bus was perfectly calm and still.

Captain Justice had turned his back on my parents and was now floating ten feet off the ground, posing for photographs. He smiled at the crowd of journalists, flexing his muscles for the cameras.

My dad’s finger inched closer to the meltdown button. I ducked even lower in my seat as he glanced at our bus. His eyes lingered on the bus for a split second, and then he shook his head and pulled his hand away from the button. He reached for another part of his utility belt. His plasma gun.

“Hey, Captain Justice,” he said, removing the gun from its holster. “How about one more shot?”

He aimed and pulled the trigger. A vivid red beam burst out of the end of the gun.

Captain Justice spun around, yelling, “Engage Shield of Honor!”

A glowing blue shield took form in Captain Justice’s
hand. It looked both real and unreal, like a hologram had emerged from his wristband. The plasma beam reflected off the Shield of Honor and hit Mom’s hover scooter. She crashed to the ground.

Dad flew over to help her just as Captain Justice raised his other hand. “Engage Net of Truth!”

Another blue hologram appeared from his wristband. This time it looked like a net, which flew just over our heads and collided with my father. He and his hover scooter crashed into a bush.

“You see that, kids?” Captain Justice said, drifting closer to our school bus. “This just goes to show that honor and truth always prevail. It reminds me of the time I single-handedly battled Abominator and his army of mutants. They had me surrounded, but I was able to—OOF!”

Captain Justice’s speech came to a sudden halt as the branches of a nearby tree circled around his waist. Before he could escape the tree’s grip, it whipped forward, flinging him through the air like a superhero-shaped football. He soared over the top of our bus and past the crowd of journalists before crashing into a Chinese food restaurant at the corner.

Now, some people might find it slightly unusual to see plants go on the attack like that. But when your mom can control any kind of vegetation on earth, you get used to it.

Dad untangled himself from the hologram net and launched across the intersection on his hover scooter. At the other end of the street, Captain Justice was lying in a pile of rubble and egg rolls. Dad fired his plasma gun.

ZAAAAP!

Everyone around me gasped, then cheered as Captain Justice dove to the side. The plasma beam flew over his shoulder, igniting a box of fortune cookies behind him.

Captain Justice was on his feet in an instant.

“Engage Spear of Freedom!” His voice boomed through downtown Sheepsdale as he thrust a hologram spear into the air.

Dad veered to the side, and the spear grazed his utility belt, causing an explosion of sparks.

All at once, a remarkable change took place around me. The sky changed from dark gray to mild blue. The rain that had been pounding the scenery outside the Vortex of Silence vanished. Sunlight reflected in the puddles on the nearby streets.

Downtown Sheepsdale had returned to a normal sunny afternoon.

Dad glanced up at the sky, disappointment and rage filling his features. “Curse you, Captain Justice! You destroyed the remote for the Weather Alterator. It took me six months to construct that!”

Captain Justice looked just as surprised as my parents. “That’s—er … exactly what I intended to do.” He puffed out his chest as his beaming smile returned.

Dad was still lying on the ground gripping his ankle. His expression turned from anger to fear as Captain Justice grabbed a huge chunk of the wall that had once belonged to the Chinese restaurant.

“And now, to finish you off …” Captain Justice raised the section of the wall above his head, taking aim.

“WAIT!”

It took me a second to realize that I’d been the one to call out. Everyone on the bus turned to look at me. I hoped that my face didn’t look as red as it felt.

“Yes, child?” Captain Justice was grinning at me, waiting for me to say something.

My mind spun. I’d only yelled to distract him from killing my parents—I hadn’t really put much thought into what I should say after that.

I caught a glimpse of my dad lying on the ground. Recognition flashed across his features. He looked as if he couldn’t figure out whether to wave hello or scream for mercy. Everyone was watching me—Captain Justice, my parents, dozens of reporters. I shielded my eyes from the glare of flashing cameras, then cleared my throat.

“Um … would it—” My voice sputtered and I tried again. “Would it be possible to take a picture of you?”

“Oh, okay.” Captain Justice grinned. “Maybe just one photo.”

Floating in place, the superhero fixed his hair with one hand and balanced the brick wall above his head with the other.

The distraction was enough for Dad to get out his plasma gun. With a blast of red light, the brick wall exploded into a million pieces.

Captain Justice covered his eyes as dust from the destroyed wall rained down on him. Smoke from the explosion hung in the air. Dad aimed the plasma gun at Captain Justice’s chest.

“No!” I screamed.

I could see the hesitation on Dad’s face. His greatest enemy was floating in front of him, blinded. All he had to do was pull the trigger. He glanced from Captain Justice to me. With a sigh, he grabbed his hover scooter and flew to where Mom was lying. After helping her onto his scooter, Dad turned to give Captain Justice one last dirty look. Then my parents rose high into the air together. A moment later, they were gone.

When Captain Justice could see again, he flew toward us, brushing dust and brick fragments out of his hair.

“Another shameful plot has been foiled by Captain Justice!” he said, among wild whoops and cheers from the crowd of students and journalists. “But we must all remain diligent. For we never know when evil will strike
again. One thing is certain, though. If you want to grow up to be super like me, you’ll remember to eat Frosted Fuel Flakes every morning for breakfast. Eight essential vitamins and all the nutrients you need to get your day started right!”

And then he launched into the air, vanishing into the blue, cloudless sky.

T
he mood around the dining room table was tense. Mom was still wearing her body armor, but she’d slung her mask over the back of the chair and replaced her knee-high black boots with white slippers. Dad pushed his goggles onto his forehead and stared at his plate of salmon and asparagus as if it had just insulted him.

“What is it with that doofus always flying in and foiling our schemes?” he said. “I can’t even destroy one stupid little continent without him getting in the way!”

“And what’s the deal with all those hologram weapons?”
Mom said. “The Net of Truth! The Shield of Glory!”

“Honor,” I said. “It was actually called the Shield of—”

Mom glared over at me. I decided it might not be the best time to dwell on specifics.

“Never mind,” I said.

The TV was playing in the living room, a jumble of noise in the background. Dad stabbed a bunch of asparagus with his fork like he was spearing a whale with a harpoon.

When the local news started, both of them turned to face the television. A reporter was standing on a street that looked familiar, pointing toward a pile of rubble that also looked familiar. Nearby was half a school bus that definitely looked familiar. It was the scene of the fight between my parents and Captain Justice.

“Today’s top story,” said the reporter. “Shock in Sheepsdale, as two supervillains tried to destroy the world by altering the weather.”

I cleared my throat. “You know what would be nice? Family dinner without TV.”

If my parents were in a bad mood now, the news was only going to make it worse. But it was too late. They were already shifting in their seats to get a better view of the television.

The reporter continued. “I’m standing outside what’s left of Mr. Chow’s Chinese Buffet in downtown
Sheepsdale. But the only thing on the menu today was chaos, as the Dread Duo frightened a busful of children. According to eyewitness accounts, the Botanist ripped a school bus in half while it was still full of students from Sheepsdale Middle School.”

“I didn’t do that!” Mom yelled at the screen. “Captain Justice tore that bus apart! I mean, I appreciate the credit, but—”

“Afterward,” the reporter went on, “she threw the top half of the school bus at a nearby post office.”

Mom shook her head with frustration.

“Fortunately, Captain Justice came to the rescue,” the reporter said. “While fighting against the two dastardly supervillains, the beloved Captain Justice single-handedly saved the school children and put a halt to a plot to destroy the world. If there’s one thing we can agree on, it’s that Captain Justice is a true superhero.

“After a short break, we’ll take it to Troy, who’s going to tell us more about that wacky weather today!”