Chapter ONE

K evin Jason—also

known as the superhero

Bolt, the leader of the famous

young superhero team known as

the Young Neos—had faced a lot of

challenges in his life as a

superhero. He had fought

dangerous supervillains,saved the

world more than once, had faced

certain death more times than

most teenagers, and had even

traveled to other planets and

universes.A superhero couldn't go

through all of that without

developing confidence and learning

how to put aside fear to do the

right thing, especially if the lives of

your friends and other people were

on the line. Indeed, Kevin had

thought that he was entirely

fearless now; after all, if you could

blow up a planet and live to tell the

tale , everything else seemed pretty

simple after that,

But as Kevin sat on a chair in a

private room in the House, his

hands folded over his lap, he

couldn't help but wish he didn't

have to be here today, facing the

woman sitting across the table

from him. The woman was not a

dangerous supervillain with

dreams of taking over the world or

threatening Kevin's friends and

family;in fact, she was pretty

mousy and small, even shorter

than him, despite being in her

thirties while he was just eighteen.

She was not even wielding a gun or

some other weapon, but rather a

recorder that she had placed on the

center of the 　table to catch

everything that Kevin said. If he

had to, Kevin could easily

overwhelm her without having to

lay one finger on her, although he

didn't think he'd need to do that

Today.

Still, kevin was beginning to

rethink agreeing to this interview.

He had never been interviewed by

anyone from the press before, even

though he'd received several

interview requests from the media

ever since he rose to stardom after

defeating the infamous supervillain

Master Chaos last year. His mentor,

Mecha Knight, had never allowed

him to speak directly with the

media, mostly because Mecha

Knight did not trust the media for

some reason. Then again, Kevin

supposed that Mecha Knight and

the rest of the Leadership Council

wanted to make sure that neither

Kevin nor any of his teammates

revealed any of the Neohero

Alliance's secrets to the media

accidentally.

Now I kind of wish that they'd

kept that policy, instead of making an

exception for this woman, Kevin

thought, looking at the reporter

who was turning on her recorder

and getting her notepad set up so

she could easily take notes. I'm so

nervous that I don't know if I'll be able

to talk.

The reporter sitting across the

table from Kevin was a woman

named Virginia Gray, from the

popular superhero fan website Neo

Ranks. Neo Ranks was a website

where various neoheroes (and

supervillains) were ranked

according to their popularity and

accomplishments,but it also acted

as the news site for everything

related to super humans

supervillains, and neoheroes.

Kevin himself was on the site,

ranked at a solid 7-5 for his

popularity and help in saving the

world more than a few times.

While Kevin didn't waste time

obsessing over his rank like some

people did,he did wonder why he

was not at least an eight; after all,

how many superheroes saved Earth

from an alien invasion?

He doubted that Virginia would

be able to tell him about that. The

quiet, mousy lady was well-known

on Neo Ranks for her interviews; in

fact, she had even interviewed

Omega Man, the leader of the

Neohero Alliance.Kevin had read a

few of her interviews prior to this

interview to get a grasp on her style

and he had learned that, while

respectful of her subjects, she

wasn't above asking them hard

questions,up to and including the

secret identities of her subjects, if

they were kept hidden.He had no

idea what she was going to ask him

about today; she had said that they

were going to cover 'Bolt's life,

powers,and plans,'but that was

pretty vague, so Kevin didn't have

any preplanned answers. He

wished that his girlfriend and

teammate, Blizzard, was here with

him;she was usually better at

interviews than he was, even

though she was shyer than him.

Just keep calm, Kevin thought.Remember what Blizzard said about

not letting your nerves get to you. Just

answer the questions as truthfully

and honestly as you can and don't

worry about anything else.

That was easier said than done,

though. At least the interview

wasn't supposed to be very long;

Virginia had told Kevin it would

probably take them thirty minutes

at most and then she would leave.

Kevin wasn't sure he would last

thirty minutes.

Finally, Virginia put her

recorder back on the table and said,

"Okay, Mr. Bolt, are you ready to

begin the interview?"

"Yes," said Kevin. He was

surprised at how confident he

sounded;he thought he'd sound

like a blubbering mess of nerves,

but his habitual confidence must

have been kicking in already, for

which he was thankful. Maybe he

wouldn't make a fool of himself

now."Excellent,"said Virginia.She

took a sip from her water bottle

grabbing her pen and resting its tip

on her notepad."All right, then.

Let's start with an introduction,

even though everyone who is going

to read this interview already

knows who you are."

"Okay,"said Kevin. He cleared

his throat and spoke as clearly as he

could."I'm Bolt, the leader of the

Young Neos.I've been a superhero

for a year as of this month and my

super powers include flight,super

strength, super speed, and the

ability to shoot lightning bolts from

my hands."

"Is that why your name is

Bolt?" said Virginia.

Kevin shook his head."No. I

got my lightning powers after I

chose my superhero name. It's just

a coincidence that my name

matches with my powers."

"Lucky you,"said Virginia as

she wrote notes."According to our

research,you didn't develop your

lightning powers until you fought

Robert Candle, the son of Master

Chaos,yes? Do you know why you

developed those powers later than

the others?"

Kevin bit his lower lip. He

wasn't sure how to explain the

origin of his powers; it involved a

government conspiracy and an

ancient alien spacecraft that even

he didn't understand entirely.Plus,

he was sure that the government

would come after him if he let that

knowledge be known to the general

public. Or at least the government's

Department of Superpowered and

Extraterrestrial Beings and its

enigmatic director, Cadmus Smith;

after all, if they weren't above

throwing him in prison on false

charges, there was no reason to

believe that they would let him

walk free if he actually did

something that could get him in

trouble with the government.

Kevin just shrugged and said,

"You know how it is with

superhumans. We sometimes

develop new powers out of

nowhere,especially as teenagers.

It's just part of my growth as a

superhuman, that's all."

"And do you think you will

develop any other powers or have

you stopped growing?" said

Virginia.

That seemed like a stupid

question to Kevin, but he said, in a

polite voice,"I don't know. I'm

eighteen now and most

superhumans stop gaining new

powers at this age, so in all

likelihood,I won't be developing

any other superpowers in the

future."

"Are there any other powers

you'd like to have?" said Virginia.

Kevin frowned. "No,not really.

I'm pretty content with the powers

I have."

"I see," said Virginia. She

finished taking notes and looked at

me again. "And your father was the

famous superhero Genius,

correct?"

"Right," I said, nodding.

"That's him."

"He was killed in February of

this year by the son of Master

Chaos,right?"said Virginia."Did

you see him die yourself?"

Kevin's throat suddenly became

swollen with emotion, but he

gulped it down and said, "Yes."

"Does his death still affect

you?"said Virginia."What do you

think he would say to you if he was

still alive today?"

Kevin gulped. Even though

Dad's death had been months ago,

it still stung whenever he thought

about it. He had thought he had

managed to mostly get over it, but

he had not been expecting Virginia

to ask such an emotionally difficult

question,nor had he been

expecting to feel that surge of

emotion that nearly choked him.It

made him wonder if he was as over

it as he had thought.

"Yes,I still think about Dad

sometimes," said Kevin. He

sniffled,which surprised even him.

"And I think he'd be happy if he

was alive now.He always wanted

me to do the right thing and I've

saved the world more than once, so

he'd probably be proud of me, I

think."

"Did Genius want you to be a

superhero or did he want you to do

something else?" said Virginia.

"Some superheroes don't want

their kids to follow in their

footsteps, while others have

actually disowned their own

children for refusing to succeed

them.What was Genius like?"

Kevin bit his lower lip."He

didn't want me to be a superhero at

first. He originally retired from

superheroics so he could raise me

with my mother. He only taught

me how to be a superhero when my

powers manifested and Master

Chaos came after me and that was

only so I could defend myself. He

eventually accepted my desire to be

a superhero before his death,

though."

"Interesting," said Virginia.

"Speaking of supervillains,you've

fought quite a few over the last

year; Master Chaos,the Visionary,

and Mimic,just to name a few of

your most infamous ones. Who

would you say was the most

difficult to defeat?"

"Boy,that's a tough one," said

Kevin, rubbing the back of his

neck. "Probably Robert Candle.He

stole my powers, which left me

unable to fight him for a while

there, and he also killed Dad. But

like I said, it's difficult to say for

sure because they were all powerful

and dangerous in their own ways."

"And is there a reason why you

allied with Nuclear Winter to break

out of Ultimate Max prison a

couple of months ago?" said

Virginia."And why were you in

Ultimate Max in the first place?

What crimes did you commit to

make the G-Men arrest and jail

you?"

Kevin felt his temper rise, as it

always did whenever he thought

about this subject, but he said, in a

calm voice,"Nothing. It was a

misunderstanding.I was totally

innocent. That was why President

Plutarch pardoned me."

"But you broke out of Ultimate

Max with several other prisoners,"

said Virginia. "And those prisoners

—the supervillains Mimic,

Firespirit, Steel Skin, Intellect, and

Jawtooth—are still free,while

Nuclear Winter and Enor are both

dead and Rime has been pardoned

like you. Why did you team up with

those supervillains to break out of

prison if you were innocent?

Especially since all of them were

members of your rogues gallery,

aside from Nuclear Winter and

Rime."

"Because I had to get out to

stop a worse supervillain," said

Kevin."My team and I have been

working hard to track down and

recapture the villains who escaped

with me. Trust me, I want them

back in prison just as much as

anyone else.I wouldn't have allied

with them if circumstances didn't

force me to do it."

"And who was this 'worse'

supervillain you needed to stop?"

said Virginia."According to my

research,it was White Lightning,

your long-lost twin brother, wasn't

it?"

Kevin rubbed his hands

together under the table.He would

have to be careful about how he

answered this question,because

the true story behind the

supervillain he needed to stop

implicated the federal government

Kevin just shrugged and said,

"You know how it is with

superhumans. We sometimes

develop new powers out of

nowhere,especially as teenagers.

It's just part of my growth as a

superhuman, that's all."

"And do you think you will

develop any other powers or have

you stopped growing?" said

Virginia.

That seemed like a stupid

question to Kevin, but he said, in a

polite voice"I don't know. I'm

eighteen now and most

superhumans stop gaining new

powers at this age, so in all

likelihood,I won't be developing

any other superpowers in the

future."

"Are there any other powers

you'd like to have?" said Virginia.

Kevin frowned."No, not really.

I'm pretty content with the powers

I have."

"I see," said Virginia. Shefinished taking notes and looked at

me again. "And your father was the

famous superhero Genius,

correct?"

"Right," I said, nodding.

"That's him."

"He was killed in February of

this year by the son of Master

Chaos, right?"said Virginia."Did

you see him die yourself?"

Kevin's throat suddenly became

swollen with emotion, but he

gulped it down and said, "Yes."

"Does his death still affect

you?" said Virginia."What do you

think he would say to you if he was

still alive today?"

Kevin gulped. Even though

Dad's death had been months ago,

it still stung whenever he thought

about it. He had thought he had

managed to mostly get over it, but

he had not been expecting Virginia

to ask such an emotionally difficult

question, nor had he been

expecting to feel that surge ofemotion that nearly choked him. It

made him wonder if he was as over

it as he had thought.

"Yes,I still think about Dad

sometimes," said Kevin. He

sniffled, which surprised even him.

"And I think he'd be happy if he

was alive now. He always wanted

me to do the right thing and I've

saved the world more than once, so

he'd probably be proud of me, I

think."

"Did Genius want you to be a

superhero or did he want you to do

something else?" said Virginia.

"Some superheroes don't want

their kids to follow in their

footsteps, while others have

actually disowned their own

children for refusing to succeed

them.What was Genius like?"

Kevin bit his lower lip."He

didn't want me to be a superhero at

frst. He originally retired from

superheroics so he could raise me

with my mother. He only taughtme how to be a superhero when my

powers manifested and Master

Chaos came after me and that was

only so I could defend myself. He

eventually accepted my desire to be

a superhero before his death,

though."

"Interesting," said Virginia.

"Speaking of supervillains,you've

fought quite a few over the last

year; Master Chaos, the Visionary,

and Mimic, just to name a few of

your most infamous ones. Who

would you say was the most

difficult to defeat?"

"Boy,that's a tough one," said

Kevin,rubbing the back of his

neck."Probably Robert Candle.He

stole my powers, which left me

unable to fight him for a while

there, and he also killed Dad. But

like I said, it's diffcult to say for

sure because they were all powerful

and dangerous in their own ways."

"And is there a reason why you

allied with Nuclear Winter to breakMax prison a

out of Ultimate said

of months ago?"

couple

Virginia."And why were you in

Ultimate Max in the first place?

What crimes did you commit to

make the G-Men arrest and jail

you?"

Kevin felt his temper rise, as it

always did whenever he thought

about this subject, but he said, in a

calm voice,"Nothing. It was a

misunderstanding.I was totally

innocent. That was why President

Plutarch pardoned me."

"But you broke out of Ultimate

Max with several other prisoners,"

said Virginia."And those prisoners

—the supervillains Mimic,

Firespirit, Steel Skin, Intellect, and

Jawtooth—are still free, while

Nuclear Winter and Enor are both

dead and Rime has been pardoned

like you. Why did you team up with

those supervillains to break out of

prison if you were innocent?

Especially since all of them were

members of your rogues gallery,

aside from Nuclear Winter and

Rime."

"Because I had to get out to

stop a worse supervillain," said

Kevin."My team and I have been

working hard to track down and

recapture the villains who escaped

with me. Trust me, I want them

back in prison just as much as

anyone else.I wouldn't have allied

with them if circumstances didn't

force me to do it."

"And who was this 'worse'

supervillain you needed to stop?"

said Virginia."According to my

research, it was White Lightning,

your long-lost twin brother, wasn't

it?"

Kevin rubbed his hands

together under the table.He would

have to be careful about how he

answered this question, because

the true story behind the

supervillain he needed to stop

implicated the federal governmentand also touched him personally in

ways he didn't want the rest of the

world to know about. "White

Lightning wasn't the villain I was

trying to stop. He was just the

pawn of the real villain,

Mastermind, who was trying to

take over the world. But I stopped

him and saved White Lightning,

which is another reason why

President Plutarch pardoned me."

"And White Lightning is

currently a member of the Young

Neos now, yes?" said Virginia.

"Even though, prior to joining the

team, he had attacked several

towns and cities under the

directive of Mastermind?"

"White Lightning was not a

supervillain,"said Kevin. He tried

to keep his tone civil, but it was

hard because he didn't like the way

Virginia talked about his brother.

"He was merely manipulated into

working for Mastermind due to his

mental condition. He's not a badguy."

"What mental condition does

White Lightning have, exactly?"

Virginia asked."I didn't know he

had one."

Kevin bit his lower lip again.

The truth about White Lightning

was that he had been experimented

on by the government ever since he

was a baby, which left him a lot of

trauma, although he had made a lot

of progress over the last two

months and was doing much better

than he had before, but Kevin

couldn't say that."It's personal.

You just need to know that the

Neohero Alliance has been giving

him all the therapy and help he

needs so he won't be a threat to

anyone."

That was true. Ever since

White Lightning had joined the

Young Neos,he had worked with a

therapist hired by the NHA to help

him deal with his trauma and

become a normal human being. Infact, White Lightning was

currently in a session with his

therapist,which was why he was

not here with Kevin.

"I see," said Virginia. She jotted

down a few notes before looking

back up at Kevin again."Does

White Lightning have powers

similar to yours?"

"Yes," said Kevin, nodding.

"Our power set is basically the

same, although I'm a better fighter

than him due to my experience."

Kevin didn't mentioned White

Lightning's healing factor,mostly

because he didn't think that it

would be wise to let the world

know everything about his twin,

especially if any supervillains

happened to read this interview

once it was published.

"So could you beat White

Lightning in a fight, then?" said

Virginia.

"That's an odd question,"said

Kevin."It's one of the questions

submitted by Neo Ranks readers,"

said Virginia."There is a huge

argument online over which of the

two Lightning Brothers could win

in a fight."

"Lightning Brothers?" Kevin

repeated.

"Oh,that's just the term that

your fans have made to refer to you

and your brother,"said Virginia

matter-of-factly. "Anyway, please

answer the question, if you can."

"Well, okay,"said Kevin. He

didn't know how to feel about his

'fans' making a nickname for him

and White Lightning, but he

supposed it wasn't bad."See, that's

kind of a funny question to ask,

because White Lightning and I have

fought before and—"

Kevin was interrupted by the

door to the room slamming open

abruptly, causing both Kevin and

Virginia to look over at it in

surprise. Then someone who

looked just like Kevin ran into the

room.He was practically Kevin's

doppelganger,wearing a full-body

white and blue costume that

contrasted sharply with Kevin's

own black and red costume. The

doppelganger also had bright green

eyes, which were bright with

excitement.He came to an abrupt

stop and looked directly at Kevin,

totally ignoring Virginia like she

didn't even exist.

"Brother!" said White

Lightning,a big, goofy grin on his

face."There you are! Em told me

that you were in here and I came to

see you."

Kevin smiled somewhat

awkwardly at his brother. 'Em'was

what White Lightning called

Blizzard,whose real name was

Emily Ricker. He didn't know why

White Lightning called her that,

but Blizzard didn't seem to mind

(in fact, she thought it was cute), so

Kevin didn't worry about it."White, what are you doing here? I

thought you were in your therapy

session."

"We finished early," said White

Lightning, clapping his hands

together excitedly."Miss Gee told

me that I did good today, so we

fnished early so I could come see

you!"

'Miss Gee' was White

Lightning's therapist. Her real

name was Gina Asuka, a

kindhearted therapist from New

York City who came to Hero Island

to do White Lightning's therapy

sessions. White Lightning always

called her'Miss Gee'for some

reason, probably for the same

reason he called Blizzard 'Em.'

In any case, Kevin said,"Wow,

that's great, White, but I'm kind of

busy at the moment. Didn't

Blizzard tell you that?"

"Busy?"said White Lightning.

For the first time, he noticed

Virginia,who was staring at himwith a look that Kevin didn't like.

"Who are you?"

White Lightning didn't say that

threateningly. He sounded like a

little child inquiring to the identity

of a stranger that his parents were

talking to. It was kind of

endearing, although Kevin did feel

a little embarrassed by the way his

brother talked even if he

understood why White was SO

simpleminded.

"I'm Virgina Gray, a reporter

from Neo Ranks," said Virginia

quickly, before Kevin could say

anything. "And I'm interviewing

your brother."

"Vir . Virgin .." White

Lightning struggled to pronounce

her name."Vir ..."

"You can just call me Gray if it's

easier for you,"Virginia said in a

tone that was a little too helpful for

Kevin's tastes.

"Gray," said White Lightning. A

relieved smile appeared on his face."I can say that."

"Good,"said Virginia. Kevin

noticed she subtly turned the

recorder in White's direction."So,

White now that you're here,why

don't you sit down and answer a

few simple questions with your

brother?"

"Okay,"said White Lightning.

"If Bolt likes you, I do,too."

Kevin, however, jumped out of

his chair and said,"Uh, no,

actually, White Lightning needs to

leave. Right, White?"

"I do?" said White Lightning in

a confused voice.

"Yeah," said Kevin as he walked

over to his brother, grabbed him by

the arm, and led him to the exit.

"You need to go and get something

to eat in the Meeting Room. It's

almost lunchtime."

"Oh,he doesn't need to leave,

Bolt," said Virginia. "I can

incorporate him into the interview.

That won't be a problem.""No, it's fine," said Kevin.

"White gets cranky when he

doesn't get his peanut butter

sandwiches.Right,bro?"

"Yes," said White,nodding.

"That is true.But I still want to be

with you."

"I know,but we can eat lunch

together after I finish my interview

with Virginia,"said Kevin."Once

the interview is done, then I'll go

and join you in the Meeting Room,

okay?I think Stinger is playing

video games there, so he might be

willing to let you play with him.

Wouldn't that be fun?"

White's frown turned into a

smile."Yes.Okay,I go.Thanks!"

White suddenly left the room

without Kevin having to show him

out.He even closed the door on the

way out, whistling a funny little

tune that Kevin didn't recognize,

leaving Kevin and Virginia alone

again.

Kevin rubbed his forehead.He

was glad that he managed to get

White out of here. While White

wasn't a bad person, Kevin didn't

trust him to talk with an

inquisitive reporter like this. And it

wasn't just because White might

accidentally reveal classified NHA

information to Virginia, although

that was a part of it. Kevin just

didn't want White to get drawn

into celebrity;he was worried that

someone might try to take

advantage of him due to his naivete

and simpleminded nature.

Kevin went back over to his

chair and sat down on it."Now,

where did we leave off?"

Virginia looked disappointed

by the fact that she wasn't going to

get to talk to White, but then she

shook her head and said, "Yes,well,

let's move on from the White

Lightning questions then.Can you

tell me about the new school for

superhumans that the Neohero

Alliance and IndependentNeoheroes for Justice are working

together to open?"

Kevin smiled, glad that

Virginia wasn't going to ask him

about his brother anymore, but at

the same time, he found it

suspicious that she didn't want to

talk about his brother more now

that he was not going to answer her

questions.But he decided it wasn't

worth worrying about; if she was

not going to ask him about White

anymore, then that was fne by

him, whatever her motives were.

"Well,I can't talk about it too

much just yet, but I have been

helping with its planning, although

in an indirect sort of way," said

Kevin."It's going to be called the

Theodore Jason Academy for

Superhumans and it will have two

hundred students once it's open."

"Yes,we know the name from

Omega Man's announcement of it

earlier this year," said Virginia.

"But who is Theodore Jason andwhy was the school named after

him?"

Kevin frowned. He thought

everyone knew that Theodore

Jason was the real name of Genius.

After Kevin had been imprisoned

in Ultimate Max a few months

back, his own secret identity had

been revealed to the public, since

Ultimate Max prisoners didn't get

to keep their identities secret. It

had only taken a few determined

hackers to find out who 'Kevin

Jason'and, of course, his father

was. Cadmus Smith had still not

apologized to Kevin for doing that,

but Cadmus never apologized to

anyone for any reason, so Kevin

didn't see any reason to badger him

about it.

Some journalist, Kevin thought,

but aloud he said, "Theodore Jason

was the real name of my father,

Genius. The school is named after

him because he always loved

learning and education,especiallythe education of young

superhumans into how to use their

powers responsibly."

"Very interesting," said

Virginia."Will you or any of the

other Young Neos be students at

the school?"

"No,"said Kevin, shaking his

head."We're going to attend the

opening ceremony next month, but

we're not going to be students. For

one, most of us are too old, and for

two, we all already know how to

use our powers responsibly

anyway. Also,classes would get in

the way of our duties as members

of the Young Neos."

"Of course, of course," said

Virginia. "Some critics of the

school have expressed concerns

that it won't teach youngsters

anything else other than how to

use their powers. Are there any

other subjects that will be covered

by the school?"

"You'd have to ask MechaKnight about that,"said Kevin.

"He's the one in charge of school

curriculum. But I think so; we

Young Neos have tutors who make

sure we keep up with our studies,

so I don't see why the Academy

wouldn't."

For some reason,Virginia

seemed disappointed by that

answer. Did she want Kevin to just

come out and say that they weren't

going to educate the students? That

was a bizarre thought.

"And is tuition free?" said

Virginia.

"No, parents have to pay a

yearly fee, although I don't know

what it is," said Kevin. "I do know,

however,that we have scholarships

for young superhumans who can't

afford the tuition fee, although

again I don't know how to get them

exactly."

"Do you think that the federal

government should open schools

for young superhumans?" said

"There's been some

Virginia. recently in

discussion of that

modern politics,especially after all

the damage that White

of done. President

Lightning has

Plutarch has endorsed the idea, as

have several prominent members

of Congress from both parties.

What are your thoughts on the

subject?"

"No," said Kevin bluntly."That

would be a terrible,terrible idea."

"Why not?" said Virginia.

"Don't you think that all young

superhumans should have a chance

to learn how to use their powers

responsibly? Don't you think that

that would save the country

millions, maybe even billions, in

property damage often caused by

untrained young superhumans

losing control of their powers?"

"Well, yes, maybe, but .."

Kevin shook his head."Look, I just

think it's a bad idea.Can we move

on, please?"Virginia looked at Kevin

suspiciously,but then she nodded

and said,"Okay.Let's look at some

of the reader submitted questions. I

have a list of them here so let me

see if I can find a good one."

While Virginia scrolled

through the questions on her

phone, Kevin felt relieved that they

weren't talking about the schools

anymore. The reason he opposed

government-run schools for

superhumans was because he had

seen what the government did to

White Lightning and he was afraid

that the government might use

such schools to experiment on

unwitting kids. And maybe not

even just kids; after all, the

government had run Project Neo

for decades, in which they

performed all kinds of experiments

on adult test subjects. Cadmus

Smith had told Kevin that the

government had shut down Project

Neo two months ago, but thatdidn't mean that the government

was simply going to leave

superhumans alone. It wouldn't

surprise him if it turned out that

the government had other secret

projects and programs related to

superhumans still active, maybe

even worse than Project Neo.

But Kevin didn't want to say

that aloud because he didn't want

to sound paranoid, even though all

of his concerns were well founded.

But telling her his concerns would

have meant revealing the truth

about White and he didn't want to

do that at the moment.

"Ah, here's a good question

from our readers,"said Virginia.

She looked up at Kevin."A reader

from Nashville asks if you are going

to become an official member of

the Neohero Alliance now that you

are eighteen, which is the

minimum age that a superhuman

can join the NHA and, if so, who

will succeed you as leader of theYoung Neos."

Kevin folded his hands together

under the table. He had not

expected to be asked such a

question,even though it was one

that had been on his mind since the

defeat of Master Mind two months

ago. He didn't sense anything

wrong or malicious with the

question, however, so he said,

"Most likely, although I haven't

gone through the initiation process

yet. In order for Young Neo

members to graduate to full NHA

membership, our membership

needs to be approved by a majority

of the Leadership Council, as

written in the NHA's Constitution.

The Leadership Council hasn't

voted on my membership

application yet."

"So you cannot be a member of

the Young Neos and the Neohero

Alliance at the same time?" said

Virginia.

"Correct," said Kevin."TheConstitution forbids it because it

would lead to conflicting duties,

since the Young Neos and NHA

often deal with different threats

and have differing responsibilities,

despite both being part of the same

organization."

"Then who would succeed you

as team leader?" said Virginia.

"Your brother?"

That was another question

Kevin wished Virginia didn't ask,

because he quite frankly didn't

know the answer. It was up to the

departing team leader to pick his

successor, unless the team

supervisor—Mecha Knight, in this

case—decided otherwise. But

Mecha Knight had told Kevin that

he trusted Kevin to choose a

worthy successor, so Kevin had

spent a long time thinking about

which of his teammates would be a

good leader. He was currently torn

between Stinger and Blizzard,

because they were two of the more

experienced and responsible

members of team, but he still

didn't know for sure yet. White

Lightning was not even under

consideration; he just wasn't

leadership material, in Kevin's

opinion.

Aloud, however, Kevin said,

"Oh,well,that's a great question,

but it's something I want to

announce to the public myself once

we get everything in order. I'm a

pretty private leader and like to

keep my cards close to my chest

until it makes sense to play them,

you know?"

Kevin felt proud of himself for

answering that way. He had

learned it by watching the way

Omega Man dealt with reporters;

whenever they asked a sensitive

question that pertained to

something important that needed

to be kept a secret, Omega Man

would always answer it in that

manner. It always made OmegaMan sound like a clever and

intelligent leader and reporters—

never the sharpest tools in the shed

—always bought it.Kevin hoped it

would make him look the same

way.

Virginia, thankfully, seemed to

be like most reporters,because she

said, "Oh, I understand completely.

It's just that the topic of the

identity of your successor has been

a big one among the online neo

fandom ever since it was confirmed

that you were going to apply for

full membership in the NHA. Lots

of flame wars have erupted on Neo

Ranks and neo fan social media

groups in recent weeks over this

subject."

Kevin grimaced. He never

spent much time online among the

'neo fandom,'although he knew

that Treehugger, one of his

teammates, did. Still, he was

vaguely aware of the periodic

controversies that would erupt inthose groups over the most trivial

things, such as when Kevin and

Blizzard's relationship became

known to the world, which had

infuriated all of the 'fans' who had

paired Kevin and Blizzard with

other people. Blizzard even

received death threats from some

of Kevin's teenage girl fans about

this; that was why Kevin didn't

think too much of their 'fans.'

But he said,"Well, you guys

will know when you know. Trust

me,we won't keep that particular

fact a secret once my membership

into the NHA is approved by the

Council."

"Right," said Virginia."Well, it

looks like we're almost out of time,

but we have time for one last

question from the fans. Are you

ready for it?"

"of course," said Kevin, feeling

relieved that the interview was

almost over (although he was

surprised at how quickly the timehad flown by)."Shoot."

Virginia looked down at the

notepad for a moment before

looking back up at Kevin and

saying, "Are you and Blizzard going

to get married?"

Kevin blinked."What?"

Virginia leaned forward,

looking far too eager for Kevin's

taste."Our readers want to know if

you and Blizzard intend to take

your relationship to the next level.

Can we expect a wedding

announcement any time soon?"

Kevin scratched the back of his

neck.He and Blizzard had been in a

relationship for several months

now, but they hadn't discussed

marriage.Perhaps that was because

Kevin was eighteen, while Blizzard

was seventeen. Technically, they

could get married, but for some

reason Kevin had always thought of

marriage as something that would

happen in the future,when they

were older and more experienced.He hadn't realized that Neo Ranks

apparently had a lot of readers who

were interested in knowing that;

even Mom hadn't asked him when

he intended to propose to Blizzard.

It was especially bizarre that

Virginia seemed SO interested;

creepy,even.

"So?" said Virginia."What's

your answer?"

"Well .."Kevin tried to think

of a way to phrase it without saying

anything that might get him in

trouble with Blizzard. "I know your

readers are interested in hearing

about this and all, but it's like my

decision to name my successor. I

like to keep such things to myself

until such time as it makes sense to

reveal them to the world."

Virginia looked incredibly

disappointed by that answer, but it

was only for a second. In the next

instant, she was writing down

notes and turning off her recorder,

saying, "Well, Bolt, that was a goodinterview. You can expect to see it

on Neo Ranks' front page sometime

next week, after my editor

approves of it."

Kevin sighed in relief; he

hadn't realized just how tense he

had been throughout the whole

interview. "Glad that that's—"

Kevin was interrupted by a

sudden alarm blaring. It caused

him to look up in surprise, while

Virginia almost fell out of her chair

in shock.

"Bolt!" came the preppy, affable

voice of Carl,one of the House's AI

systems."So sorry to interrupt

your interview,but there's reports

of a new threat in New York City

that Mecha Knight needs you and

the rest of the team to deal with!

"Understood,"said Kevin. He

stood up and gestured at Virginia.

"Carl, help Virginia leave the House

and Hero Island."He looked at

Virginia apologetically."Sorry I

can't see you out, Virginia, butthese kinds of threats need our

immediate attention. You

understand."

"T-That's fine, Bolt," said

Virginia,pulling herself back up on

the chair. She readjusted her

glasses,which had gone askew on

her face when she fell."This was a

really great interview and I cannot

wait for our readers to read it."

Kevin nodded, but didn't say

anything else, because he just took

off out the door, already shouting

for the rest of the team to gather on

the roof to take the Neocopter into

the city.