Chapter 6: Let’s fly!

I had serious doubts about Will. How could I tell him, without telling him the truth about Nolan of course, the deadly need to keep my superpowers a secret? What could possibly be a good reason for that? I should have been glad that, because of the circumstances of my revelation, we couldn't talk at once, and I had some time to come up with some clever solution to the problem. A clever lie... you know, the protagonist of a story must have that resourcefulness, that savvy that would allow him to get away with the most difficult things... mustn't he?

Shit...

Wil came to my house the morning after the robbery, so early in the morning, when all the normal kids were still drooling into their pillows, sleeping.

We always had a rule - no guests in the house. It was because of Dad, so he wouldn't have to worry about being seen in costume when he returned from another mission. But this time my mother made an exception for me and allowed me to have a guest in my room. My father looked at us disapprovingly, but did not disagree with his wife. Besides, right after breakfast, he went to a publishing house to discuss a new book with his agent. Today was his day off from superhero stuff - if nothing catastrophic happened, the Guardians could handle themselves - and he decided to take care of his official work.

In fact, I am sometimes amazed at how much my father has taken on and how little he expects of his wife. I know for a fact that Nolan has never taken money from the government or from his colleagues - War Woman and Blackwing are blatantly rich and sponsor all the activities of the Guardians of the Global and have repeatedly offered Nolan a helping hand, but he has always refused. And while he spends most of his time doing his Omni-Man duties, he also provides for our family entirely with his second job, leaving his wife only to keep the house in order and cook. And he called this workaholic mode a vacation and rest compared to what his life was like before Earth. In general, whichever way you look at it, there is no way to call this union equal and equitable. Unless Nolan really sees his wife as a pet...

For me, my father's constant busyness was a plus. As soon as I got upstairs, I immediately closed the windows and turned on the music, a precaution to make sure no one could hear us. Call me paranoid, but the wiretap I found in the vents was very real - there are no personal boundaries or standards of decency for these guys from the Global Protection Agency!

"Oooh, this is serious..." said Clockwell ironically, watching my manipulation, and then shaking the phone and continuing. "And why didn't you answer? I called you yesterday. Oh, what's with the creepy look? Dude, don't give me that look!"

"Because this isn't a phone call, I told you to calm down and wait!" Clockwell did try to call me last night.

Just as my father and I were watching the show on cable. Naturally I couldn't answer when the main reason for this whole conspiracy game was nearby, and it's not worth discussing any issues related to my second homeland-this was about Viltrum, not the USSR-on an unprotected line. And don't forget the Global Protection Agency, who, since they're planting bugs in the vents, are no doubt bugging the phones of everyone in this house.

"Easy for you to say: calm down. It's not every day you find out you live next door to a superhero. Hey, what's your power? Are you just as fast as that guy from Russia or can you do something else? Can you fly?"

This guy is too energetic, as if he's the one who got superpowers.

"Wil, you have to promise you won't tell a fucking soul about what you saw or what you're about to hear."

"But I..." he tried to object.

"Otherwise I won't tell you anything, and I'll deny everything you've imagined." I interrupted him.

"No! You wouldn't do that to me!" Wil countered in shock. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

"What did you see?" He couldn't see much, by the way, because I was moving too fast. "And most importantly, who's going to believe you? So either promise me, or..."

I shook my head at the door.

"What's wrong with you?" But without waiting for an answer, I agreed. "Okay, I promise."

I wish I could be sure what you said was true. And Clockwell, sensing my skepticism, decided to expand his vow, adding details and confidence to his voice.

"I promise not to tell anyone that my best friend has superpowers and is a paranoid asshole." And sarcasm.

"Hmm..."

"What now? Tell me, what are your powers, where did you get them from?"

And here's the hard part.

I can't really tell him that I went back in time and went to the other universe at the same time... that's too crazy, and no one needs to know about it. Even just revealing the secret of Viltrum and my father is too soon, especially to someone like Wil.

"Surely you've heard of the government looking for ways to create superweapons, super-soldiers, stamped out superheroes after all?" I began my inspired lie... although it's not really a lie, or rather, it's not a lie at all, it's all true: Rex went through a similar project as a kid, and Eve is a genetically engineered government superweapon; it just has nothing to do with me. But I don't have to tell Will what he can figure out for himself...

"You mean?" Clockwell was all huddled up with excitement.

"Yes, I mean that some of these projects are not fiction, although the world usually does not know about the real victims of such experiments - it's not beneficial to anyone, and they themselves do not want the publicity. Most such projects inevitably fail, but there are exceptions, and then there are exceptions among exceptions."

"What? Can you make it clearer, I'm confused?"

"Sometimes it happens that people involved in such projects, sometimes even in leading roles, realize the gravity of their crimes and try to correct the atrocities committed. For example, they fake a failed experiment and substitute a newborn baby, which is such a superweapon, for a family that lost a child at birth...so that no one knows about it."

"Uh-oh...Holy crap, and you're such a project?" You bought it? I think I bought it.

"But there's always suspicion," I went on in a conspiratorial tone, ignoring the question. "People from the government suspect deception, digging their noses into the ground, searching, searching, searching..."

Yes, I brazenly stole Eve's story, but... I never said anywhere that the story was mine! So technically I wasn't even lying to Will.

"I'm not allowed to show my powers, no one can know I have them, not the government, not the press, not even my parents. The only two people who know right now are you and me, and that's the way it's going to stay. Can I trust you?"

You are reading story Invincible! I’m Invincible! at novel35.com

"I am the grave!" Wil exclaimed with delight in his eyes. "Can you fly?"

Oh, hell, I know what he's thinking...

***

However, in the end this incident had positive consequences on my life. I'd even say the positives outweighed the negatives. The latter was the risk of Clockwell blabbing to someone, but I might have underestimated him there, but the former...

Will's help was a great help in my training. I didn't use him as a tool in my training, but he was always there to back me up and help me justify my disappearances. Luckily he, realizing that I did not even risk flying alone, did not ask to "fly" with him after about the tenth refusal...

Well and just to talk to someone who knows about my secret was pleasant and useful for the case and, perhaps, for my psyche - except that the subject of the government was forbidden to us, because I did not want to twist and make up stories again.

"But you're not going to hide like this all your life, are you?" During one of those conversations about the present and the future, Wil asked me, handing me a bag of "my" purchases.

We were lounging - me after a workout in the ocean and Wil after a run of comic book stores, where he was supposedly with me - in the park by the fountain and eating ice cream. It was one of the last days of vacation, and it was surprisingly hot and stuffy for fall. I don't seem to be afraid of either heat or cold, but this stuffy weather is not for me. And the rest of us are even worse, well, except for the ice cream and air conditioning salesmen - they are happy.

"No, of course," I answer immediately. "When I'm strong enough, I'll be able to act more openly."

"Mm-hmm... didn't you think you could put the suit on now?" Clockwell suddenly asked.

I looked at him like he was an idiot: "What have I been telling you all these months - I can't reveal myself!"

"I mean," Will went on, as if he hadn't noticed my gaze and the message encrypted in it. "Your powers of strength, speed, and flight aren't anything out of the ordinary that would make you instantly recognizable. It's pretty much standard stuff that every fifth man has to some extent, except for flight. Immortal, Kid-Thor, War-Woman, Red Ghost, Black Samson, Martianman... the list goes on forever, Omniman after all."

"You realize you're only listing the planet's strongest heroes, right?" I answer the question with a question. "Except Thor, and does he fly?"

"Doesn't he fly?" surprised Wil. "Shit I don't remember, he's a cosplayer of the God of Thunder in the myths, and Gods are supposed to fly. Anyway, you know what I mean, you don't have to do your best; there's a lot of teenage teams you could join..."

"No! I interrupted him." No teenage teams. Definitely not. No!

"Alright," said Clockwell. "But even if you're not on the team, you can wear a closed suit so you can't see your face, and you can stop flying so you don't draw too much attention, or keep your powers down, or invent some sort of legend that doesn't tie in with your real powers... like you get your energy from the Sun... why? Draw a huge sun on the suit and make up a motto associated with it - then you're sure you won't be linked to your project by the government bumpkins."

I imagined myself in a suit that somehow resembled medieval armor, with a huge sun symbol on my chest and in a moronic pose, like old comic book superheroes, shouting out a motto, like... "Praise the sun!"

"It's..." I shook my head, trying to tell him it was all bullshit, but I suddenly realized that I had almost nothing to say to him. "Makes some sense..."

I thought about it. I thought hard. I was taking a risk with my training anyway. During this summer, I had two encounters with representatives of underwater people and even found a large sea monster, which I did not fight, as it was quietly dozing three hundred miles off the coast of Japan, but a couple of smaller and more aggressive I still sent for food fish. Yes, so far I've been able to swim away from the ichthyander scouts faster than they could catch me or summon their king - and that guy is pretty fast underwater, maybe even faster than me - and defeat the creatures who attacked me before anyone noticed the consequences of the underwater battle, but the risk is increasing, and that's a fact. And the idea of something flashy that would make me look distant from the Omni-Man was a good one, too - I wish I'd thought of it myself - except the sun wouldn't do, because half the planet already thinks the Omni-Man gained its power from our star's effect on it.

"Yes?" Wil was surprised that I approved of his idea.

"I can't go to Rosenbaum-even if he doesn't know my face right now, he might figure it out." I've got to get a good costume maker somewhere.

Arthur is the best, of course, but he can't be a monopolist in this field. There are heroes from other countries, and even those of a lesser quality, who also buy their equipment, including costumes.

In a pinch, if I can't find a trustworthy tailor-and I can't find the money to pay for a costume-can ask Eva to do me a favor. She has no problem turning even everyday clothes into a superhero costume.

"Wait, you'd really do that?" Clockwell got all excited. "Become a real hero?"

"Maybe..." I'm still unsure, agreeing.

"And then you wouldn't have to hide anymore!" Wil continued to talk me into it.

"Yeah." No, it's a really good idea.

"You can fly whenever and wherever you want!" It's a good point, but I'd still have to do it away from my dad.

"Sort of." I agree out loud.

"And you can take me for a ride."

Fucking hell, I got you after all.

I hope it doesn't end up like that time...

You can find story with these keywords: Invincible! I’m Invincible!, Read Invincible! I’m Invincible!, Invincible! I’m Invincible! novel, Invincible! I’m Invincible! book, Invincible! I’m Invincible! story, Invincible! I’m Invincible! full, Invincible! I’m Invincible! Latest Chapter