CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  Meet the Crew, Part 1

  “What are you looking at?” Farsight asked as she peeked over Sam’s shoulder.

  “Nothing...” Sam casually waved his hand over the floating window to swipe it away. “I’m just staring off into space.”

  “I thought that was my job,” Thunder chimed in.

  She was leaning against the iconic statue at the top of the appropriately named ‘Rocky Steps’ while flashing a lopsided grin Sam’s way, the kind of smile that made him all tingly inside. Sam wasn’t fooled, though. The creases of her brow, the slight fidgeting of her fingers, and the lack of mirth in her eyes despite her gorgeous smile were all proof that Thunder wasn’t as okay as she pretended to be.

  “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly.

  It was a question he asked almost daily now even though her answer was always the same.

  “I’m okay...” Thunder wrapped her arms around her shoulder. “Just cold...”

  Although she wore a parka over her suit, Sam guessed it was more than winter’s breath causing her chills.

  He walked over to Thunder and wrapped an arm around her shoulders despite knowing it would earn him another sly look from Farsight. The same one she’d been giving the pair of them since their road trip began. She usually followed this up with; “Get a room you two,” but this time Farsight was distracted by something on her phone’s screen.

  She sent Sam a teasing grin. “Hey, Herculean, you should check out what the Herald’s saying about today’s side mission.”

  “Um, I haven’t written anything to Mr. Kim though,” Sam reasoned.

  Worriedly, he pulled out his smartphone and tapped on the email app. That's where he found the message Mr. Kim had sent him this afternoon which he hadn’t bothered to read until now.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The next thing Sam did was pull up the Herald’s app, and then he read the headline of its latest article with an increasingly furrowing brow.

  Sam shut his eyes in protest. He couldn’t bear to read any more of the article that hadn’t provided an objective view of today’s heroics. He also couldn’t understand why his grandmother would approve of this kind of digital attack on him. It wasn’t like they were at odds. He’d even phoned her about his trip before he left New York.

  “Don’t get yourself killed just to save a pretty girl, Samuel,” Marie had warned him.

  “I’m not,” Sam had protested. “She needs my help… Dad would have done the same.”

  There had been a long pause before Marie had replied. “Yes, he would have.”

  Remembering how she sounded just a tiny bit proud of how her grandson might have changed for the better was probably why Sam couldn’t believe she’d betray him like this. This wasn’t even the first time the Herald had dropped a negative piece about him, too.

  Sam could still remember the Herald’s deadline the day after he’d defeated the Trickster; Herculean, New York’s Newest Menace. The thought of it caused Sam to let out a deep sigh.

  “Don’t let it get to you,” Thunder said.

  “Did you read how many times the article mentioned the word vigilante?” Sam countered.

  “Well, you are technically a vigilante,” Thunder shrugged. “It was your choice not to re-register.”

  “Because I can’t explain how I’ve gotten…” Even hinting at Triple-A’s existence was impossible for Sam. “You know…”

  “Seriously, it’s not all bad. The article even mentions how you saved a little girl,” Thunder said placatingly. But then Farsight had to add, “And nearly got a dozen people killed for failing to stop the runaway bus sooner.”

  Sam groaned.

  “Not helping, Ashley,” Thunder chided.

  Farsight would have usually had a counter prepared but she was suddenly distracted by the appearance of the hoodie-wearing hero who’d just leaped the entire length of the Rocky Steps in a single bound. The hoodie wasn’t much of a disguise though as he was still wearing his costume underneath it—and the white boots stood out.

  “When you invited me to this nighttime rendezvous, Herculean, I didn’t think you’d bring friends—”

  Jackboot glanced from Thunder to Farsight and then back to Thunder.

  “Blimey, you’re Thunder!” he said excitedly.

  Jackboot zipped over to her side and then took her other hand in hers.

  “I’m a huge fan, my lady,” he said as he kissed the back of her hand.

  “Um,” Thunder’s eyebrow twitched upward, although she hadn’t pulled away from him, “thanks...I guess?”

  The fact that she hadn’t socked him in the cheek for being cheeky caused a frown to appear on Sam’s face.

  “You’re”—he got between Jackboot and Thunder—“late, man.”

  “I’m never late, mate.” Jackboot took off his hood and let the bunny ears pop out. “I arrive precisely when I mean to.”

  Sam’s frown only deepened. “Did you just quote Gandalf to me?”

  “Are you a fan?” Jackboot asked in a jolly tone.

  Sam could actually imagine Jackboot grinning excitedly at him, and the possibility that he was a fantasy buff like Sam who enjoyed the classics suddenly wiped away the annoyance Sam had felt at Jackboot’s introduction to Thunder.

  “Who isn’t,” Sam replied just as enthusiastically.

  “Always a pleasure to meet a fellow scholar of the Lord of the Rings,” Jackboot said just before bowing in Sam’s direction.

  Sam bowed back in the same way.

  The pair of them might have continued to geek out like that—possibly moving on to that familiar argument of which hobbit mattered more in the original trilogy—if Farsight hadn’t shamefaced them with a single word, “Nerds.”

  “Um, anyway,” Sam cleared his throat, “glad you’re here, man... We were kind of hoping you would help us out with something.”

  “We’ve just met and you already want something from me…typical American.” His follow-up chuckle was slightly muffled by his mask. “Happy to help, of course. But what exactly can I do for you lot?”

  In response, both Sam and Thunder turned their heads expectantly in Farsight’s direction.

  “Jackboot, meet Farsight,” Sam began, “The seer who sent me to find you...and the last source of divination in the East Coast.”

  Added a big scene where Sam reads a negative article about the previous mission which highlights his current status as a vigilante — a theme that will grow throughout volume 2 while Sam desperately tries to change the way people see him.

  IRON BLOOD ARCANIST IS ON ROYAL ROAD! Click the link to read it now:

  Level Up Hero: Vol. 1, Rebirth Link

  Chris Meeker, Zachary Lee, Blade Tytan, Berserker-Boy, Daniel Aasa, Unsaintlyangel, Belduim, Patrick Camp, Primordial Jay, Karanbir Nijar, Tomasz, sqeesqad, George Dashner, Blake, John Balman, Coleman Bland Puri Iresan, Keto_Nick, JDF8, Wethebesthora, Mars2030, Daniel Snow-Mattson, and BonafideNerdist!