fifteen, but he’s already one of the most famous superheroes in the country. Oh, and this article about the Dread Duo …”
Milton pointed to an extremely unflattering photo of my parents. The title of the article was stamped across half the glossy page in massive letters:
The Dread Duo—Fiends or Frauds?
“Remember Dr. Dread from the other day?” Milton asked, nodding at the shadowy image of my dad.
“He was that guy who tried to flood the earth, right?” I said, like I wasn’t entirely sure.
“It says here that he’s not even a real doctor. He just added ‘Dr.’ to his name because it sounds more sinister.”
“That’s not true! He got his PhD in engineering at—” I stopped when I noticed the confused expression on Milton’s face.
“I thought you didn’t pay any attention to this stuff,” he said.
“I don’t. I just meant that— Er … I read that he
is
a real doctor. On the Internet. But then again, maybe he’s not.”
Milton stared at me for a second longer, then shrugged, glancing back at the magazine. He paged through a few more articles. Glossy photos of superheroes and supervillains walking their dogs, jogging with mutants, waving at fans. I caught my breath when I noticed the next headline.
Violence at the Vile Fair!
Underneath was a grainy photograph of one of the smoke creatures. Just looking at it sent a spasm of fear through my body. But before I could read anything else, Milton had flipped forward to the next article.
“This is what I wanted to show you!” He pointed tothe page. “It says that there was a big shipment of robot parts to a house in Sheepsdale. Do you have any idea what someone would need robot parts for?”
I shook my head.
“Robots! That’s what!”
Milton checked over his shoulder, then turned back to me.
“I wonder if this has something to do with Sophie’s dad,” he whispered. “It doesn’t say where in Sheepsdale, or who, but …
what if it’s him?
I mean, it’s just like what the Cafeteria Girls were talking about, with all the torture devices and machine guns and stuff. Whoever her dad is, he’s gotta be into some crazy stuff. I’ll bet he ordered the robot parts too.”
“Maybe …” My brain was still stuck on the earlier page about the Vile Fair. “Hey, can I borrow that magazine?”
Milton’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you didn’t like
Super Scoop
.”
“I just wanted to find out more about the … er—”
“Robot parts?”
“Exactly.”
Milton’s face broke into a grin. “See? I told you it’s interesting.” Closing the magazine, he pushed it into my hand.
I said goodbye to Milton and hurried to my locker, where I opened
Super Scoop
to the Vile Fair article. Inthe time since we’d gotten back from New York, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what had happened.
But after reading the article twice, I was still clueless. Nobody knew what the smoke creatures were or who was behind the attack. The super community was teeming with speculation—that the smoke creatures had been sent by a superhero, or a villain looking to cut into the competition, or even a business rival of Phineas Vex. The only thing everyone could agree on was that they were all afraid of what would happen next.
Nobody felt safe.
“Hey, Joshua.”
The voice made me flinch. Shoving the magazine into my backpack, I whirled around. Sophie Smith was standing behind me.
“I just wanted to check if you’ve started thinking about topics for our project yet,” she said.
“Oh …”
The history project
. With everything else that had been going on (finding out I had a superpower, getting chased around a convention hall by smoke creatures—you know, that kind of thing), it had completely slipped my mind. “I’ve been sort of busy.”
“Same here.” Sophie smiled, like she was relieved she wasn’t the only one. “I’m still trying to find my way to all my classes.”
“I could show you around if you want.”
The
Milton pointed to an extremely unflattering photo of my parents. The title of the article was stamped across half the glossy page in massive letters:
The Dread Duo—Fiends or Frauds?
“Remember Dr. Dread from the other day?” Milton asked, nodding at the shadowy image of my dad.
“He was that guy who tried to flood the earth, right?” I said, like I wasn’t entirely sure.
“It says here that he’s not even a real doctor. He just added ‘Dr.’ to his name because it sounds more sinister.”
“That’s not true! He got his PhD in engineering at—” I stopped when I noticed the confused expression on Milton’s face.
“I thought you didn’t pay any attention to this stuff,” he said.
“I don’t. I just meant that— Er … I read that he
is
a real doctor. On the Internet. But then again, maybe he’s not.”
Milton stared at me for a second longer, then shrugged, glancing back at the magazine. He paged through a few more articles. Glossy photos of superheroes and supervillains walking their dogs, jogging with mutants, waving at fans. I caught my breath when I noticed the next headline.
Violence at the Vile Fair!
Underneath was a grainy photograph of one of the smoke creatures. Just looking at it sent a spasm of fear through my body. But before I could read anything else, Milton had flipped forward to the next article.
“This is what I wanted to show you!” He pointed tothe page. “It says that there was a big shipment of robot parts to a house in Sheepsdale. Do you have any idea what someone would need robot parts for?”
I shook my head.
“Robots! That’s what!”
Milton checked over his shoulder, then turned back to me.
“I wonder if this has something to do with Sophie’s dad,” he whispered. “It doesn’t say where in Sheepsdale, or who, but …
what if it’s him?
I mean, it’s just like what the Cafeteria Girls were talking about, with all the torture devices and machine guns and stuff. Whoever her dad is, he’s gotta be into some crazy stuff. I’ll bet he ordered the robot parts too.”
“Maybe …” My brain was still stuck on the earlier page about the Vile Fair. “Hey, can I borrow that magazine?”
Milton’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you didn’t like
Super Scoop
.”
“I just wanted to find out more about the … er—”
“Robot parts?”
“Exactly.”
Milton’s face broke into a grin. “See? I told you it’s interesting.” Closing the magazine, he pushed it into my hand.
I said goodbye to Milton and hurried to my locker, where I opened
Super Scoop
to the Vile Fair article. Inthe time since we’d gotten back from New York, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what had happened.
But after reading the article twice, I was still clueless. Nobody knew what the smoke creatures were or who was behind the attack. The super community was teeming with speculation—that the smoke creatures had been sent by a superhero, or a villain looking to cut into the competition, or even a business rival of Phineas Vex. The only thing everyone could agree on was that they were all afraid of what would happen next.
Nobody felt safe.
“Hey, Joshua.”
The voice made me flinch. Shoving the magazine into my backpack, I whirled around. Sophie Smith was standing behind me.
“I just wanted to check if you’ve started thinking about topics for our project yet,” she said.
“Oh …”
The history project
. With everything else that had been going on (finding out I had a superpower, getting chased around a convention hall by smoke creatures—you know, that kind of thing), it had completely slipped my mind. “I’ve been sort of busy.”
“Same here.” Sophie smiled, like she was relieved she wasn’t the only one. “I’m still trying to find my way to all my classes.”
“I could show you around if you want.”
The
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