TWELVE

Hank gave Katie an earnest look, sitting next to her on his bed. “Katie, I want you to avenge my father’s death.”

“I’m not a detective, Hank. I don’t know where The Raider and his henchmen are hanging out.”

“You could ask around. Beat up some thugs, try to have them tell you where they are. That’s what superheroes do, isn’t it?”

“I’d like to think what they do is protect the innocent. Not randomly beating up lowlifes.”

“I think it is part of it. You need to find out where The Raider is and kill him.”

Katie couldn’t believe what Hank was saying. The anger in his eyes startled her. Hank had always been a mellow, sweet boy. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not killing anyone! That’s against the law. And that is certainly not something a superhero would do.”

“What about Gunmancer? And I seem to remember The Thespian killing some people last year.”

Katie ticked off her points on her fingers. “One, Gunmancer is a mercenary. Two, The Thespian did that in self-defense. That was not a premeditated murder.”

“So we just hope another hero or the cops track him down and arrest him? Then what? You know how often these villains escape from jail. The Raider will be out of jail in days and will victimize more innocent people. He needs to be stopped.”

Katie shook her head vehemently. “No, no, no, no! Don’t say things like that. If I keep doing this superhero-thing I’m going to do it the right way, for the right reasons. As a protector, not a psycho vigilante.”

“If you won’t stop him, I will,” Hank said, fists clenched.

“You will? What do you mean? You don’t want to after him yourself I hope? He’ll kill you in an instant.”

“Someone has to stop that creep and avenge my dad,” Hank said. “I will have to make sure I’m up to the task.”

“Hank, dear sweet Hank… I can understand you’re hurting… But please don’t do anything stupid. That’s nothing like you. Even if you don’t get killed yourself, you’ll land in jail. Killing people is not right.”

“I thought I could count on you!”

“You can. To help ease your pain, to listen to you, to hug you. I will be there at your dad’s funeral tomorrow, holding your hand. But I will not kill for you or anyone else.”

“So you’re going to be one of those useless heroes that only serve the revolving door of the justice system?”

“I want to be a hero that inspires. Not one that is feared. That’s not how this thing should be done.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have asked you. Just forget I did.”

Katie squeezed Hank’s hand. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid. Promise me.”

Hank shook his head, tearing his hand away from Katie. “No promises. Just leave me alone.”

“All right. If that’s the way you want it,” Katie said and stood. She walked out the door. As the door slammed shut behind her, a tear slid down her face.