AND IT’S
SIMPLE—WRITE YOUR SECRET
MESSAGE INSIDE A SECRET MESSAGE.
I CAN SEE THE CONFUSED LOOK
ON YOUR FACE AND NOW REALIZE
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THAT FACE AND YOUR REGULAR
FACE. THAT’S A RELIEF.
WHAT I’M SAYING IS, YOU USE
DIFFERENT TYPE FONTS TO HIGHLIGHT
THE REAL SECRET MESSAGE.
FOR INSTANCE, YOU COULD USE
A BOLD FONT FOR THE LETTERS
THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO YOUR
REAL MESSAGE. TRY THIS ONE:
OVER YONDER, UNDER THE FIR TREES,
TRACKS WERE FOUND. THE AWFUL AND
FOUL AROMA OF THE SABER-TOOTHED
BADGER ARISES. VILE YELPS SOAR
UNDER THE BROKEN MOON. TAKE
YOUR CHILDREN. RUN
FOR THE HILLS.
I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S
SCARIER . . . THE MESSAGE
OR THE SECRET IT CONTAINS!
“Why didn’t you shoot their sub with the harpoon gun?” Mama shrieked at Simon as they puttered toward the surface with their treasure.
“Because I enjoy taunting them with their inadequacies,” Simon said.
“But you’ve let them survive,” Mama cried. “Turn this thing around and do the job right.”
“Mama!” Albert cried. He could have died from embarrassment.
“I’m just saying, the only way to insure that good guys are no longer a threat to us is to see them die before our eyes.”
Albert held his head in his hands and wondered how he had gotten into his current predicament. He was working for a prepubescent lunatic, a walking pile of muscles with a hook for a hand, and his own bloodthirsty mother. Were superpowers worth all this?
Albert couldn’t help but think of the kids in the other submersible, fighting for their lives. They were brave. A bunch of kids who couldn’t have been older than twelve had tried to save the world. They were the real heroes.
“Albert, you look sad,” Mama cried. “We just got a part for your big machine.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s awesome,” Albert said, though he refused to look at her.
When the submersible broke the surface, Mama leaped out of her seat.
“Wait a minute! I’ve seen that boy!” she cried.
“Which boy?” Simon asked.
“The one who was driving the other sub. He lives right next door to me. His name is Duncan Dewey!”
Duncan was surprised to find the Creature waiting for him in the Playground.
“Dad, he’s back,” she said, as if disappointed that he’d arrived.
Avery hopped up from a chair with a worried and tired expression on his face. He looked as if he hadn’t slept all night.
“Huh?” Duncan said. “How did you all get in here?”
“You’re not the only one who is good at spying, Duncan,” Tanisha said slyly.
“Oh, thank heavens,” Aiah said as she peppered the boy’s face with tear-soaked kisses. “I don’t think I can handle this anymore, Duncan.”
“Mom, I’m fine. What are you talking about?”
“Ms. Nesbitt from next door came over to say she had heard you were in an accident and was very sorry,” Aiah said.
Duncan and Flinch shared a knowing look. “Albert’s mom!” they said at the same time.
“I thought you had been hurt, or worse,” Avery said. “I panicked.”
“Duncan is alive and well,” Ms. Holiday said as she stepped into the room. “If you would like to take him home that’s fine, but unfortunately it will prevent him from receiving his new upgrades today.”
Duncan’s father spun around on the librarian. “Let me get this straight: You sent my son on a dangerous mission without those things you put in him?”
“He’s been fully trained as a—”
“He’s a little boy!” Avery shouted. “The last guy who ran this place promised Duncan he would be safe. We only went along with this because we saw that he had been given the equivalent of superpowers. You’re telling me you’re sending him to die without any of that.”
“Duncan is a very capable agent,” Ms. Holiday added.
“Two years ago this kid was eating paste for money!” Avery shouted.
“Avery!” his mother cried.
“He what?” the Creature said.
“I’m sorry, son,” Avery said. “I brought you to this school and allowed you to be in this program to give you a chance. You were supposed to be surrounded by geniuses and have access to ideas, technology, science! I didn’t bring you here to get killed. You’re done!”
“Dad!”
“Mr. Dewey, perhaps you are right,” Agent Brand said as he entered the room. “Duncan is an exceptional and brilliant boy, but maybe the life of an agent isn’t appropriate for him anymore.”
“Alexander!” Ms. Holiday said in complete surprise. “Duncan is one of this country’s greatest assets!”
“Find yourself another asset,” Avery said. “I’m taking Duncan home. He may wind up below average, but he’ll still be alive.”
That night, Duncan lay in his room alone. His father had demanded that Duncan hand over the hovering blue orb that gave him access to Benjamin. Without it, he couldn’t activate his supercomputer or even access his holographic clothing store. He had no idea what he was going to wear to school the next day.
Worse, no Benjamin also meant no security system in his bedroom. No cameras, no access codes, and no locks on his door. Shortly before ten, his door opened and the Creature crept inside.
“Now you know how it feels,” she said.
Duncan stared at her for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“Without your powers you know how it feels to be me,” she said. “Average, ordinary, regular. Try being the sister of a superhero. Try being the sister of a genius. Try being the sister of a kid who is so amazing that teachers in her classes are already competing to get him as a student.”
“You don’t have to be average,” Duncan said. “You could study. You could get involved in things at school. You could stop being sarcastic and ditch some of the losers you’ve been hanging out with.”
There was a long, silent pause, and then his sister whispered. “So far, it’s the only way to get any attention around here.”
She turned and closed the door behind her, leaving Duncan alone in the dark. He lay in his bed looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars his father had glued to his ceiling when they first moved to the neighborhood. That was before he had become a spy or had his imagination inspired by technology. It was when he was just Duncan Dewey, a below-average kid from a below-average school in a below-average neighborhood who had a mother and father who hoped he would be something more. How could he go back to that now?