The Superhero's Son (Book 1): The Superhero's Test Read Free Page B

heard you punched a student through the walls. Explain yourself!”
    I didn't know what to say. I held up my hands to show that I didn't mean any harm, but Principal Thomas just stepped backwards like he was afraid that I would punch him, too.
    “I-I-I'm not sure,” I said, stuttering more than I had ever stuttered in my life. “I—”
    “I want no excuses,” Principal Thomas interrupted me. He poked me in the chest with one meaty finger. “I am going to tell the police and your parents about this and will get to the bottom of this nonsense no matter what. I will not be having students in my school punching each other through the walls with powers they have not previously disclosed. Do you understand me, young man?”
    My temper flared again, because Principal Thomas was acting like I had intentionally hidden these powers from everyone, even though I was just as surprised by my super strength as anyone. I was almost tempted to punch him out, but I restrained my anger, though just barely.
    “He understands you perfectly, Principal Thomas,” said a slightly muffled, calm voice that seemed strangely familiar to me, but which I was too upset to place. “He just doesn't know his own strength is all.”
    I looked over to the corner of the cafeteria, where the voice had come from, and was surprised to see someone standing there. He was a tall man, about as tall as me, and wore a white lab coat and a strange-looking helmet with a visor that completely covered his face. He wore metal gauntlets that had touch screen displays and tons of buttons on them that I didn't understand at all. He was not the kind of person you'd expect to see in a small town Texas high school cafeteria, to say the least.
    The man's appearance must have been noticed by everyone, because all of the screaming and shouting and crying in the cafeteria suddenly went silent. I looked back at the other students and faculty and saw that everyone was now staring at the newcomer, though with more confusion than fear.
    Only Principal Thomas seemed to get over his confusion long enough to sputter, “Wh-Who are you?”
    “Someone who is technically supposed to be in retirement,” said the masked man as he walked up to my table, seemingly not bothered by all of the shocked and confused looks from everyone else.
    “How did you get into the school without my knowledge?” said Principal Thomas. “I don't remember being told that we were having a guest today.”
    “That's because you have incredibly poor security,” said the masked man as he stopped next to me, again ignoring all the stares from everyone else. “If John Smith High School hadn't had such an excellence academic reputation, I'd rethink sending my son here.”
    “Huh?” said Principal Thomas. He genuinely seemed at a loss for words, like he wasn't sure whether to take the masked man's words as a compliment or an insult.
    But there was something about the masked man's way of speaking that seemed familiar to me. I looked at him, but his mask and costume covered his body from head to toe, making it impossible for me to identify him. All I could tell was that he was obviously a neohero of some kind, but I just wasn't sure who.
    Then Malcolm gasped and said, “Oh my gosh! You're Genius, right?”
    The masked man looked at Malcolm, but he seemed more impressed than annoyed. “You recognize me?”
    “Yeah!” said Malcolm. “I'm a big neohero fan and I know about almost every neohero in the world. You're one of the Four Founders of the Neohero Alliance, after all.”
    I vaguely recalled hearing about a neohero named Genius once, but I had never met him and didn't know much about him except that he was one of the first neoheroes. But I remembered hearing that he retired from crime-fighting, although no one knew what he was doing now due to keeping his secret identity, well, a secret.
    “Well, that is quite flattering,” said Genius. “But I am afraid I am going to have to erase this little meeting