“WAIT,” JOHNNY said. “You mean to tell me that Admiral Doom is a confederate?”“What does this have to do with the Civil War?” Marcus asked.

“No, not that kind of confederate. He’s a fake, an actor, not an actual villain but a prop villain.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” I replied. I knew Johnny was reconstructing his old conspiracy wall in his head, the one he kept hidden in his room, moving around suspects, locations, newspaper clippings. In all his research he had not uncovered this one crucial piece of information. I didn’t find it, either. It must have been well hidden.

“So what’s that mean?” asked Marcus.

Kurt replied, “It’s not that hard, Marcus. All those attacks and crimes were faked.”“What’s in it for him, though?” Marcus asked.

“It wasn’t him faking it, it was him working for PeriGenomics. Don’t forget he walked in there like any other employee,” Betty said.

“So the Doom Raid Drills, and the shelters. All fake. All to build up this Admiral Doom thing,” Wendy said.

“It make senses,” Johnny said. “What better way to build up his reputation than to create a fearful response. And make sure it gets in the papers. Not every day, but just often enough so we don’t forget.”

“It’s about freedom,” said Alice. “Remember the machine they tried to destroy our powers with? The machine made by PeriGenomics? Remember all those stories of the environmental damage, the treatment of workers, et cetera? Every time one of those came out, Admiral Doom grabbed a headline and took over the airwaves. If we’re worried about him we’re not worried about what PeriGenomics.”

I remembered my own encounter with Admiral Doom. What had been the reason for that one? Was it for Freedom Boy’s PR team?

“It’s also about power,” said Kurt. “What better way to show that Heroes are necessary than to invent supervillains. I bet they’re all made up. Just a way to give the world a reason to keep these people around and let them run the place.”

Everyone was ready to riot. The vibe inside the Free me & my brother campaign headquarters was tense. Johnny blurted, “Kurt, it’s not a conspiracy across the world. Heroes have been around for thousands of years and PeriGenomics is much older than the Admiral Doom attacks. Doom’s only been around for three or four years at most. Really his first big attack was…” he trailed off.

“What? What was it?” asked Marcus.

I looked at my brother, a terrible realization dawning. “Mom,” I said.

In unison, we blurted, “We have to go to Innsmouth.”