Kid Lexington

By Blaze Ward

Kid Lexington wants to be a respected superhero, more than anything. Bad enough that he pretends to be the teenage sidekick of a better-known hero.

His teammates must never uncover his true identity.

When a message arrives, it looks like a trap. Kid Lexington still pursues it.

That's what heroes do.

And maybe he can persuade his teammates to think better of him for it.

If he survives.

A Modern Gods story

• Language: English
• Publisher: Knotted Road Press
• Release date: Sep 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386679677

Blaze Ward

Blaze Ward writes science fiction in the Alexandria Station universe (Jessica Keller, The Science Officer,  The Story Road, etc.) as well as several other science fiction universes, such as Star Dragon, the Dominion, and more. He also writes odd bits of high fantasy with swords and orcs. In addition, he is the Editor and Publisher of Boundary Shock Quarterly Magazine. You can find out more at his website www.blazeward.com, as well as Facebook, Goodreads, and other places. Blaze's works are available as ebooks, paper, and audio, and can be found at a variety of online vendors. His newsletter comes out regularly, and you can also follow his blog on his website. He really enjoys interacting with fans, and looks forward to any and all questions—even ones about his books!

Book preview

Kid Lexington

Kid Lexington

A Modern Gods Story

Blaze Ward

Knotted Road Press

Contents

Kid Lexington

About the Modern Gods Universe

Read More Modern Gods Stories

About the Author

Also by Blaze Ward

About Knotted Road Press

Kid Lexington

Kinjiro lurked quietly in the dark bushes, watching the warehouse across the street like a hawk spying wounded prey. Cool, early autumn breezes swirled the leaves occasionally, but otherwise, everything was serene. Calm. Lovely.

Boston in September was a nice place

to

be

.

The building across the street from him was a warehouse in a quiet commercial district, not that far inland from the Inner Harbor waterfront. For a Friday night, it was remarkably peaceful around here. Half a block down, a brand new, 1953 Mallory 4-door sedan in dark blue, parked next to a telephone pole, was the only car in sight.

Something didn’t feel right, but the sealed envelope the Chief of Police had given him earlier had been clear. Be at this location at midnight, ready to sneak in and arrest a criminal gang Brad had been secretly following. Brad had even signed it with his full codename: 1776, Leader of the American Minutemen.

Brad could never do anything halfway. Even sign

his

name

.

The outside of the heavy, linen envelope had been written in a pretty scrawl, addressed to Kid Lexington. The hand-writing looked wrong, but the wax was intact and bore the team logo. Everything was by

the

book

.

It still felt wrong.

But at the end of the day, Kinjiro was just the sidekick, regardless of his opinions on the matter, and had to defer to Brad, in the man’s role as team leader. Those were the rules. If he wanted to be a hero in this modern age, he had to

respect

them

.

Kinjiro adjusted his mask and made sure his tricorn hat was on securely over his short, wiry, black hair. His costume was as patriotic as he and Bonhomie Richard could make it: navy blue body suit and white leggings, with a white belt, red boots, and red gloves, all in sturdy, polished leather. His navy blue cape even looked like a half-cloak from the colonial era. Thirteen stars formed a small circle over his heart, like the original flag of the Colonies.

People had suggested that it might make a good target to shoot at, but he didn’t care. He could

shoot

back

.

The musket in his hand had been carved from a chunk of the Washington Elm itself, the tree that General Washington had stood under in 1775 when he founded what would become the US Army, not far from here on Cambridge Commons, just across the river.

The gun didn’t actually fire, but that was okay. As Kid Lexington, he used it more like a movie prop than anything. It helped him focus his power when he fired his energy blasts, so that they went farther and hit harder than he could do on

his

own

.

He was the team’s sniper, as well as being 1776’s sidekick. After all, Kinjiro wasn’t the one who turned into a giant. When Brad tripled his size to seventeen feet nine inches, he and Betsy Ross could pretty much handle almost any foe with their fists alone. The Midnight Rider could even run down cars, to say nothing of punks on foot. And Bonhomie Richard was always inventing new devices and gadgets. Usually only Kid Lexington and Betsy Ross used them, though.

It wasn’t that Brad and Whizzer were dumb. Immature and over-confident, maybe. Firmly convinced that being grown men, however barely out of college they were, made them naturally superior to

everyone

else

.

Liz wasn’t the team leader of the American Minutemen, but she probably should have been. She was way smarter than Brad, almost as smart as Dick was, but the other two guys really didn’t like taking orders from

a

girl

.

Kinjiro grimaced sourly to himself. He had a really good idea how the other three would react if they ever found out that Ken was actually Japanese. Kinjiro. Nisei. Born in Hawaii to immigrants themselves born in Tokyo. The kind who still weren’t even allowed to be citizens in this country.