The Superhero's Summit (The Superhero's Son Book 3) (22 page)

“You can't escape this one, Kevin,” Maria hissed, a crazy grin on her blood-soaked face. “Soon, we will both be in hell with Bernard and we will get to spend an eternity torturing you for what you did to our family.”

I could have escaped if I had more time, but the timer was going down too fast and the arm around me was too strong. I could only watch as the timer went down from twenty to fifteen to ten all the way down to five seconds left.

But then, out of nowhere, ice started forming on the mecha's remains. It rapidly covered the entire mecha, covering it so fast that I could barely follow. It ran along the mecha's body, covering the arm holding me but not me, and made its way to the cockpit where Maria lay.

Maria was staring at the ice in shock and said, “What is—” before she was completely consumed by the ice itself. Her face was literally frozen in shock.

As for the timer, however, it was still going down and was now at two seconds. I was worried it was going to explode anyway, but then the ice covered the timer in a thick block of ice. Through the clear ice, I saw that the timer had stopped at one second, so I assumed that the ice must have somehow disabled the mecha's self-destruct mechanism.

“Bolt!” I heard a voice shout.

I looked up and saw Blizzard standing not far from where the mecha had landed. She was holding up her hands, which were glowing white, and had a worried expression on her face. She still looked sickly and tired, but she looked a little bit better, too, like she had just awoken from a nap.

“Blizzard?” I said. “Did you do this?”

“Yeah,” said Blizzard. She lowered her hands and said, “I didn't do anything wrong, did I?”

I shook my head quickly. “No, no, you did exactly the right thing. Your ice didn't even hurt me.”

Blizzard sighed in relief. “Oh, good. I was worried about that for a second. Do you need help getting out?”

“No,” I said. “I can free myself.”

With a simple shrug of my shoulders, I shattered the frozen mecha arm that was around me. I jumped off the frozen mecha and landed next to Blizzard. She had taken off her hood, revealing her long white hair and looking more like herself now.

Standing up and dusting some ice chips off my shoulders, I looked at Maria and said, “Did you kill her?”

“I wasn't trying,” Blizzard said, looking down at her feet. “But I bet she's dead anyway. There's no way a normal human like her could have survived being frozen alive like that, especially after that awful crash.”

“Well, I'm glad you stopped her anyway,” I said, looking away from the frozen mecha and at Blizzard. “I don't think I could have survived an explosion from that close, even with my costume and super endurance.”

Blizzard nodded, but then started and said, “Oh my gosh. Your cheek is bleeding.”

I touched my cheek, where Maria's bullets had grazed me, and felt a little blood there. “Oh, it's nothing. I've suffered worse. Thanks for noticing, but right now we need to focus on the fight between the NHA and the INJ in the Hero Hall. We have to stop it before anyone dies or it escalates. Everyone needs to know what Maria did.”

“Right,” said Blizzard. She hesitated and looked toward Hero Hall with a worried expression on her face. “But … how will they treat me when I get there? I froze the Midnight Menace. Everyone is going to think I killed him purposefully, even though I was really under Maria Candle's control when I did it.”

“Don't worry,” I said. I put a hand on her shoulder. “I'll be there with you. If anyone tries to hurt you, as your leader, I'll make sure that that person spends the next several weeks in the hospital with every bone in their body broken. Okay?”

Blizzard still looked hesitant, but then she nodded and said, “Okay. I just hope we are not too late to end that battle before it becomes an all-out war.”

Chapter Nineteen

A
fter waking up Strike and Dizzy, making sure they were okay, and then explaining to them what just happened, the four of us went back to Hero Hall. We didn't hear anything from the inside, which made me wonder if the fight was over and, if so, who had won. I fully expected to see dozens of dead bodies scattered all over the floor, with maybe the survivors being herded by the winners into the corner or center so that they would all be in one place. I even expected to see Dad's corpse lying on the floor, a thought that sent chills down my spine just by thinking about it.

But when we entered Hero Hall, we came upon a scene that I don't think any of us expected: All of the assembled members of the NHA and the INJ standing around and watching a movie that was playing on the massive screen behind the platform. And even stranger, I was on it.

The screen showed my battle with Maria Candle. It was from a distance, so you couldn't really see it in full detail, but it was clear enough that you could see our every move. It was showing the very final stages of our fight, in which I slammed Maria to the ground and then Maria attempted to blow me up. It even showed Blizzard using her ice powers to freeze the mecha over and stop the timer from going off.

And standing on the platform, next to the frozen Midnight Menace, was Dad. His back was to the crowd, his helmeted head turned upward, as he also watched the scene playing out on the screen.

But then Dad suddenly turned around and said, “Bolt, Blizzard! There you are!”

Suddenly, the eyes of every superhero in the room were on us. Most of the heroes, now that I got a good look at them, were wounded or damaged, but I didn't see any corpses, at least. Still, it felt awkward for everyone to be watching us like this, especially when I noticed that a few of them looked at Blizzard with hostility.

“Bolt, Blizzard, Strike, Dizzy,” Dad said. He gestured at us. “Come on up here. Don't worry; no one will try to harm you.”

Confused, I decided I could trust Dad, so I let Blizzard wrap her arms around my neck and I flew us both over to the platform, trying to ignore the watching eyes of the other superheroes as they followed us. Behind me and Blizzard, Strike and Dizzy flew on Strike's metal board, following the two of us over to the stage.

I landed on the stage next to Dad and Blizzard let go of me as soon as her feet touched the floor. Strike and Dizzy landed next to us, too, and seemed as confused as I felt.

“Um …” I looked up at Dad in confusion. “Dad, what—”

Dad put a hand on my shoulder and then gestured at the screen behind us, except that he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at the crowd of people below us who were still watching us quietly.

“Did you all see that?” said Dad. It sounded like his helmet was increasing the volume of his voice, because his voice sounded louder than usual. “My son, Bolt, was fighting Maria Candle. You heard the audio. Maria Candle confessed to trying to manipulate the NHA to fight the INJ. That means that no one in either organization was trying to manipulate both sides against each other.”

Suddenly, Samurai, who stood near the front of the crowd and whose golden armor was bashed in several places, said, “But what about the Midnight Menace? He is still frozen. He must be dead by now.”

“Not necessarily,” said Dad. He looked at Blizzard. “Blizzard, can you please unfreeze the Midnight Menace?”

Blizzard looked extremely timid whenever all of the people looked at her, but she nodded shakily and raised her hands. They glowed white and the frozen form of the Midnight Menace started to slowly thaw out.

As the Midnight Menace thawed out, I whispered to Dad, “What happened? I thought both sides were trying to kill each other. Why'd they stop?”

“I ended the fight by having Carl activate the security cameras on the outside of the Hall and display their feed in here,” Dad whispered back to me. “I originally did it because I wanted to keep an eye on you, but when I saw Maria, I had Carl increase the audio so everyone could hear her.” He gestured at the NHA and INJ members below. “When everyone saw it, they stopped fighting and started watching. We got very lucky, I think, that Maria was dumb enough to pick a fight with you and reveal her plan to the world.”

Before I could respond, the Midnight Menace finished thawing out. As soon as he thawed, the Midnight Menace's red eyes snapped open and he looked around wildly, saying, “What the hell? Where am I? What happened? Who did that?”

“He's still alive?” I muttered.

“The Midnight Menace isn't quite the same as normal people,” Dad muttered back. But then he said aloud, to the Midnight Menace, “Midnight Menace, it's good to see that you are all right.”

The Midnight Menace looked at Dad suddenly. “Genius? What are you doing here? The last thing I remember—”

The Midnight Menace suddenly stopped speaking when he looked at Blizzard, who stepped away from him and lowered her hands.

“You!” the Midnight Menace shouted, pointing at Blizzard. “You froze me! You tried to kill me. I will not stand for this.”

The Midnight Menace moved toward Blizzard like a shadow, causing her to make a small yelp, but then Strike stepped in between them and said, “Leave her alone, Midnight Menace.”

The Midnight Menace stopped and stared at Strike in confusion and anger. “Strike, what are you doing? She tried to kill me. She must be stopped before she kills anyone else.”

“Menace, Blizzard did not try to kill you intentionally,” said Dad. “She was under the influence of Maria Candle, the wife of the late Master Chaos, who has been manipulating both the NHA and the INJ in an attempt to get them to destroy each other.”

“Maria Candle?” said the Midnight Menace incredulously. “Ridiculous. She is just an ordinary human. How could she cause any of us trouble? Where is your proof?”

Dad pointed up at the screen, which now displayed a close-up of the frozen Maria. The Midnight Menace looked up at the screen and then said, in a flat voice, “Oh.”

“She confessed on camera that she has been playing both sides,” said Dad, “all to get revenge for her deceased husband. If you are still skeptical, I can replay the part where she gives a detailed confession of her wrongdoing.”

“No, no, no, that will be unnecessary,” said the Midnight Menace, looking down from the screen and at Dad. “I believe you. We may have our differences over what it means to be a neohero, but I know that you are an honest and trustworthy man, so I will not harm the young girl or anyone else.”

I sighed in relief, but it was Dad who said, “Good to hear, Menace. I am pleased to see that there is still some of that reasonableness in you that I first saw when we met all those years ago.”

The Midnight Menace merely nodded in response, but then I heard someone flying and looked up to see Omega Man flying over us. He landed on the stage only a few feet away from me and Dad, his cape torn and shredded in places, but looking otherwise okay despite having been in the middle of such an intense brawl.

“Bolt, Blizzard,” said Omega Man, looking at us both. “I saw the entire fight from the security camera. I just wanted to say that I am proud of you and what you did. If you had not stopped Maria, it is very likely that both the NHA and INJ would have been destroyed.”

I scratched the back of my head, while Blizzard just looked embarrassed by the praise.

Then Omega Man looked at the Midnight Menace. “Menace, do you and the other INJ members wish to resume the Summit? The Hall is still in one piece and, with just a little bit of cleaning and repair, it could be put back to use again in just a couple of hours, if that. Then we can resume the Summit, if you wish.”

For a moment, I thought that the Midnight Menace was going to reject the offer. He looked like he wanted to leave Hero Island and go back to California, probably because you weren't in danger of being frozen alive over there.

But then, much to my surprise, the Midnight Menace nodded and said, “Very well, Omega Man. We can resume the Summit, but after I see the footage of Bolt's battle with that woman. I would like to know what happened while I was frozen and to know exactly how this woman tried to manipulate both of our organizations to fight against each other.”

“Wonderful,” said Omega Man. “I am glad that you have seen reason. I believe that this will be the best Summit yet, after we clean everything up and get it going again.”

Then Omega Man looked out over the watching crowd and said, “Everyone, please leave the Hall. We will have our janitors and a few volunteers clean up the mess caused by the battle between our two organizations. We will return to the Hall in a couple of hours, at which point the Summit will resume once more. Until then, those of you who were injured should go to the Island's hospital to have your injuries and wounds treated.”

Most of the heroes looked a little annoyed that the Summit was being put on hold like this, but a lot of them looked relieved, too, like they were happy that they would have a chance to heal and rest from the fight.

As the assembled heroes made their way to the exit, the Midnight Menace looked over at me and said, “You are Bolt, correct?”

“Um, yes, sir,” I said, standing up straight under the Midnight Menace's questioning gaze. “We've met before.”

“Yes, I recall,” said the Midnight Menace. “And you defeated Maria Candle, correct?”

I nodded. “Yes, though with help from Blizzard.”

I gestured at Blizzard, who shrank back under the Midnight Menace's gaze. He wasn't really looking at her with anger, but I understood why Blizzard was so timid around him. Since she had almost killed him, Blizzard probably thought that the Midnight Menace was angry at her, even though he had already said he was going to spare her life.

“I would like to thank both of you for defeating Maria Candle before she succeeded in destroying the INJ and the NHA,” said the Midnight Menace. “If you had not defeated her, she might have succeeded in her insane plans and caused untold chaos around the country and, perhaps, around the world, too.”

“You're welcome, sir,” I said. “I just did what had to be done. I have some personal history with Maria, too, so stopping her was a pleasure for me.”

The Midnight Menace nodded, while Omega Man said, “Yes, it is good that Maria was stopped. Now, Menace, would you and the rest of the INJ leadership wish to come to our council chamber to view the footage of Bolt and Blizzard's battle with Maria?”