The Superhero's Summit (The Superhero's Son Book 3) (6 page)

“Gotta admit, that makes me a bit nervous,” said Stinger. He looked at the rest of us. “What if she loses control during a battle with some supervillain when innocent people are nearby? We're lucky her power was contained in the Training Room, if you ask me.”

“She just needs practice,” I said. “She has unusually powerful powers, so it's no surprise that she has trouble controlling them.”

“And she is absolutely timid,” said Talon. She glanced up from her mirror at Blizzard before returning her attention to her own appearance. “Like a mouse. I can't imagine that that makes it easier for her to control of her powers.”

“Right, but we can't control her confidence,” I said. “I think it comes from the fact that she can't control her powers very well. If she learns how to master her powers, I think we'll see her confidence go way up.”

“Do you think she'll really be eager to try again, though?” said Treehugger. “I mean, after this? She almost killed you. She might not want to use her powers ever again.”

“Maybe, but we won't know until she wakes up and talks to us about it,” I said. “I hope she doesn't want to quit, though, because—”

The door to the medical station suddenly opened, causing the team and I to look over in time to see Mecha Knight enter. As always, he was completely clad in his armor, which clanked along as he hurried toward us.

“Mecha Knight?” I said. I wished I could stand to salute him, since that was usually how we were supposed to greet our supervisor, but my feet needed to stay in the warm water. “What are you doing here?”

Mecha Knight stopped a few feet away from us. He pointed at Blizzard. “I received a report from Carl that Blizzard was in critical condition and that you and she were nearly killed by your practice bots. I came to see the damage for myself.”

“Did you stop by the Training Room?” I said.

Mecha Knight nodded. “Yes. I examined the remains of the robots and the state of the Training Room. I imagine it will be very expensive to repair, once we figure out how much it will cost.”

“I'm sorry,” I said. “We didn't mean to damage it so much. We just—”

“I understand,” Mecha Knight interrupted me. “I am not blaming you or Blizzard. It is good that you two survived. Your lives are more important than the Training Room.” Then he looked at Blizzard again and, although I could not see his face, I thought he was frowning. “But Blizzard's loss of control over her powers is … problematic.”

I didn't like Mecha Knight's tone, so I said, “It wasn't her fault, sir. I think she was so worried about saving me that she let her emotions get the best of her.”

“That may be true, but I am aware of the extent of her powers,” said Mecha Knight. “Had you not stopped her, she might have frozen the entire island and everyone on it.”

“She just needs some more practice,” I said. “Once she gets better control over her powers, she'll become a safer superhero.”

“Perhaps, but unlike the rest of you, she still does not have much control over her powers,” said Mecha Knight. “This is not the first time the loss of control over her powers has put the lives of other people at risk. When I first met her some months ago … well, I should have expected this.”

I was curious about Mecha Knight's first meeting with Blizzard. I knew that Mecha Knight had been the one to recruit the various members of the team, including yours truly, but I didn't know the exact details of each meeting. I guess I assumed that most of them had been like mine, with Mecha Knight meeting me in secret and offering me a position on the Young Neos, but it sounded to me like Mecha Knight's meeting with Blizzard must have been different.

Before I could ask about it, Mecha Knight looked at us again. “I believe that Blizzard has much potential as a superhero, but we cannot let her keep losing control of her powers like this. We were lucky that you managed to stop her, but we can't guarantee that you or anyone else on the team will be close enough to stop her again should she lose control of her powers. If she cannot control her powers, she will be more of a liability to the team than a help.”

“Are you saying we should kick her off the team?” said Treehugger in horror.

“No,” said Mecha Knight. “But the fact is that the rest of the NHA leadership—who are very much aware of what has happened here, thanks to Carl's report—do not feel comfortable with a young and powerful superhero who cannot control her powers being on Hero Island or so close to New York City.”

“So what are you saying we should do?” I said. “Just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't lose control over her powers again?”

“Yes, but that is not all,” said Mecha Knight. “If Blizzard ever loses control her powers like this again … whether she does it here or elsewhere … and it results in death, injury, or intense property damage, then we will have to take her off the team. For good.”

“What?” said Treehugger. “Mecha Knight, sir, don't you think that's a bit harsh? Where would she go if we kicked her off the team without being able to control her powers?”

“Likely to Ultimate Max,” said Mecha Knight, unfazed by Treehugger's surprise. “It is specially designed to hold all kinds of superhumans. She would be unable to harm anyone there, even if she completely lost control over her powers.”

“But Ultimate Max is a prison for the worst supervillains,” I said. I gestured at Blizzard “Do you really think that she would even survive going there? You know how timid she is. She's just a teenager, even if she is a powerful one.”

“I know, but I am also aware of the potential of her power,” said Mecha Knight. “We cannot have someone like her walking around on her own without any supervision or guidance. If we kicked her off the team and let her free, she would probably cause untold damage to the country or maybe land in the hands of a supervillain that would like to make use of her powers for nefarious reasons. Trust me, there are many villains out there who would like to have a neohero of her caliber on their side.”

“It's still cruel, though,” said Treehugger.

“It is less about cruelty and more about ensuring the safety of society as a whole,” said Mecha Knight. “Blizzard, like the rest of you, is no ordinary teenager. If we kick her off the team, then she needs to be contained no matter what her age is.”

“Yeah, I know, but come on,” I said. “Ultimate Max still seems a bit extreme.”

Mecha Knight just shook his head. “I see you don't understand. Tell me, Bolt, have you ever heard the story of Flame?”

“Who?” I said.

“Flame?” said Shell. “I know who he is. He was one of the founding members of the first incarnation of the Young Neos.”

“Exactly,” said Mecha Knight. “He was around Blizzard's age, but unlike her, he could generate and control flame. He was far braver and more extroverted than Blizzard, but also quicker to anger and foolhardiness. He was easily the most powerful member of the Young Neos at the time, however, and very good at capturing villains, which is why we put up with his arrogance and foolishness.”

“What happened to him?” I said.

“He kept a secret from us,” said Mecha Knight. “He didn't have nearly as good control over his powers as he led us to believe. He could control it at very low levels, such as lighting a candle, but he found it hard to control anything larger than that.”

“Why did he keep it a secret from you?” I said.

“Because he was arrogant, as I said, and he didn't want us putting more supervision on him than he wanted,” said Mecha Knight. “And for a while, Flame didn't cause any terrible disasters until about a year after the team was formed. He and the other first generation members were battling a supervillain on the US/Canadian border who turned out to be a lot more powerful than he first appeared.”

“I read about that,” said Shell. “Can't remember the villain's name, but didn't the battle end with the town they were battling in being set on fire by the villain?”

“That is the official story, the one we and the government—who helped to cover it up—gave to the public,” said Mecha Knight. “But the truth of the matter is that it wasn't the villain who did it. It was Flame, who lost control over his fire powers when he attempted to use them to defeat the villain, who had proven too powerful to be taken down by normal means.”

“Wait, you mean you guys lied to the public about this?” I said in shock. “Why?”

“Because we did not want the public to fear or hate us,” said Mecha Knight. “You have to understand. At the time, the Young Neos were seen as the shining example of well-behaved youth, a glimpse into the next generation of adult superheroes. Even back then, there were still a lot of people who did not trust us, so we wanted them to know that the next generation of heroes would be just as safe as the current one. We thought it would be the best way to battle prejudice against superhumans.”

“Why would anyone think the next generation of neoheroes would be bad?” said Treehugger, tilting her head in confusion. “Weren't they under your control and supervision?”

“Many reasons, but the chief among them is the fear that power corrupts,” said Mecha Knight. “A lot of people, both normal and superhumans, believed that teenagers with super powers needed intense control and supervision so they would not grow up as arrogant and unaccountable vigilantes who did what they wanted regardless of what the laws said.”

“But that hasn't happened,” I said. “Right?”

“Perhaps, but it is a realistic fear,” said Mecha Knight. “Consider how much trouble the average non-super powered teenager gets into. Now imagine if that same teen could fly, read minds, control volcanoes, or rip skyscrapers from their foundations. What adult could ever keep such a teen under control? And if an adult couldn't keep that teen under control, then he would grow up to become someone that no one could control.”

“Oh,” I said. “I see. But what happened to Flame after he lost control of his powers?”

Mecha Knight looked me directly in the eyes. “He died. He was consumed by his own fire and killed and injured hundreds of other people in the process. The entire town was nearly burned to the ground. It took a lot of effort to put out that fire, even with superpowers.”

Mecha Knight sounded like he was recounting something he had witnessed himself, which seemed likely given how old he was. Of course, he spoke as emotionless as ever, which made me wonder if Mecha Knight was ever horrified or scared or excited by anything.

Regardless, I said, “Do you think something like that might happen to Blizzard, if she loses control?”

“Possibly,” said Mecha Knight. “I hope not, because we are going to make sure that she can control her powers, but if she fails, then we will make sure that she cannot harm anyone else with her powers. I just wanted you all to know this so that, if it happens, you will know why.”

I looked at the others. They all looked horrified by Mecha Knight's story, but I thought they were also worried about the same thing happening to Blizzard. Blizzard probably wouldn't catch on fire if she lost control of her powers again, but I bet she'd freeze herself to death, and maybe take other people with her, too. It wouldn't be a good thing either way.

“Now,” said Mecha Knight, “I was told that the practice bots attempted to kill you and Blizzard.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, nodding. “Carl is currently analyzing the security footage to see if anyone reprogrammed them. He said it will take a couple of hours to do.”

“I see,” said Mecha Knight, which told me nothing about what he actually thought of the situation. “Have Carl send me and the Leadership Council his findings. If someone has indeed been reprogramming the practice bots without our knowledge, then I want to know.”

Mecha Knight turned and left, prompting me to say, “Mecha Knight, where are you going?”

“Back to headquarters,” said Mecha Knight without looking over his shoulder. “The rest of the Leadership Council is concerned about this just as much as I am and would like to know about it. If anything comes up, contact me.”

With that, Mecha Knight was gone, leaving us all alone in the medical station with the still-unconscious Blizzard.

Chapter Six

W
aiting over the next couple of hours for Carl to finish analyzing the security footage was hard. I went and got breakfast while I waited, because I was hungry and hadn't gotten anything to eat yet, but I ate it pretty quickly and so still had to wait a while for Carl. The others were just as impatient as me, but there wasn't any way we could make Carl work faster, so we had to wait.

Soon, however, Carl called us to the Meeting Room to show us his findings, where we all went to watch the footage that he had found. He said that he had found something important, but wanted to show it to us instead of just telling us about it because he wanted us to see it for ourselves.

We all sat around the big table in the Meeting Room and turned in our chairs to face the huge TV screen on the other end of the Room. Well, all of us except for Blizzard, who was still in the medical station, but I decided to tell her what we saw later after Carl showed us the footage.

“All right,” said Carl, his voice still peppy. “So I looked at all of the security footage from the last two days, because our records show that the last time the practice bots were given check-ups by the NHA mechanics was two days ago before you fought Enor in the city.”

“So are you telling me that our mechanics are assassins?” said Stinger. He punched his fist into his other hand. “I knew it.”

“Actually, the mechanics have nothing to do with it,” said Carl. “All they did was perform a regular check-up and maintenance. I should know, because the footage didn't show them doing anything they don't normally do. Besides, the mechanics who work on Hero Island have already been vetted and have had their backgrounds checked, so we know they're not secretly supervillains in disguise or whatever.”

Stinger actually looked disappointed by that, but I said, “So what did you find, then?”

“Well, that's what I wanted to show you,” said Carl. “Let me play the footage I found. It's not very long, but it is interesting.”

Immediately, the TV turned on. It showed the black-and-white footage from the security camera; based on the time stamp in the upper right corner, this was from last night, shortly after midnight.