The Superhero's Cure Read online

  “Really?” I said in surprise. “You didn’t strike me as the techy type.”

  Fingerprints looked at me with a deadpan expression. “My power to see the memories of anyone I touch isn’t very useful in combat.”

  “Ah,” I said. I turned around and raised my cuffed hands. “Can you use your laser to break these? I would do it myself, but I’m still powerless thanks to that gas, so—”

  Fingerprints aimed his watch and fired a laser that neatly split the cuffs, making them both fall off of my hands onto the deck of the yacht.

  “Thanks, man,” I said, rubbing my wrists, “so what should we—”

  I was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Looking up, I saw several of the pirates who had stayed behind on the Red Tide were shooting at me and Fingerprints. Unfortunately for them, it was very dark, so their aim was quite a bit off, but Fingerprints and I nonetheless hid behind a table on the deck that we overturned. Luckily for us, it was a fairly thick, metal table, but I could still hear the bullets whistling past overhead or striking the metal table with a repetitive clunk, clunk, clunk, which caused me to wince with every shot.

  “Looks like we’re pinned down,” said Fingerprints, glancing around the side of the table and shooting a laser before pulling himself back around. “It may be too dark for them to aim, but they don’t need to have great aim with the numbers they have.”

  “But we can’t just hide behind this table forever,” I said, wincing at a particularly loud clunk right behind my right ear. I nodded at the door to the stateroom. “Sooner or later Red Tide and the others will get out and then we’ll be trapped on either side.”

  “I know,” said Fingerprints. He raised his watch. “I sent a distress signal to the G-Men headquarters, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to send help in time to save us.”

  I cursed under my breath. If I hadn’t just gotten a face full of powerless gas, I could have easily flown or run over to the pirates and started cracking skulls. As it was, I was completely powerless for the moment, at least until the gas wore off. That could be anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, time we really didn’t have. Even if we did escape, it would mean abandoning the weapon, which would mean the mission would be a failure and I wouldn’t get the cure for Blizzard’s illness.

  That thought more than any made me scowl. I raised my right arm and activated my suit-up watch, causing my costume to shoot out and wrap around my body. Soon, I was covered head-to-toe in my black-and-red full body costume, tossing my green pea coat aside as I got into a crouching position.

  “Prints,” I said, looking at him. “I’m going to need you to cover for me.”

  “Cover for you?” Fingerprints repeated, raising his voice to be heard over the gunshots on the other side of the table. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m going to make a run for the ship,” I said. I patted my chest. “My costume is bulletproof, but I still don’t want to get hit, so I need you to distract them for me.”

  “Distract them?” said Fingerprints. “Are you mad? You’re going to get yourself killed.”

  “The weapon is still on board the ship,” I replied. “It’s in Red Tide’s cabin. If I can get in there, then I can get the weapon, and we can get out of here.”

  “Suicidal,” said Fingerprints. “We need to stick together. It’s the only way we’ll survive.”

  “This wasn’t a suggestion,” I said. I pulled out my collapsible staff and, with one shake, snapped it to its full length. “Cover me! I’m going in.”

  Rising to my feet, I dashed from around the table toward the ramp connecting the Red Tide to the yacht. The pirates immediately noticed me and aimed their guns at me, but then Fingerprints’ lasers began firing at them, causing some of the pirates to duck while others aimed their guns at Fingerprints. That left no one to stop me from getting onto the ramp.

  No one, that is, except for a man who suddenly rushed down the ramp toward me at a shocking speed. I just barely managed to jump out of the way and narrowly avoided his attack, but even as he rushed past me, he ran around me and stopped in front of the ramp, folding his arms across his chest as he looked upon me with a challenging expression on his face.

  Okay, I had no idea who this guy was. He wore a red and blue bodysuit that reminded me of a NASCAR racer’s uniform, except more formfitting. He even wore a racing helmet on his head, his face hidden under a visor until he flipped it up, revealing a familiar face in the lights from the yacht.

  “Katsuki?” I said in shock. “What are you wearing?”

  Katsuki smiled. “I’m not just the crew’s shipwright. I’m also a speedster. I normally don’t use my powers, but when Captain Red Tide told me you had escaped, I decided it was time to break out the old costume. Back in Japan, I was known as Nijū Sutorīku, but you can just call me Dual Streak.”

  “Dual Streak, huh?” I said. “I’ve fought speedsters before. You don’t scare me.”

  Dual Streak chuckled. “Then you are even more foolish than I thought.”

  Without hesitation, Dual Streak rushed toward me again. I swung my pole at him, but I was still under the effects of the powerless gas, so my movements were slower and weaker than they normally were. I only realized that just as my pole missed Dual Streak, who rush under the pole and punched me hard in my stomach, which I had left exposed.

  Although Dual Streak did not seem to have super strength, getting punched in the stomach by a speeding fist still hurt like hell. I cried out in pain and doubled over, but Dual Streak swept my legs out from underneath me and I fell flat on my back. He raised a foot and brought it down on my head, but I raised my pole at the last second and caught his foot on my pole.

  “You’re tough, I’ll admit,” I said through gritted teeth, “but you’re gonna need more than speed to take care of me.”

  “Quite true,” said Dual Streak without missing a beat. “Exactly why I brought help.”

  I didn’t know what meant until he jumped off me. At first, I thought he was going to attack me again, but before I could get up, I suddenly felt movement underneath me and in the next instant, I found myself rising off the ground. Looking down, I saw that Tiny was growing underneath me, rapidly returning to his original size until he was back to his full height, holding me over his head with both of his massive hands.

  “Gotcha, punk,” said Tiny, his voice full of vicious hate. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to do this.”

  Tiny suddenly whirled around until he threw me bodily through the air. I sailed through the air, arms and legs flailing uncontrollably until I went over the side of the yacht and hit the ice cold water with a splash and immediately sank underneath it.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The sheer iciness of the water startled me so much that I nearly let go of my pole staff, but I shook my head and managed to swim back to the surface. My head bursting through the water, I gasped for air and began kicking my legs, treading water in the choppy, dark waters all around me. Luckily I was still close to the yacht, but I could not see any way to climb back on board, at least until I spotted a small ladder on the side that seemed to have been built to allow people to climb back on board.

  Before I could swim over to it, I heard footsteps and looked up in time to see Dual Streak and Tiny appear at the edge of the ship. The two of them were armed now, however, and they pointed their guns at me.

  Without hesitation, I dove back beneath the surface of the water. Just in the nick of time, too, because at that moment Dual Streak and Tiny shot their guns. Bullets sailed past me on either side and at least one of them struck my shoulder, making me open my mouth in shock from the pain before closing it quickly to keep air in my lungs. Unfortunately, I had let too much air out when I gasped and my lungs were already burning from the strain of holding my mouth shut.

  At that moment, however, I suddenly felt the effects of the powerless gas wear off. A grin crossed my lips when I felt power and strength flood my limbs again because it was time for the party
to get started.

  Without hesitation, I activated my flight powers and shot up through the dark water. I burst through the surface of the sea and soared over Tiny and Dual Streak, who both wore shocked looks on their faces when they saw me flying. I landed on the deck behind them hard enough to leave a small dent in the wood and rose to my feet, looking at the two pirates with a smile on my lips.

  “Hey, guys,” I said. “You don’t look so confident now that my powers are back. I guess all that taunting before was just a lot of hot air?”

  Dual Streak shook his head. “Powers or not, we will kill you.”

  With that, Dual Streak shot toward me. But he wasn’t the only speedster in town. I activated my own super speed and rushed toward Dual Streak. He was clearly surprised by that and tried to move out of my way, but I managed to catch him before he could get very far and spun around and threw him at Tiny. Dual Streak slammed into Tiny and the impact of the blow sent both of them stumbling backward over the side of the yacht into the water below.

  Before I could go check on them to make sure they were down for the count, however, I heard several gun pumps behind me and then Red Tide himself said, “Don’t move another inch, boy, or your friend gets it.”

  I slowly turned around until I found myself face to face with nearly the entire crew of the Red Tide, plus Seth and Janet Richards. The pirates were pointing their guns at me, leaving me no room to run or dodge, while Red Tide stood just outside their semicircle, his hands on Fingerprints. Although Fingerprints was not cuffed, he did look very still, with a slightly greyish tone to his skin. His eyes darted at me, but that seemed like the only part of his body that he could move.

  “How did you get out of the stateroom so quickly?” I said in surprise. “I thought Fingerprints locked it.”

  “There are more ways out of our stateroom than the front door, you know,” said Seth Richards. “That was how we took your government spy friend by surprise.”

  “Aye,” said Red Tide. He grinned, revealing his crooked, yellowing teeth. “Idiot never saw me—or my spores—coming, right, spy?”

  Fingerprints didn’t respond, but I realized he couldn’t. I recalled how Shade had explained to me what Red Tide’s powers were. He must have used his spores to paralyze Fingerprints when he wasn’t looking. It definitely explained how he caught Fingerprints, who should have already recovered from the powerless gas by now like I did.

  “Not a very talkative one, is he?” said Red Tide. “Ah, well. I’m not terribly interested in talking to him. I want to talk to you, Bolt.”

  “Me?” I said. “Why?”

  “Because you’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble already,” said Red Tide. “You just took out two of me best men, for one, and also nearly stole that weapon. So unless you want to see your friend here die—and trust me, killing a G-Man agent would bring me nothing but the purest joy—I suggest standing down. For your own good, of course.”

  My hands balled into fists. Although my powers were back, I wasn’t confident that I was fast enough to take down Red Tide and his crew before they killed Fingerprints. Even if I shot a red lightning bolt at Red Tide, that wouldn’t stop the rest of his crew from shooting at me, or even worse, at Fingerprints. Once again, I had underestimated Red Tide. I cursed myself for making the same mistake twice.

  “You look very frustrated, Bolt,” said Seth. “Why not do what Red Tide says and stand down? It would be easier for everyone if you did. Then someone might not have to die tonight.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I shot back. “You’re not the one who’s going to have to die if you don’t agree to the demands of a literal pirate.”

  Seth suddenly frowned. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Just like your father, you speak authoritatively on things you know nothing about.”

  “Enough talking,” said Red Tide. He pointed at me. “Okay, boy. Here’s the deal. If you agree to stand down and let us take you prisoner, we’ll spare your government friend here. Keep fighting and, while you might just be able to beat us, your friend here will die. I’ve seen how fast you can run, but I know you aren’t faster than a speeding bullet.”

  Red Tide was right. I could probably wipe the floor with every pirate here, but only at the cost of Fingerprints’ life. And, although I still didn’t care for the G-Men, there was no way I was going to let him die. I didn’t think of him as a friend, necessarily. It was just that I didn’t make those kinds of sacrifices. It went against my moral code, sacrificing my friends in order to ‘win.’ It wasn’t something a hero—super or otherwise—would do.

  “All right,” I said, holding up my hands. “I give up. Just don’t kill Prints, okay?”

  Red Tide’s ugly grin became even uglier. “Of course. I am a man of my word.”

  Red Tide removed his knife from under Fingerprints’ throat. Although Fingerprints was still paralyzed, I could see a look of relief appear in his eyes, although at the same time he seemed a little angry I negotiated with what basically amounted to a terrorist. I tried to show Fingerprints that I didn’t plan to let them take us prisoner forever, but I wasn’t sure he saw my eyes or how they looked.

  Then Red Tide gestured at one of his pirates, who walked up to me carefully, as if I was a snake or wild animal, and then pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed my hands together behind me. Though these cuffs were tough, I felt like I could break them without a second thought, but I didn’t because the pirates still had Fingerprints. I just hoped I would be able to find an opportunity to free us soon, but it probably wouldn’t be anytime soon.

  Red Tide turned to face Seth. “What do you think, Mr. Richards?”

  “I’m pleased that you managed to recapture the prisoners,” said Seth, stroking his chin again as he looked at me, “but I think I will take over Bolt from here. You can have the government spy. It’s Bolt I want.”

  I didn’t like how he said ‘It’s Bolt I want.’ He made me sound like I was some kind of exotic creature he was trying to add to his collection. I bet he even had a cage to put me in, although I wasn’t sure how he could build a cage that could possibly hold me.

  “Very well,” said Red Tide. “I’ll have my men take Bolt down to the cell and then I’ll also have them deliver the weapon itself onto your yacht. How does that sound?”

  “Perfect,” said Seth. “And, of course, I will pay your fee for all your hard work.”

  “Just what I like to hear,” said Red Tide. He looked at his crew. “Okay, you idiots, time to get moving! Get that kid down to the yacht’s cage and then we’ll head back to Hooktown to celebrate yet another successful job!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Again, I could have freed myself at any time, but I chose not to. The Red Tide Pirates still had Fingerprints as their prisoner. As long as they had him in their grasp, I couldn’t risk anything. All I could do was watch as Tiny and Dual Streak—who had both been pulled back on board by a couple of their fellow pirates—dragged the paralyzed Fingerprints up the ramp to the top deck of their ship. I tried to catch Fingerprints’ eyes one last time, but they dragged him on his back and he couldn’t raise his head to look at me. The last of Fingerprints I saw was the soles of his ships disappearing over the lip of the ramp out of my sight.

  Then I was abruptly led back into the yacht by Hilda and five of the other members of the crew. They took me through the stateroom and down into what seemed to be a narrow metal-plated hallway somewhere below the main deck. This hallway was very spartan in comparison to the extravagance of the stateroom, but I didn’t get to see too much of it before they opened a door and shoved me into a pitch-black room. Surprised, I fell onto my knees and heard Hilda sneer behind me, “Don’t hurt yourself now, boy. Otherwise, Mr. Richards will get angry, and trust me, you do not want to see him when he gets angry.”

  Hilda said that last sentence with a laugh and slammed the door shut behind me without further explanation, plunging me into darkness. A second later, however, an automatic light on the ceilin
g turned on, instantly illuminating the room—prison cell, really, was what it was—I was lying in.

  It was a fairly small room, with a single cot in one corner and a toilet and sink in the other. The walls, floor, and ceiling were covered in thick metal plating and there were no windows, although there was a single air vent above me which must have been where the air conditioning came through. It reminded me of my prison cell in Ultimate Max, which I had spent a brief period of time in when I was arrested for crimes I didn’t commit. It was a place I didn’t want to see again.

  Still, it wasn’t entirely hopeless. I jumped to my feet and instantly snapped the handcuffs around my wrists. I walked up to the metal door, pulled back my fist, and slammed it as hard as I could against the door’s surface.

  To my shock, the door didn’t even budge under that attack, even though I had hit it with super strength. Taking a step back, I looked from my fist to the door again, wondering if I was imagining things or if my fist had actually failed to leave so much as a dent on the thing.

  “Don’t waste your strength, Bolt,” said a voice behind me. “Even Omega Man himself wouldn’t be able to escape from this cell.”

  Startled, I whirled around and was shocked to see Seth Richards sitting on my cot. I hadn’t seen him when I entered the room, yet he sat there as if he had been waiting for me for hours. He even had a glass of wine in one hand, which he sipped occasionally, his gray eyes calmly focused on me.

  “What do you mean?” I said. “Omega Man is the strongest man in the world. Even if I can’t, I’m sure he would be able to escape from this place.”

  Seth Richards shook his head. “No. This cell is made out of Indestructonium. You’re familiar with it. Ultimate Max’s cells are built of the same stuff.”

  I groaned. “Great. I was just thinking about how much this cell was like my cell in Ultimate Max. I hate my life sometimes.”

  “Don’t,” Seth advised. “Life is a beautiful thing. Even the worms of the earth are beautiful, in their own twisted way.”