Bolt

3| It's Sad When A Hero Turns Into A Villain.

Icicles spread over Shiver's body before glowing bullets struck him a second later. He staggered to the side, regained his balance quickly, and turned to the person who shot him.

"Outlaw," Shiver said with a smile, his voice deeper and more haunting than normal. What happened to him? Also, I swore I heard a woman's voice underneath his. I couldn't explain it properly, but it was like two people talking at the same time. "You think you can beat me alone?"

"I can try," Outlaw replied, out of my view. He was a former member of The Mighty, leaving the group five years ago. He co-founded a hero management agency with his twin brother—Inlaw—called Laws and Rebels. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"I was hoping for someone ranked higher than me. Not number twenty-five." Shiver curled his lip, looking disgusted. "You should focus on enemies on your level." He had his hands behind him, standing at attention.

I didn't have high hopes for Outlaw in this fight. He was a distance fighter. To beat Shiver, you had to be a close combatant.

"Why are you doing this?" Outlaw asked.

"Why not?"

"I thought you wanted to change Tombstone. Isn't that why you went to work at Gators? Or was everything you said a lie?"

"I don't lie, boy. I realized I can make a difference faster if I kill the weak. Fear brings change quicker than democracy."

"So, it is true. You helped those criminals escape Gators. Tell me, were you the one who killed the guards?" Outlaw appeared in my view. Damn, he looked cool. His western-inspired costume comprised a black cowboy hat, long black coat, black shirt, and black pants. He looked the part of a badass superhero. No wonder sponsors and advertisers flocked to him. He had a magnetic look, especially the black and white handkerchief covering his face, leaving only his bright white eyes visible.

"No." Shiver shook his head. "Double-Face is responsible. I wish I killed them. They were incompetent. Good riddance."

"But why?" Outlaw's hands shook as he pointed his pistols at Shiver. His ability enabled him to create energy bullets. "Why ruin everything you've built? What about the people you've inspired? People who look up to you?"

"People like you?" Shiver scoffed. "I don't care."

Outlaw looked down for a moment, sighed, and faced Shiver. "What about Ice Princess? She was like a daughter to you, and you killed her."

Shiver gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists. The thought of Ice Princess must have been a painful one, even for him.

Mariah—Ice Princess—used to live on the streets. One day, she broke into Shiver's car and stole his laptop, but Shiver caught her. When she tried to run, he stopped her using his powers. But he didn't know she also had ice abilities. After she countered his attack, he adopted her and sent her to Hero High.

"Don't mention her name. You have no right!"

"I have every right! She was a close friend, and you killed her!" Outlaw shot Shiver, not waiting for his reply. The older hero created a wall of ice in front of him, blocking the bullets.

Outlaw kept shooting while walking backward. Shiver hid behind the wall of ice. He was patient. Calculative, too. Most of his fights against villains were long because he let them exhort all their energy before finishing them with ease. He was doing the same with the cool-looking hero.

Outlaw kept firing while maintaining his distance. Shiver started moving toward him, cracks forming on his wall of ice like a plant's roots.

The ice wall melted before the icicles covered his arms and turned into gauntlets. He slapped the next round of energy bullets to the side, shattering the coffee shop's glass walls and whizzing past me, missing my head.

Screams resonated behind me. I turned and saw the bullets had killed the two baristas. Instead, the screams came from the old woman and nurse.

The bullets had killed the fantasy monsters. Damn.

Turning my attention back to what was going on outside, Shiver and Outlaw weren't there. Gunshots continued from a distance. I got out from under the table, following the sound, finding the two superheroes fighting in the middle of the street. I stayed inside the building and watched.

There were no signs of civilians, but there were police barricades on either side of the road. It seemed Outlaw knew he couldn't beat Shiver alone, so he lured him into a trap.

Shiver shielded himself inside an ice dome. Outlaw and the Tombstone police fired at the dome, but their efforts didn't even leave a crack on it.

"What now?" one officer asked Outlaw, frustrated by their unfruitful efforts.

Outlaw didn't reply, just stared at the sky.

I took a peek and gasped. It was him, Captain Tombstone. He hovered in the air with his hands crossed on his chest. He never involved himself in these kinds of situations, usually dealing with city-threatening events. But if he was here, then he must've got a call from the District Attorney. And if you got a call from the D.A., they'd paid you big bucks.

"Have no fear, citizens," Captain Tombstone said after he landed on the ground. He was a large man, thrice my size. His tight, white and black super suit with a raised fist on its chest, showed off his huge muscles. You could see why he was the number one superhero in the city. Those muscles and that reassuring smile of his made every tough situation seem bearable. "Is Shiver hiding in the dome?"

"Yes." Outlaw looked as stunned at Captain Tombstone's presence as me. "But we can't break it."

"Don't worry. I got this." Captain Tombstone crouched, the surrounding air spun, and the rocks on the ground rose.

It was always ethereal watching him at work. As a child, I looked up to him. A successful black man whom everyone loved. It was why I gave in to the outrageous demands of being a superhero back then. I believed if he did it, I could too.

I never got to meet him, as I operated in Mamba only—they assigned every superhero a specific neighborhood to protect. Only the top fifty heroes worked anywhere in the city and got paid.

Captain Tombstone shot forward like an arrow. When he neared the ice dome, he punched it with his full strength, shattering it and striking Shiver's face along the way. The force thrust Shiver backward, making him crash against a parked car. He fell to the ground and didn't move.

The number one hero turned to the police and raised his thumb. "He's all yours." He looked at Shiver and frowned. They had formed The Mighty together. It was understandable if his best friend disappointed him. The frown lasted for a second before he grinned again. He didn't stay to watch the police arrest the man who had once been his partner.

Shiver looked around in astonishment. "Why are you arresting me?" he asked. "What happened? How did I get here?"

The police laughed at him, saying Captain Tombstone's punch gave him amnesia. Something deep inside of me told me that wasn't the case. A man of his reputation and status didn't just wake up one day and decide to kill people. I couldn't ignore the female voice I heard. There was more to the story, and I had an eerie feeling the entire city would soon find out.