Tournament of Heroes

6. BLIZZARD-1

Blizzard lay in Bolt’s protective arms as the hammock in which they lay swung softly in the breeze. The warm tropical sun overhead felt good on Blizzard’s cold skin, even though she normally preferred to be in much colder environments. But the lapping of the ocean water against the sandy shore of the island, along with the occasional cool breeze from the sea, made Blizzard relax.

But then again, I can always relax whenever I’m in Bolt’s arms, Blizzard thought, snuggling against Bolt’s chest. His arms are so strong, so safe.

“You seem comfortable,” said Bolt’s voice in her ear. Blizzard looked up to see Bolt’s handsome face smiling down at her.

“Very,” said Blizzard. She stretched her arms and snuggled in closer to Bolt. “Are you comfortable, too?”

“You kidding me? Of course, I’m comfortable,” said Bolt. He kissed her briefly. “I’m always comfortable whenever I’m holding you. Especially on this tropical island. Told you that you would enjoy it.”

Blizzard chuckled. “Well, I guess you can be right sometimes.”

“All the time, you mean,” Bolt teased. He sighed. “This really is perfect, though, isn’t it?”

“It is,” said Blizzard with a nod. “I wish this moment would last forever. Don’t you?”

“Of course,” said Bolt. He hesitated for a moment and then said, “But there is something I wanted to ask you, something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a long time.”

Blizzard’s heart rate immediately went up. She tensed in his arms, holding him tightly as she looked into his brown eyes. She knew what he was going to ask her. It was the question she had been waiting for him to ask ever since she fell in love with him. She had known that Bolt would ask her that question eventually, but she hadn’t realized that he would do it right here, right now.

But why not? Blizzard thought. This is the perfect place to do it. That’s probably why Bolt took me out here. To ask me to marry him in the most beautiful place in the world.

A rumbling in the sky overhead made Blizzard look up. Dark thunder clouds were rapidly rushing toward them from the ocean. They were still quite a ways off, but it looked to Blizzard like the thunder clouds would reach them probably within the next five minutes.

“Uh-oh,” said Blizzard with a gulp. “Looks like rain. Bolt, dear, why don’t we go inside and talk so we don’t get wet?”

“No,” said Bolt, holding her more firmly than ever. “It won’t take more than a minute for me to ask you this question. We will be fine. The rain won’t reach us.”

Blizzard bit her lower lip. She really did not want to get rained on, but at the same time, Bolt was a lot stronger than her, so she couldn’t just jump off the hammock and run to shelter before the rain got here.

Besides, rain is pretty romantic, Blizzard thought with a fond smile. Never imagined I’d get proposed to in the rain, but I’ll take it.

Snuggling in closer to Bolt, Blizzard said, “Go ahead and ask away, then. I’m all ears.”

Bolt smiled at her, the warmest smiled she had ever seen him smile. “Okay, Blizzard. I wanted to ask you if you would … if you would …”

Bolt stopped speaking. He wore a confused look on his face. “Um …”

Eagerly, Blizzard said, “Yes, dear? What did you want to ask me?”

The confusion on his face quickly vanished and Bolt said, “Now I remember! I wanted to ask you if I could—”

A loud thunder crash overhead interrupted Bolt. Blizzard looked up again and was shocked at how close the thunder clouds were now. They were nearly over the island, which shocked her because she thought it would take them at least five more minutes to reach the island itself. That they were nearly upon them already was weird, especially because there wasn’t even a strong breeze to push them along.

Still, Blizzard was not going to let a little rain ruin what was going to be the best moment in her life. Looking at Bolt again, she said, “Bolt, just go ahead and ask me your question already, before the train—”

Blizzard stopped speaking abruptly when she saw Bolt’s face. It had changed. His skin was as pale as snow, his hair a sickening green, the same color as his eyes. His teeth had become yellowed and jagged, making him look more like a demon than a human being.

“Bolt?” said Blizzard in a hesitant voice. “Are you … are you all right?”

Bolt flashed her a terrible smile as the rain clouds overhead blotted out the sun, causing his green eyes to glow unnaturally. “I’ve never been better, Blizzard. Yet there is still one thing I want to do.”

Blizzard gulped. “What is—”

Bolt’s hands suddenly wrapped around her neck and squeezed. Blizzard gasped for air but was unable to breathe. She could only stare into Bolt’s merciless, uncaring eyes, so unlike his normal loving gaze, an empty, endless pit of hatred and cruelty. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even use her powers for some reason. She could only stare at Bolt, feeling her life squeeze out of her with every second.

“Keep making that face, woman,” said Bolt—No, Dark Thunder, Blizzard thought—as he choked her to death. “Seeing your fearful face makes your suffering all the sweeter for me.”

Blizzard finally screamed. She sat up in bed, panting and sweating, almost hitting her head against the underside of the bed above her. For a moment, she couldn’t see anything until she groped in the darkness and flicked on the light in her bed. With the small light on, she was able to see the blue blanket covering her legs, plus the curtain that hid her bed from the rest of the Team room. Beyond the curtain, she heard Tsunami’s familiar snores, which were almost as loud as the ocean waves. She did not hear Mimic, of course, but she would occasionally hear him turn in his bed as he looked for the perfect sleeping position.

It was just a dream, Blizzard told herself, putting a hand on her forehead. Just a dream. A nightmare, actually, but whatever. It’s not real.

Blizzard paused when she felt sweat on her forehead. That was unusual. Blizzard’s body was usually too cold for her to sweat. The temperature in the Team room wasn’t that hot. She must have gotten hotter in her bed than she thought.

No, Blizzard thought. Temperature has nothing to do with it. It’s fear. Worry for Bolt. If he’s even still alive.

Blizzard shook her head. In her mind’s eye, she couldn’t get the mental image of Bolt, now calling himself ‘Dark Thunder,’ out of her mind. He looked like a monster now, and acted like one, too.

Far scarier than his appearance was the way he acted like he didn’t know her. Dark Thunder treated Blizzard like she was just another woman rather than the woman who he loved more than anyone else in the whole world. She had seen none of Bolt’s usual love and kindness in his face or heard any love in his words when he spoke. When Dark Thunder said that ‘Bolt is dead,’ maybe he was telling the truth.

No way, Blizzard thought. She punched her bed. Bolt isn’t dead. He’s not.

As much as Blizzard believed that, though, there was a niggling little voice in the back of her mind that made her wonder if she was simply denying reality. Dark Thunder wasn’t even sleeping in the Team room anymore. He was staying elsewhere in the Universal Castle, probably wherever Sigil’s room was. But Sigil had told Blizzard, Tsunami, and Mimic that Dark Thunder would be joining them in the sixth match. Apparently, even though Bolt had been corrupted by the dark energy, Sigil still needed more dark energy to fulfill that strange ‘Prophecy’ he read to the competitors yesterday.

I didn’t understand everything the Prophecy said, Blizzard thought, but it didn’t sound good. Not one bit.

Mostly, though, Blizzard was worried about Bolt. Yes, she didn’t want the multiverse destroyed, either, but Bolt’s transformation into Dark Thunder was far more personal to her. She wanted to save him, to turn him back into the Bolt she knew and loved, but unfortunately, she had no idea about how to do that.

Lying down in her bed, Blizzard didn’t even bother to close her eyes. There was no way she was going to get any more sleep tonight. She considered heading out to the commons, but breakfast would not be served until six and there wasn’t anything she wanted to see or play on any of the entertainment systems, either.

All of us have been played, Blizzard thought. Sigil is going to turn Aeno into the Great Destruction and Bolt will be his ‘Herald,’ whatever that means.

That made Blizzard wonder if Aeno knew about this. She had not seen the self-proclaimed King of the Multiverse since the end of the third match. She was aware that Sigil was supposedly keeping Aeno away from them for safety, but she wondered if Sigil had other reasons for keeping Aeno away from them.

I just can’t see Aeno supporting this, Blizzard thought. Even if it’s his ‘destiny’ to become the Great Destruction, Aeno doesn’t strike me as some kind of multiverse killer. He can destroy universes, true, but—

Blizzard immediately sat up. Hope filled her as an idea popped into her mind.

Maybe Aeno can restore Bolt to his normal self, Blizzard thought, a smile playing across her face. Aeno likes Bolt. Maybe if I could get an audience with Aeno, I could convince him to turn Bolt back to normal. Aeno seems like he can do anything. Surely he can do that.

But then Blizzard ran into another problem: How was she going to get an audience with Aeno, knowing that he only saw people who he personally summoned to his chambers? She couldn’t just waltz up to his throne room and say hi, not anymore, and probably not right now. Aeno, after all, was probably asleep.

When else will I get a chance to talk to him, though? Blizzard thought. The sixth match is later today. If I don’t talk to him now, I will never get a chance to talk to him. For Bolt’s sake, I need to talk to Aeno.

Decided, Blizzard sat up in her bed. Although she wanted to talk to Aeno as quickly as possible, she didn’t want to accidentally wake up Tsunami and Mimic. Neither of those two seemed bothered by Bolt becoming Dark Thunder, so she decided that they probably would not help her meet Aeno. She would just have to do this on her own.

Pulling the curtain open, Blizzard was surprised to see Mimic’s back as he opened the door to their Team room and left.

Where is he going at this time of night? Blizzard thought. Does he want to talk to Aeno, too?

Curiosity overriding her fear, Blizzard tossed her blankets off her body and walked over to the exit. She cracked the door open and, stepping outside, quickly knelt behind one of the nearby couches in the commons. Peering over the top of the couch, Blizzard immediately spotted Mimic sitting at one of the dining tables, but to her surprise, he wasn’t alone.

Atmosfear and Giggles sat at the table as well. They sat opposite Mimic, with Atmosfear leaning on the table with an annoyed look on his face, while Giggles sat silently next to him, though he seemed as annoyed as his boss. Blizzard froze. She remembered well how Atmosfear had tried to kill her in the third match and still hated him for it, probably more than any of the other Teams.