Tournament of Heroes

5. WINTER-2

Winter sighed. Although Cyclone was far more competent than his jokey demeanor suggested, he still wasn’t very good at the whole ‘intimidating the enemy’ thing. But it seemed like he didn’t need to be. A knife to the throat would be enough to make anyone stop resisting, regardless of what the knife-wielder said.

At least this fight is over, Winter thought. Odd how the kid doesn’t seem to have a Hero, but—

“Beams!”

A red-and-black blur came rushing out of nowhere and slammed into Cyclone so hard that Cyclone flew into and through the courtyard wall on the other side of the courtyard. A second later, Winter got this unhelpful notification:

[Sidekick Cyclone] has died!

“For God’s sake, Cy …” Winter muttered in frustration.

But Winter’s attention was focused on the newcomer, yet another superhero he had never seen before. This guy looked to be about the same age as Cyclone. He wore a form-fitting black-and-red costume with a lightning motif going on. He was incredibly muscular, his body sparking with red electricity. Above his head, the nametag [HERO BOLT] hung like a neon sign.

“Bolt?” said Beams as Bolt helped him to his feet. “What are you doing here?”

“I was going to ask you the same question,” said Bolt. He glanced at the Cyclone-shaped hole in the wall. “Were you about to get killed by a ninja?”

“I think so,” said Beams, rubbing the back of his neck. “Although I was trying to kill Fro-Zen over there.”

Bolt looked over at Winter and frowned. “Fro-Zen? Looks more like this guy I know named Rime. Definitely not Blizzard because she’s a girl and he isn’t, but—”

“The name isn’t Fro-Zen, Rime, Blizzard, Icicle, or whatever other stupid ice pun name you’ve got,” Winter snapped. “It’s Winter. Like the season.”

Bolt raised an eyebrow. “Winter? That’s a pretty boring name if you ask me, but okay. If you’re trying to kill Beams, who is my friend, then I guess that means we’re enemies.”

“If you say so,” said Winter. “But for the record, he attacked me first.”

Bolt punched his fist into his other hand. “I don’t really care. If you attack my friends, that’s the same as attacking me.”

Right before Bolt could run over to Winter, however, Winter heard a whistling sound out of nowhere. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see some kind of disk flying at him. The disk struck his forehead and knocked him flat off his feet. He heard a couple more thumps and looked and saw Beams and Bolt lying on the ground as well, having apparently been hit by those same disks.

Shaking his head, Winter picked up the disk, which had fallen nearby, and looked it over. It was small and made of some kind of metal, but it looked like nothing Winter had ever seen in Capes Online. He tried to Scan it, only to get the same error message from when he Scanned Beams.

That was when a young, arrogant-sounding voice above said, “Is this a superhero party or something? Why wasn’t I invited?”

Yet another superhero flew down from the sky and landed perpendicular to Winter and Bolt and Beams, completing their loose triangle. This kid looked even younger than Beams or Bolt. He wore a full-body red-and-blue costume with a long, flowing red cape and a yellow visor across his eyes. The letters ‘TS’ were written on his chest, while he drew three small metal disks from the pouch on his utility belt and held them like playing cards. [HERO TRICKSHOT] hovered above his head.

“Okay, who are you?” said Winter, sitting up and rubbing his forehead, which hurt like heck.

Trickshot smiled. “Name’s Trickshot. Who are you?”

“Winter,” said Winter. He gestured at Bolt and Beams, who were also sitting up and rubbing their heads. “Are you friends with those two, as well?”

Trickshot shook his head. “Nope! Never seen either of them before in my life. Never seen you, either.”

Winter blinked. “Then why did you attack me?”

Trickshot shrugged. “I dunno. I just saw everyone fighting each other and I thought it looked like fun.”

Winter sighed. “Yes, you are definitely a teenager. I don’t think I was that stupid when I was your age … I hope.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter who you guys are,” said Bolt as he rose to his feet along with Beams. His hands began crackling with red electricity. “I was told I was going to have to compete with a bunch of other superheroes. If this is the Tournament, then I’ll be more than happy to mop the floor with you guys and head home.”

“You look strong,” Trickshot said to Bolt. He raised his disks. “This will hopefully be a fun fight. Haven’t had a good fight since Iconia. Been itching to go all out against someone who can actually take it.”

“Trust me, Discus, you really don’t want to see me when I go all out,” said Bolt, raising his electrical hands.

Winter groaned. “Great. Who had the bright idea of giving a bunch of hormonal teenagers superpowers?”

“Hey, it’s worked out pretty well for us so far,” said Bolt in annoyance. “I’ve saved the world loads of times.”

“Same here,” Trickshot agreed. “You just need to lighten up a little, old man.”

“Old man?” said Winter. He glared at Trickshot. “Okay, for that comment alone, it’s on, kid.”

“Bring it,” said Trickshot. He glanced at Bolt and Beams. “I can take on all three of you guys at once. Sounds like a fun challenge.”

Winter summoned another set of Ice Daggers, while Bolt’s hands crackled even more loudly with red energy while Beams’ eyes began to glow. Winter wasn’t afraid of any of these kids. For killing Cyclone, he would make sure to teach these kids a lesson they would never forget.

Right before a huge brawl could break out, everything froze. Winter tried to move but found that every nerve in his body wouldn’t respond to his movements. Based on the confused and bewildered expressions worn by Bolt, Beams, and Trickshot, their bodies were also non-responsive.

“What the—?” said Bolt. “Why can’t I move my body?”

“Because, as amusing as it is to watch you apes beat each other to a pulp, King Aeno does not want any violence until the Tournament actually begins,” said a cold voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once. “His Majesty has given me the authority to do whatever is necessary to keep the peace until the start of the Tournament.”

Sigil appeared in the middle of the superhero triangle all of a sudden as if he had teleported. He looked around at the four superheroes with obvious disgust, lingering on Bolt especially, as if there was something about Bolt that made him uniquely disgusting to him.

“Hey, you’re the alien guy who invited me to the Tournament in the first place,” said Trickshot. “Was wondering where you were.”

“He invited all of us to the Tournament,” said Winter. He looked at Sigil. “You said the Tournament hasn’t started yet. When and where will it actually start?”

Sigil put his hands together as if in prayer. “Good question. The Tournament of Heroes will officially begin tomorrow. As for where it will begin, I should have told you before dropping you off here. Welcome to the Universal Castle, the castle and personal home of King Aeno, as well as the location of the Tournament itself.”