The Superhero's Cure

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

I didn’t even hesitate. As soon as Healing Touch said that, I turned on my heel and marched straight out of the room. I heard Healing Touch calling at me to come back, but I didn’t bother to look over my shoulder or go back. I just walked—almost ran—through the hallways of Hero Island Hospital, passing nurses, patients, and visitors on my way toward the front door. A few people looked at me funny as I passed and a handful even called my name. But I just ignored them and walked faster and faster, until I reached the front door and emerged outside into the crisp October air, the smell of saltwater entering my nostrils as the rays of the sun rained down overhead.

Instead of running off, however, I flew straight up into the air and landed on the roof of the Hospital. I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest, staring out at the excellent view of Hero Island that the Hospital afforded me. I could see the Tower of Heroes, the Justice Statue, the Hero Island Museum, and pretty much every other major building of note, but I wasn’t really focused on the beautiful sight before me. I was thinking about what Healing Touch just told me about Blizzard and how much time she had left before she died.

One week … Why did he have to tell me that? And why did he say it so abruptly? I wasn’t normally one to get highly emotional, but that news was just a punch to the gut. Prior to hearing this news, I had had hope that Blizzard would make it through, that soon she would be back on her feet again, and we could go out on dates again like we used to. I had even planned on taking Blizzard on a ‘sky date,’ which was basically where I held her and flew her around Showdown. I did that once in another city and she really liked it, so I had hoped to do it again.

But if Healing Touch was right, then I would never be able to take Blizzard out on another date ever again. It seemed like the Neo-Killer was going to get one last kill even after he died. I wished I could punch that monster in the face again, but even if I could, that wouldn’t make Blizzard feel better and I knew it.

“Bolt?” said Valerie’s cool monotone voice in my ear all of a sudden. “Your vitals suggest you are feeling severe emotional distress at the moment. Did something happen?”

Snapping out of my thoughts, I said, “You mean you weren’t listening to what Healing Touch said?”

“My apologies,” said Valerie. “I was in the process of figuring out which Vault we should visit next. I did not think you needed me for this checkup with Healing Touch. Did he say something important?”

I sighed. No point in getting angry at Valerie for doing her job, so I said, “He said Blizzard has a new disease that can’t be cured, and she’s going to die in a week.”

“I thought so,” said Valerie without hesitation. “Healing Touch normally doesn’t take this long to release patients from his care. According to the Hero Island Hospital’s website, most patients are released within a day or two of being admitted. That Blizzard has been here for a month and her condition has only gotten worse confirms what I was thinking about her likelihood of survival.”

“Glad you’re happy,” I said bitterly, watching as a boy and his mom—probably a couple of tourists—entered the Hospital below me, without looking up at me. “Guess someone has to be.”

“My apologies, Bolt,” said Valerie. “I did not mean to be insensitive to your obvious emotional distress. I was merely offering the observation that—”

“I know what you were doing, Val,” I said. I sighed. “And I’m not angry at you, but this is the worst news I’ve heard in a while and it’s going to take some time before I accept it, if I ever do.”

“I understand,” said Valerie. “Although I lack emotions like you, I’ve observed humans long enough to understand that it can take a while before your emotions settle after hearing such terrible news. I remember how long it took you to get over your father’s death not too long ago.”

I scowled. “Another happy memory. You’re just on a roll today, aren’t you, Val?”

“My apologies again,” said Valerie, “I was simply—”

“Could you just shut up for a minute?” I said. “I want to be alone. Go and alphabetize Dad’s Vaults or something stupid like that.”

“Alphabetizing Genius’s Vaults will not take me more than—”

I tapped my earcom twice and Valerie’s voice went quiet. A part of me felt bad for abruptly hanging up on her like that, but right now I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her or anyone else. At some point, I would need to get down from her and go back into the Hospital, but I was too upset to do that right now. I knew I would probably have to apologize to Touch for storming out like that, but that would be later. Right now, I just wanted to stew in my misery, even if that meant I looked like a kid while doing it.

“Well, well, well,” said a familiar female voice behind me, “if it isn’t Mr. Maturity himself.”

Startled, I almost fell off the edge of the Hospital’s roof, but then a shadow tendril emerged from a nearby window and caught me. Surprised, I didn’t do anything as the tendril raised me up and deposited me back on the roof gently, though this time further away from the edge, probably so I wouldn’t fall again. The tendril then dissipated into nothing, allowing me to stand up and turn around to see who had spoken.

A young woman with short dark hair stood not far from me. She wore a dark leather uniform, with a patch with the word ‘G-MEN’ emblazoned on it in gold lettering. She was slightly shorter than me and nowhere near as muscular, but she regarded me with an amused smirk on her lips and her hands on her hips.

“Shade?” I said, staring at the G-Man agent in disbelief. “When did you get here? And how long have you been following me?”

“Oh, I got here about an hour after you did,” said Shade, her smirk never leaving her lips. She held up a cotton candy stick out of nowhere and licked her lips. “I got a bit distracted by this cotton candy that one of the vendors here was selling. It’s strawberry, my favorite.”

She took a bit out of the cotton candy and swallowed it. “Ah. Delicious.”

My eyes narrowed. Shade was a G-Man agent, which meant she worked for the Department of Superpowered & Extraterrestrial Beings. Although the G-Men allegedly existed to protect the United States from superhuman and alien threats, in my experience, they were rarely up to any good and usually used ‘for the greater good’ as an excuse to do the worst stuff. I’d had quite a few, mostly negative encounters with them, especially with Shade, who I still wasn’t sure if she genuinely liked me or if she simply liked to troll me. In any case, I had to be careful around her, because if Shade was here, then that meant she probably wanted something.

“Got bored spying on innocent people for Camus and decided to come down and pay me a visit?” I said.

Shade finished eating her cotton candy and tossed the stick away. “Actually, this trip is for work rather than pleasure. We heard that your girlfriend, Snowflake—”

“Blizzard,” I corrected.

“—whatever her name is,” Shade continued without missing a beat, “is very sick. Deathly sick, based on what I overheard Healing Touch tell you.”

“Were you eavesdropping on us?” I said indignantly.

“Sure,” said Shade without a hint of shame. “What’s the point in being able to blend in with the shadows if you can’t eavesdrop on people? Seriously, for being such a fast superhuman, you sure are slow sometimes.”

I sighed in exasperation, but said, “You’re right. Blizzard is sick. And she is going to die in a week if we can’t cure her.”

“How sad,” said Shade, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I never liked her all that much—or any of your bratty friends, for that matter—but I can’t say I will enjoy seeing her die. The Neo-Killer already took poor Phobia from us. Losing another super to him would be very devastating.”

I knew who Phobia was. He was a G-Man agent originally assigned to the Neo-Killer case, although he was killed by the Neo-Killer himself around the same time the Neo-Killer poisoned Blizzard. I never got to know him very well, but Phobia came across as the only honest G-Man agent I’d met. “Yeah, Phobia’s death was tragic. Seemed like a good guy.”

“He was,” said Shade, nodding. “He got along with everyone and always worked hard on whatever case he was given. He was the guy who recruited me into the G-Men in the first place, so I feel like I owe him for that.”

“Really?” I said. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yep,” said Shade. She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now, though, given how he’s dead. He’s not the first G-Man to die in the line of duty, and sadly, he won’t be the last, either.”

Shade seemed to be expressing actual sadness at Phobia’s death, which struck me as weird because I had never thought that the G-Men actually cared about each other. Then again, Cadmus had seemed very disturbed that one time Shade nearly died, so perhaps there was more camaraderie among them than I thought. Sure would be nice if they could show some of that camaraderie to the rest of us, though.

“What’s your point, Shade?” I said. “I know you aren’t here just to comfort me. Let’s cut to the chase.”

“So pushy,” said Shade, rolling her eyes. “But very well. Cadmus would probably yell at me for wasting so much time, so let’s get to the point.”

Shade gestured at the roof below us. “You know Blizzard’s supposedly incurable disease? The one that you said would kill her in a week?”

I nodded. “Yeah, what about it?”

Shade’s smile seemed to take on a far more sinister appearance. “It’s not actually incurable. The G-Men have the cure … and we are perfectly willing to give it to you.”