Hero (40 page)

The building shook again. This time it was a direct hit.

The children screamed. The heroes had found us.

*  *  *

We stood at the bottom doorway, ready to go. The sunlight poured inside and lit up our faces. We looked up at the swarm of heroes gathering in the air above us.

"Let's do this," I whispered to everyone.

The teacher was already scurrying out the back exit with the children and the tour guide.

Larry stepped forward. "I just want to say if we're gonna go out of this world swinging, there's no group I'd rather go out of this world swinging with."

Larry put his hand in the middle of the group, and the rest of us followed and clasped his fist in a huddle. Even my dad put in his good hand. I grabbed each hand and let the warmth of my power flow through them. I was protecting them from what was to come, passing along the extra immunities they'd need if our scheme was going to work. I looked into each of the faces around me, grateful for the people in my life. Here at the end of the world, during these final moments of our time on this planet, they were all I had, and it wasn't a disappointment. It was family. Scarlett's eyes brimmed with tears. She clasped Golden Boy's hand tightly, with affection. He looked into her eyes to see if she meant it, and she did.

"Let's do this for Ruth," I said. "On my count."

"One—"

We stood at the door, our muscles tensed, ready to break forward, the heroes fast approaching.

"Two—"

BAM! Scarlett ignited and flew into the air in the middle of a throng of heroes and met them head-on with the biggest blast of fire I'd ever seen.

Golden Boy sprinted into the crowd and clocked each hero on the ground. Then he zoomed up the side of the building and jumped onto Uberman's back. He whipped up Uberman's cape, covering his head with the fabric, and tried to steer him like he was riding a bull at the rodeo.

Larry turned and ran back up into the building. I heard his footsteps echo up the stairs.

On the way to the Memorial Tower, Dad and Dark Hero had taken down six heroes, three apiece, before I even had a chance to engage my first one, a reserve member known as the American Agent. He had bored me even during his prime—all he had was some superstrength serum and an inordinate sense of pride, that was about it. I kicked him in the groin and went on to the next challenge. I had some catching up to do.

In fact, there were even more renegade heroes than we'd thought, and we still had to clear most of them to get to the Wilson Memorial. I saw about fifty of them descend on Dark Hero. It was straight out of a zombie movie as he disappeared under a sea of heroes, who tore at his flesh. I couldn't imagine how he was going to survive.

The fight in the air wasn't much better. You could see more costumes than blue sky. Golden Boy propelled the blinded Uberman through the masses of floating heroes and gave Scarlett some breathing room. He zipped across the horizon and was gone.

Scarlett screamed like a battle-crazed soldier and blasted Warrior Woman clear across the harbor. But the odds were against her; tens of heroes became hundreds, and soon she had to shift into desperate defense mode.

Nothing seemed to stop Dad. He had an uncanny knack for engaging the heroes one at a time. He'd dispatch them faster than they were able to realize he was standing in front of them. He'd be on to the next before the last one hit the pavement. Still the numbers were stacking up against him. He had hundreds more to take out if we were ever going to make it to the Memorial, and we simply didn't have that kind of time.

Where the hell was Larry, anyway?

I dodged a catarang and took a talon across the face from the Lynx. She moved impossibly fast, and my reaction time was nothing compared to hers. I looked up for help, but Scarlett had disappeared in a swirl of capes high above, Dad was busy dodging and striking at least a hundred high-powered heroes, Golden Boy was zipping across the horizon, still trying to subdue Uberman, and I hadn't seen Dark Hero since he'd been overwhelmed by the masses. We needed a miracle.

And then I saw Larry out of the corner of my eye. He stood on the edge of our teetering building, our crumbling refuge. He raised his chin and faced the sky. He surveyed the incredible destruction around him. Then with the grace of an Olympic diver, he jogged a few paces back and began his approach. He ran with a determined look on his face, planted his feet on the concrete ledge, and leaped off the building in a perfect swan dive.

He flew through the air at an impossible speed toward the ground, and I thought about Larry the night I owned up to who I was, when he slipped me a Xanax and sped off in his muscle car—the young man who so desperately wanted to be a hero. This was his chance, and he plummeted toward the ground like he had at last found his purpose. I closed my eyes and said goodbye to my friend.

Larry splattered on the pavement into a million globular particles of pink goo that bounced out in all directions and permeated the air everywhere. I covered my mouth with my mask, and I saw Dad take in a deep gulp of air so he could hold his breath while he fought.

Then I watched the domino effect as hero after hero doubled over in pain, some with the bubonic plague, some with dysentery, others with the bird flu. They dropped in droves, and soon the hundreds of heroes who had been blocking our way to the Wilson Memorial were merely objects to be stepped over on our way inside the building. On our way to stop Justice.

The plan worked. Larry had cleared the way for us on the ground, and I'd given us just the right amount of my power so that we were immune.

But the heroes in the sky were unaffected by Larry's sacrifice. Even though Golden Boy's hands were moving at super-speed to pull Uberman's cape over his eyes, Uberman was about to get the upper hand. Scarlett tried to keep a hundred flying capes at bay, but I could tell she was reaching the limit of her powers, because her flame was beginning to flicker. Uberman finally managed to pull free of his cape. He swatted Golden Boy off his back with a speed that would have made Kevin jealous— if he'd had time to see the punch that sent him flying.

Scarlett yelped when she saw Kevin belted into the sky. She knew in a few seconds he would begin a deadly descent, so she summoned all the fire she had left and raced through the air to catch him.

She caught him about ten feet from the pavement. Hundreds of heroes swirled after her. I watched her fly up into the air and then into a narrow space where two buildings almost touched. In mass formation, the heroes couldn't fit through the narrow crevice, and this bought her a little time.

But there weren't any more miracles left for Scarlett and Golden Boy. As they disappeared over the top of another building, I saw a flock of heroes overwhelm and crush them to the ground, like they were trapped in the bottom of an hourglass with sand pouring down on them relentlessly. The light from Scarlett's flame flickered one last time and then disappeared for good. I closed my eyes and prayed for their safety. I had to remain calm and focused on the task at hand.

I raced to catch up with my dad as he sprinted toward the building. Scarlett and Kevin and Larry had bought us the time we needed—they'd distracted the heroes, and it was up to us to do the rest. Dark Hero was nowhere to be seen.

In seconds, I found myself staring up at the Wilson Memorial. It glowed with radiation, and I felt the warm light on my face as I gazed up at my destiny.

"Ready?" Dad looked at me, eager to charge.

I nodded, and he ripped open the front door.

Warrior Woman appeared in the doorway, her shield and sword raised for battle. She lifted her helmet and proclaimed, "This domain is mine and mine alone to protect!"

Dad glanced over his shoulder at me with his best you-can-not-be-serious look. Then we leaped at Warrior Woman.

He punched high and I kicked low. My kick bent her bare knee backward, and Dad took advantage of the open helmet to knock her in the face and send her flying across the room. She didn't get up.

Dad and I raced up the stairs.   

"This domain is mine and mine alone," Dad mumbled to himself as we took the stairs three and four at a time. "What a ridiculous thing to say."

I didn't think I could maintain this pace after the first fifty floors, but Dad showed no signs of slowing down. I struggled to keep up with him, and I thought I was going to barf. Suddenly I realized that Dark Hero had slipped in with us—when, I don't know. He stuck to the shadows even though there weren't many left, with all the radiation glow. The space around us became brighter the higher we climbed, and we charged up directly into the light.

When we yanked open the door to the floor below the observation deck, we had to cover our eyes. The crystallized formation had overtaken the building all the way up to the top. Gingerly, we stepped onto the smooth surface of the crystal.

"We don't have as much time as I thought," Dad said. "He's right above us."

We needed an inspired plan, one of those great, heroic last-minute Hail Mary passes that wins the Super Bowl. The kind of brilliant move that would give us the upper hand against impossible odds. The kind of idea that would make us icons for years to come and yield a succession of blockbusters and action figures. I wished I could think of one.

"Let's just take our chances," I said, ready to charge up to the last floor. I clutched the ring around my neck and thought maybe this was when I would need the ring. Mom said I'd know what to do with it when the time came, and since the world was about to end, this seemed as good a time as any.

"I have the ring," I told Dad. "Let's go."

"What ring?" He looked at me, puzzled.

"Mom told me not to think about it. But she said I'd know what to do with it when the time came, and this has got to be it."

"You've seen your mother?" Dad stepped toward me.

"She told me not to think about her." And here I was talking about her, thinking about her yet again.

Dad grabbed me by my shoulders. "You've seen her?" He began to shake me. "Tell me, where is she?"

"I don't know, she can't make herself visible anymore, she came back and had me get the ring." I could not have picked a worse time to spill all this, even if I thought it would help.

Dad turned white, the muscles in his face froze, and his whole body became rigid. He could barely breathe, barely allow himself to hope.

"But she was here," he said to himself, lost in thought, then faced me. "Where's the ring?"

I lifted it out of my shirt and showed it to him. He couldn't believe what he saw. He gently took the ring, the wedding gift he'd made for my mother, and cradled it in his palm. Suddenly, his fingers snapped shut around it, a Venus flytrap ensnaring its insect victim, and snatched it off my neck. The ends of the thin leather straps stung as they snapped against my skin.

Dark Hero suddenly appeared and pushed us apart, motioning for us to be quiet.

"What?" Dad said, perturbed at the interruption. He shoved the ring into his pocket. "What's he trying to tell us?"

I studied Dark Hero's face as he scanned the corners of the brightly glowing room. My eyes followed his.

"He thinks we're not alone."

I didn't say it out loud, but I wondered if it was Mom.

Smack!

Silver Bullet slammed me against the wall. The force knocked Dad to the floor, and I saw him struggle to catch the wind that had been knocked out of him. It was sloppy for Dad not to notice the impending attack, but he had been distracted. Silver Bullet had his hand halfway in my father's pocket before Dad could react.

Silver Bullet was fast, but Dark Hero had instincts so sharp they could slice a wall of steel. He kicked Silver Bullet clear to the other side of the room and reached into Dad's pocket and took out the ring.

Dark Hero stood in the middle of the room and held the ring up like bait, like a matador brandishing his red cape. He sprang up over a flash of silver and landed unharmed.

I saw him count three beats to himself, then he raised his arm and threw a right hook to the air.

Silver Bullet's face slowed down enough to become a recognizable metallic blur as it connected with Dark Hero's fist. He came tumbling to the ground, out cold.

Dad picked himself off the glowing floor, and I peeled myself off the wall.

"I know what to do." I looked at the ring in Dark Hero's hand.

Then I looked into Dark Hero's face. "Give me your clothes."

Dark Hero took a step back. I took a step forward.

"He won't know who we are if we change clothes. It'll give us the element of surprise."

Dark Hero shook his head, but I persisted. I didn't care if he thought I was a big old gaybag.

"C'mon, man, this is the end of the world. I don't care about your secret identity."

I faked right so that he'd move left, my old reliable basketball maneuver, and he fell for it. I grabbed the back of his cowl and pulled it off. In an instant, all the air flew out of my lungs. That face was unmistakable. I should have recognized his eyes all along. They bore a hole down to my heart.

"Hello, Thorn."

Goran's face glistened in the bright glow of the alien crystal.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

SUDDENLY SILVER BULLET came to and disappeared in a flash. That was bad; he was free to warn Justice.

"I'll stop him." Dad's voice echoed in the stairwell as he raced down the steps. His focus was back.

Meanwhile, I stood directly in front of the only person who'd been able to open my heart, the one person I could never get out of my head. I couldn't believe he was the one who'd been following me all this time. It suddenly made so much sense, and I felt like the biggest fool. This is what he'd been trying to tell me when he put my hands over his face and above his eyes.

We heard a steely clang echo from the stairwell, like sheet metal ringing a bell.

The  space  between  us  was  filled  with  electricity and anticipation and embarrassment, All my emotions were laid bare. I couldn't move.

I knew we didn't have any time, the world was depending on us, but I had to do what I did next. I could hear Ruth in my head. Don't wait. I reached out and put my hand on the side of his face. I had to touch him, to make sure he was real, to make sure he was there right in front of me.