by Lucas Flint
“Good point,” said Rubberman. “Don’t worry, Chief. We’ll find a way in. Tell your officers to stand down, but be ready to come in as backup in case Fro-Zen turns out to be more dangerous than we thought.”
“We?” Chief Williams repeated uncomprehendingly. Then he finally seemed to notice me, because he looked at me and asked, in a puzzled tone, “Who is this young man?”
“My new sidekick, Beams,” said Rubberman, patting me on the shoulder. “He’ll be assisting me in defeating Fro-Zen and rescuing the hostages.”
“So the rumors were true after all,” said Williams. Behind him, I saw one of his deputies slap a ten dollar bill into the hands of the other one; apparently they had been making bets on whether Rubberman would get a new sidekick or not. “Well, I don’t know you very well, young man, but if Rubberman trusts you, then I do as well. I know you will be of great help, whatever your powers are.”
“Uh, thanks,” I said awkwardly, mostly because I didn’t have a lot of experience talking with police officers. “We’ll do our best, officer.”
“Then let’s get started,” said Rubberman. “Williams, tell your officers to step away from the walls. Beams and I will find a way in.”
“Yes, of course,” said Williams.
Williams immediately began barking orders into the walkie talkie attached to his collar, while the two deputies ran to tell the other cops to keep their distance. Even the helicopter above was starting to pull back, although it didn’t go too far away, of course.
Meanwhile, Rubberman and I walked up to the huge ice walls surrounding the school. My costume was designed to keep me warm no matter what the weather; even so, I could still feel the cold air radiating off the walls and it even made my visor fog up a bit, although my helmet had a built-in de-fogger that kept my visor clear. Rubberman didn’t seem bothered by the cold, although my understanding was that Rubberman’s suit was made out of the same materials as my own. But he wasn’t even wearing a helmet; he wore a mask with his chin exposed. Guess he must have been tougher than me. I also noticed that Rubberman’s eyes were focusing on the tops of the walls; he was probably looking out for Fro-Zen. I also looked at the tops of the walls, but Fro-Zen was not standing on top of them. That made sense; if Fro-Zen had been standing on top of the walls, that would have made him an easy target for the police snipers. He was probably somewhere inside the school, holding everyone hostage, where no one could shoot him.
Rubberman and I stopped in front of the walls. They were huge, at least as tall as a two-story building, maybe as tall as a three-story building. They were so thick that I couldn’t even see through them. Remembering what Chief Williams had said happened to one of his officers who touched the ice walls, I didn’t touch them; however, Rubberman did pick up a rock from the ground and hurled it at the walls with surprising strength. The rock actually shattered when it hit the ice wall, and it had looked like a pretty solid rock, too.
“Okay, boss, how do we get in?” I said. “Do you think you could smash the walls apart with your fists?”
Rubberman shook his head. “No. While I could conceivably stretch my arms back and slam my fists against the walls, I doubt it would even crack the surface. Fro-Zen clearly made sure that these walls were too thick for someone to break down through brute force alone. If Prime Man was here, he might be able to do it, but even then, it would probably take him a few minutes of nonstop punching to even crack it.”
“Was Fro-Zen always this powerful?” I said, staring up at the towering ice walls that reflected the rays of the sun. “Because this seems kind of ridiculous.”
Rubberman shook his head. “No. While he’s always been gifted at using his ice powers, there was no way he could have done this when he was my sidekick. He must have grown stronger since leaving Golden City; that’s partly why I didn’t beat him back in the park. I had thought that he hadn’t grown in the four years since I last saw him, but that was a mistake on my part.”
I gulped. “Do you think we’ll be able to beat him?”
“I don’t know,” said Rubberman. “The only way to know is to face him in battle and do our best. That means we need to get past this wall.”
“Okay, but that just returns us to our original problem,” I said, glancing at the walls. “Namely, how the heck do we make an entrance? If we can’t use force and we can’t climb over it, what should we do?”
Rubberman smiled. “Beams, have you already forgotten what your powers are?”
“I can shoot lasers from my eyes,” I said. “How will that help us?”
“You can melt a hole through the ice that we can climb through,” said Rubberman, gesturing at the walls.
“Are you sure I can do that?” I said. I put my hand on my visor. “These walls are pretty thick.”
“I think you can,” said Rubberman. “Especially if you are firing at full power. At the very least, you should give it a shot.”
I decided that Rubberman had a point, so I nodded and was about to fire my lasers when a crack appeared in the ice in front of us. I was so surprised by the sudden appearance of the crack that I almost thought that I had somehow already cracked the ice without shooting my eye beams, but then I realized that my eyes felt normal.
Before our startled eyes, the ice in front of us began to crack open, like double doors. It opened inwards, slowly but surely, until there was soon a simple doorway in the walls that lead directly to the schoolyard. Beyond the doorway, I could see the front steps of Harold Golden High, covered in sleet and frost, but I didn’t see Fro-Zen or anyone else on the other side.
Above the doorway were words that looked like they had been carved in the ice, words I hadn’t noticed before, but must have just appeared along with the doorway. The words read, ‘ENTER.’
“Well, that’s certainly not ominous,” I said. I looked at Rubberman. “What do you think, boss? Should we enter or not?”
“It is probably a trap,” said Rubberman, “but at the same time, we don’t have much of a choice. The hostages likely won’t last much longer and we have no other way in. We’ll just have to risk it. Ready?”
I nodded and the two of us passed through the doorway, ready for whatever trap Fro-Zen may have set for us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
As soon as Rubberman and I passed through the doorway, the doors immediately slammed shut all on their own. Not only that, but the doors themselves disappeared, becoming part of the walls once again. That meant that there was no going back now. Either we beat Fro-Zen and saved the hostages or Fro-Zen killed us. Rubberman didn’t look afraid; however, he clearly had his guard up, his eyes scanning the school and its front steps carefully for Fro-Zen or any other dangers. I decided to follow his lead; however, I couldn’t shake the feeling of cold fear that ran down my spine, because I was remembering how outmatched I’d been against those two thugs before and I didn’t know how I’d survive a battle against Fro-Zen.
Harold Golden High looked like someone had left it inside a giant freezer for months and had forgotten to take it out before it got frostbite. The steps were covered in sleet and frost, making them dangerous to walk upon, while the building itself was covered in thick, icy snow that certainly didn’t make it look very magical. The statue of Harold Golden himself at the front of the school was covered in icicles, which hung off his arms like the wings of a bird. The bushes were frosty, clearly killed by the cold, while the few bicycles in the bicycle rack appeared to have been frozen to the rack. At the right side of the building, the teachers’ cars were all totally frozen, their windows and windshields covered in thick layers of frost that would probably take forever to melt. The windows of the school looked completely frozen over; I doubted you would be able to open them, which was probably intentional on Fro-Zen’s part in order to make sure that none of the hostages could escape and to prevent police from entering that way.
At the top of the steps, the front doors, oddly enough, did not appear to be frozen shut. And the rest of the schoolyard w
as absolutely freezing; with the walls curved like a dome, the cold air was mostly trapped in here. Even with my costume’s thermal design, I found myself starting to shiver, and even Rubberman looked like he was doing everything he could to not shiver. As for Fro-Zen himself, he was nowhere to be seen, and neither were the hostages, although I figured they were somewhere in the school.
It was also darker in here than outside. Although the morning sun’s rays were starting to creep over the tops of the walls, the walls were still too thick for the rays to pierce. As a result, it was even colder than it normally would have been. I was pretty sure you could have put the contents of a very large freezer in here and none of it would melt for months.
“T-This is c-crazy,” I said, my teeth chattering involuntarily. “Was this how the elementary school he attacked looked?”
Rubberman shook his head. “No. At the time, he only used his ice powers to lock himself and his hostages in one classroom. He could never have taken an entire school like this or create giant ice walls or make doors in those walls like that. And all from inside a building, with no direct view of the walls themselves. He used to have to be able to see his ice creations in order to manipulate them to do what he wanted.”
“That’s because I didn’t know the true extent of my power, Dennis,” came Fro-Zen’s gravelly voice, which sounded like it was coming from the huge ice walls all around us. “It wasn’t until I quit working for you and went on a journey of self-discovery that I learned just what I really am.”
All of a sudden, a huge snowstorm came out of nowhere. Literally nowhere; one moment the air was still, the next we were caught in the middle of the largest snowstorm I’d ever seen. Both Rubberman and I began shivering and shuddering uncontrollably, but then the snowstorm went away just as quickly as it came, although the air was still ridiculously cold and our costumes were partially covered in snow.
But we weren’t alone anymore. Standing in front of the statue of Harold Golden, leaning against its base with his arms crossed in front of his chest, was Fro-Zen himself. He still wore his huge overcoat and wide-brimmed hat, but his eyes were different. They were glowing blue, which made him look less like a human and more like the living embodiment of ice itself.
“Edward,” said Rubberman, his tone even colder than Fro-Zen’s ice. “Where are the hostages?”
“In the school,” Fro-Zen said. His tone was even icier than Rubberman’s, although it had a hint of amusement to it, too. “Don’t worry, everyone is safe and sound. I left them a space heater to make sure they didn’t freeze before you arrived. For a while there I thought that you might not show up, but I should have known better than to think that. After all, the city will most likely pay you very handsomely for saving so many innocent lives.” He spread his arms. “I can see the headline now: ‘LOCAL SUPERHERO SAVES SCHOOL KIDS FROM DELUSIONAL SUPERVILLAIN.’ Perhaps the mayor will even give you the key to the city; well, unless you already have it, anyway.” He suddenly scowled. “Of course, I expect today’s headlines will instead read something like ‘LOCAL SUPERHERO KILLED BY DELUSIONAL SUPERVILLAIN,’ once I’m done with you.”
“I’m not dying today, Edward,” said Rubberman. “No one is. Not even you. You’re just going to go to jail, like every other supervillain I’ve fought.”
Fro-Zen chuckled. “Can you put handcuffs on a blizzard? Can you jail an avalanche? Dennis, you still don’t quite get it. Not that I’m surprised. You don’t understand anything unless it involves money or promoting your business.” He put his hands on his chest. “I can’t be arrested. There is not a prison on the planet that can hold me.”
“Every criminal can be arrested,” said Rubberman. “I caught you once. I can do it again.”
“How arrogant,” said Fro-Zen. “I’m not an inexperienced teenager anymore, Dennis. I am the blizzard and the snow, the ice and the frost. Even Prime Man couldn’t beat me.”
“You haven’t changed much since you were a kid,” said Rubberman. “Still bragging and still arrogant with no accomplishments to back up either.”
“At least I care about people,” said Fro-Zen. “Unlike you, I don’t let innocent people die because they can’t afford my services.”
“No, you just endanger their lives because of a petty grudge you hold against me for free,” said Rubberman. “A real man of the people, you are.”
Fro-Zen growled. He pointed at us and shouted, “I did this only because I knew it would draw you out of your little cave! I don’t want to harm the students and faculty, I really and truly don’t. But I know that you don’t want to look bad, that you are obsessed with money and fame, so I knew you would come if I put innocent lives in danger.”
“I suppose it worked,” said Rubberman. “Too bad Beams and I will beat you.”
Fro-Zen suddenly smirked and looked at me. “Ah, I wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you. Right, Alex?”
“How do you know his name?” said Rubberman in shock. He looked at me. “Beams, did you tell him?”
“I figured it out on my own,” said Fro-Zen. “Not that it matters in the long run. Losing your sidekick license is a small price to pay for doing the right thing, isn’t it, Alex?”
“W-What do you mean?” I said. I didn’t stutter because of the cold.
Fro-Zen’s pointing finger turned into an open palm. “You remember our conversation in the park. You’ve had time to think about what I told you, about the superhero industry in general and Rubberman in particular. You know just how hopelessly corrupt this industry is. You know what must be done to destroy it.”
“I—” I said, but Rubberman interrupted me and said, “Alex, what did Fro-Zen tell you in the park? What did he tell you?”
“Everything you didn’t, Dennis,” said Fro-Zen, his smirk wider than ever. “I told him the truth about your skeletons, the truth about the superhero industry. He knows how this industry corrupts good people. He knows what money does to innocent people, especially when it is worshiped like a god. He has seen the truth and he doesn’t like it. Right, Alex?”
I didn’t look at Rubberman. I was still conflicted about what Fro-Zen told me that night in the park. I had tried to forget about it, but it was impossible. He was right that I didn’t like what he told me, whether it was true or false. Rubberman’s reaction to that woman who had almost been mugged by those thugs certainly didn’t help matters, but …
“Even if I don’t like it, who says I will join you?” I said. “What if you lied to me?”
Fro-Zen chuckled. “Lied? I am not a liar. I tell the truth, always. That woman who was murdered by her ex-husband is no invention of mine. You remember her, don’t you, Dennis?”
I looked at Rubberman. He looked stricken, as if Fro-Zen had just jammed a long, jagged knife into his heart.
“Rubberman?” I said. “Is that true?”
Rubberman nodded, though without looking at me. He was looking at Fro-Zen and his hands had balled into fists. “Edward, I see that you still don’t get it. You know that it was a mistake, one I haven’t repeated since then.”
“Oh, is that true?” said Fro-Zen. “Don’t lie to me, Dennis. I know you’ve turned away hundreds of innocent people, have left countless individuals to fall victim to terrible crimes, all because they didn’t offer opportunities to advance your business or swell your bank account. You are just like every other greedy superhero bastard out there and don’t try to pretend otherwise.”
“I’m not pretending anything,” said Rubberman. “You don’t understand what you’re saying, Edward, and you don’t know what I’ve been doing since we last worked together. I don’t know where you’ve been these past four years or who you’ve talked to, but—”
“Don’t gaslight me,” Fro-Zen snarled. The temperature in the air dropped even further. “I’ve seen the dark underside of this industry, the corruption and deals made between the government and superheroes. It is a corrupt business, corrupt to its very core, and you are the emblem of that corruption. Once your cor
pse is shown on every screen in the world, every superhero on the planet will know to shake with fear at the mere mention of my name.”
Fro-Zen looked at me again. “And they can fear your name, too, Alex, if you do the right thing and join me. Abandon Dennis and his corrupt dealings. Ally with me and together we can cleanse the Earth of this corrupt industry.”
I hesitated. I didn’t know what to say. Fro-Zen’s words were incredibly persuasive and I couldn’t help but remember what Rubberman told me about how he would have left that woman to the thugs if I hadn’t intervened. Maybe Fro-Zen was right. Maybe Rubberman really was as bad as he said he was. Maybe I should betray Rubberman and side with Fro-Zen. Just because Fro-Zen was crazy did not mean that he was wrong about the nature of the superhero industry, after all. Maybe it did need to be destroyed … and maybe I needed to be the one to do it.
But then I remembered other things about Rubberman. I remembered how he didn’t fire me after I wrecked his office during my fight with the ninja. I remembered how he and Adams trained me to use my powers for good. I remembered how Rubberman carried me to his Cave when I was injured by the thugs and had Adams tend to my wounds. I remembered how Rubberman told the woman we saved that she didn’t have to pay us for saving her life.
“Well, Alex?” said Fro-Zen. “What is your answer?”
I looked Fro-Zen straight in the eye. “No.”
Fro-Zen’s smirk vanished as quickly as ice melting under the sun. “What?”
“I’m not going to betray Rubberman,” I said. I spoke as firmly as I could, because I knew there was no going back after this. “I want nothing to do with you.”
Fro-Zen looked genuinely shocked for a moment, as if I had just slapped him in the face and he wasn’t quite sure what happened. He blinked several times before shaking his head. Now an angry scowl crossed his features and he pulled his outstretched hand away. His hands shook and he looked like he was slowly losing his sanity.
