Free Hero by Perry Moore Page B

sprang from the driver's seat and went after the villains in the back. Ssnake was the only one who looked like he could put up a decent fight at this point; Snaggletooth and Vamp were down for the count. When he reached them, the Man in Black hesitated for a moment before he threw a punch and looked back in my direction, just enough time for Ssnake to wrap his protective arms around his partners and pry open an emergency window exit.
    The Man in Black didn't try to stop them, and suddenly he was beside me. I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck. He grabbed my hand, hard, like you would discipline a child.
    I'd been so busy staring at Uberman that I'd taken my hand off the young mother's wound. The Man in Black looked deep in my eyes. I was so mortified that I'd let my attention wander, I wanted him to pull off his cowl and say something. Instead he placed my hand back on the mother's side. She was now unconscious. My powers had been more effective than I'd expected, but as soon as I'd taken my hand off, the wound had begun to gush again. Now I kept my hand firmly on it. I couldn't look the Man in Black in the eye after that.
    Ssnake enveloped his partners in one single swipe, bundled them to his chest, and spread out his back, king cobra—style, like a parachute. The bottom half of his body morphed into a coil, and he bounced from the bus like a loaded spring. The Man in Black came within a millimeter of snatching Snaggletooth's paw as they floated away and disappeared into the darkness.
    Another slight jolt to the bus, and we looked down through the gaping split in the floor and saw the river below us as we flew through the air. The lady in the muumuu held her hand to her chest and crouched down by the wall, like she was afraid she might fall through. Then we saw Warrior Woman piecing the floor back together like a zipper, one chunk at a time, and all the passengers began to applaud.
    Uberman opened the door politely.
    "You're safe now, folks, back on good ol' terra firma."
    There was a flash of silver, and suddenly Silver Bullet stood above me.
    "I'll take it from here, young man." He scooped the bleeding young mother into his arms and whisked her off, presumably to the nearest hospital.
    In the seat next to us, her little girl pulled on one of the tangles in her hair. Tears began to well in her eyes.
    "Where's he taking my mama?"
    "Wait," I called out. "You forgot about her—"
    Another whirr of light, this time golden, and suddenly Golden Boy, Silver Bullet's longtime sidekick, appeared in front of me.
    "We never forget," he said without an expression. In a flash he'd cradled the little girl and was off, kicking up some dirt and grime from the floorboard in my face. As I rubbed a tiny piece of gravel out of the corner of my eye, I wondered if he'd done it on purpose.
    I stood and dusted myself off and saw that the lady in the muumuu was already deep in the thrall of Uberman, who was unwedging her from one of the seats.
    On the street outside, reporters, cameramen, and adoring fans swarmed the League. The lights lit up Uberman, Warrior Woman, the Spectrum—aka Dr. Roy G. Biv—and then the sea of media parted to make room for the longstanding leader of the League.
    Justice raised his hands high, a command to listen, and the crowd obeyed.
    "Nothing to see here, folks. Just doing our jobs."
    He spoke plainly in the voice of the common man, but with just enough grave authority to give his words weight.
    Justice had been the League's leader ever since I was alive, but the guy was in better shape than I'd ever be. He had to be only a few years younger than my dad, and I wondered about the secret to his longevity in a business that seemed to spit out a new, rabidly popular teen superhero group every year or two.
    The mob of reporters was shouting questions on top of each other. It was bedlam.
    "We'll comment on all that and we'll answer all your questions at the proper time. Right now you'll have to please let us go