CHAPTER SIX

The Real Showdown

“Who are you?” asked Captain Tornado. He stared at me with a rather confused look on his face. Then he looked around the bank. “Am I on one of those joke-situation reality shows?”

“I’m a…a…superhero?” I gulped. My statement came out like a question.

“Seriously?” Captain Tornado asked. “You can’t be older than ten or eleven. I can’t fight you. That’s child abuse.”

“Well, uh…I’m older and…uh, tougher than I look,” I said, almost in a whisper. This was not going as well as I had hoped.

“His name is POWER BOY!” Sandro shouted. “Want to find out why? You may not like the answer.” Sandro’s witty banter was definitely better than mine. “It’s because he has powers.” Or maybe not.

“I’ve got this,” I said to Sandro.

But Sandro has a big mouth. Once he starts talking, he can’t seem to stop. “But they’re not very useful. He just makes ice cubes with his fingers,” he added.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” I asked Sandro through gritted teeth.

“He’s going to find out sooner or later,” whispered Sandro. “This way he’s not expecting much, and you can really impress him with your skills!”

It wasn’t a bad idea. The problem was that I didn’t have any skills. Suddenly, it occurred to me that I should have practiced before I decided to take on my first bad guy.

“Listen, kid,” Captain Tornado said gently. “You’re out of your element. This won’t end well for you. So please head outside and let me go about my business.” Then he walked past me and made his way toward the bank vault.

The security guards tried to tackle Captain Tornado. With a swish of the supervillain’s fingers, two tornadoes picked up the security guards and tossed them into garbage cans.

Captain Tornado strolled over to the bank vault. Then he used his powers to suck the door open. He stopped to smile at all the money. He was about to take everything!

I had to act fast. I closed my eyes and concentrated, squeezing my fist as tightly as I could. I could feel it getting colder and colder.

“I can do this,” I said to myself. “I CAN DO THIS!”

Opening my hand, I aimed it at Captain Tornado. A single ice cube shot right out of my fingers and hit him in the forehead.

“Whoa!” said Chloe. “You did it!” Sandro and Chloe gave each other a high five. They believed in me—but did I believe in myself?

Captain Tornado just rubbed his forehead and said, “Hey, that almost hurt. Good for you, kid. One day, you might be really good at this hero stuff. But not today.”

I couldn’t believe the supervillain was giving me a pep talk.

“Okay, I’ve got work to do,” he said. He flicked a mini-tornado in my direction, and it pushed me back toward the wall. “Go home, kid. Do your homework. Eat your veggies. And make something of yourself. Crime doesn’t pay…well, unless you rob banks.”

With a wave of his hands, Captain Tornado made a massive whirlwind. It began to suck each and every bill out of the bank vault, fly it across the bank, and then stack it neatly in his getaway car. His powers were awesome!

“Peter, do something!” pleaded Chloe. “The money I made doing chores was in that vault. I was saving it up to buy a video game!”

Making that one ice cube took everything I had. I was so tired, I could have fallen asleep right there. But I needed to do something. Not just for the city, but for my friends. I stepped between Captain Tornado and the door.

“I-I can’t let you leave,” I said. “Not until you return the money.”

“Come on, kid,” Captain Tornado said. “Enough is enough. You lost. Now please move.”

This wasn’t how I’d pictured the showdown in my head. Captain Tornado stood there for a moment, staring me down. I had no idea what he was thinking. Was it possible I had pushed him too far? Was he going to hurt us? I’d forgotten that superheroics always end with a big fight. I’d never been in a fight before.

Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted behind me.

“This ends here and now, Tornado!” the voice cried out. Now I was in big trouble. I didn’t know who to be more scared of: the supervillain…or my mom.