Fall of Heroes (11 page)

11
STARLA

T
hey regrouped downstairs. Bug and the Junior Rangers lounged around in the living room, a big area with cream-colored carpet and brown, overstuffed leather furniture. Through a window, Alex could see Lone Star in a chair on the back porch, huddled in the corner, as far out of sight as possible. He looked defeated.

When Alex walked in, he felt as though all the sound had been sucked out of the room. Everyone stared at him, and he looked down at the floor uncomfortably, trying to figure out if he should say a few words to address what he was sure everyone was thinking about. Luckily, a rising argument from down the hallway started to drift into the living room, capturing everyone's attention. He didn't recognize the voice that spoke.

“This city's about one disaster away from crowning the New Rangers as absolute rulers, and it seems like every local government body is onboard with them. Whatever's happened since you've been gone happened by design, and I'm guessing you know more about it than I do.”

“That's Carla, Lone Star's sister,” Mallory whispered to Alex. “Apparently she works with the district attorney in the city.”

“You should ask Amp and Alex to walk you through it.” Lux's voice filtered out from the hallway. “They know the information inside and out. They probably have a better idea of what Cloak's going to do now than we ever could.”

“I am
not
trusting the fate of the city to the imaginations of a handful of kid superheroes and possibly reformed supervillains,” Carla spat.

The door in the hallway flew open, and Carla stepped out. It was the first time Alex had gotten a good look at her. She was in her midthirties, he guessed. She wore a dark-navy suit, her strawberry-blond hair cropped short around her head—maybe even shorter than his own unkempt hair. She didn't look much like her brother, exactly, but there was something similar about the way they presented themselves. She might not have had Lone Star's height or stature, but she stood in front of Alex with a look of determination and self-assurance.

Carla locked eyes with Alex and his fellow former Cloak members. Her frown deepened as she shook her head.

“I apologize if you heard me say a few harsh things just now,” she said, stepping forward. “You can imagine that emotions are running a little high. I never meant to question how much any of you have contributed to this city. And from the brief rundown I got from Lux, it sounds like I owe you for saving my brother. I'm Carla, by the way. As you probably already know, my relationship with Victor—I'm sorry, with Lone Star—is highly classified information.”

“I didn't even know about her,” Lux said quietly. “It was a matter of protection. The last thing Lone Star wanted was for one of our enemies to hurt our loved ones to get to us.”

“The rest of my family is on an emergency trip to the in-laws until everything blows over,” Carla said. “I have a lot of explaining to do once they get back.”

“Do you have powers?” Alex asked. A glimmer of hope welled up in him that they might have stumbled across a new Lone Star.

“Only in the sense that I've managed to figure out how to convict all the criminals dropped off on our doorstep by flying men and women in tights and spandex over the last few years. Some of us have to keep our feet planted in the real world.” She cocked her head toward the window. “He wanted to call me ‘Starla' and market us as a brother-sister crime-fighting duo when we were kids.”

One by one they introduced themselves. When Misty spoke, Carla's eyes narrowed.

“I've seen you on the news. There's a
billboard
with your face on it near my office. I know the woman claiming to be your mother. Is she?”

“She's my mom,” Misty said quietly. “I haven't seen her for a long time, though. She always lived in the city, and I always lived underground. She's a part of Cloak, but she doesn't have any superpowers.” Her voice got quiet. “A billboard?”

“I never did like her,” Carla muttered.

Misty stared down at the floor.

“I'm sorry,” Carla said. “I didn't mean—You all must be hungry. I'll order—No, we probably don't want people coming around. I'll see what I can find in the kitchen. You can make yourselves at home. My children's rooms are upstairs, but some of you will have to sleep on the couches down here. I can't say I was prepared for anything quite like this.”

She seemed happy to excuse herself, leaving Lux to face her younger teammates. She looked weary. Haggard.

“You're not feeling any . . . stronger?” Bug asked.

She shook her head, glancing out at Lone Star. She moved toward the back door but then stopped, sinking instead into an oversized chair. The room was quiet again.

“Listen,” Lux said. “I don't want you to take anything Carla said to heart. No one's questioning your loyalty or anything.”

She spoke as if she was talking to everyone, but her eyes were on Alex.

“I guess if I were in her shoes, I probably wouldn't trust us either,” he said.

“It's almost funny,” Lux said. “You're probably more like the founding Rangers than any of us.”

Everyone looked to her in confusion. At first she seemed a little worried, opening her mouth to speak but not actually saying anything. Then, she got a curious expression on her face and turned to Alex and his fellow ex-Cloak members.

“How much do you all
know
about the history of Cloak and the Rangers?”

It was just one question, but at the same time, every question. It was something he'd never really had to think about before. He'd grown up in the shadow of Victory Park—the Rangers of Justice had always been their ultimate enemies. They were the force that stood in the way of Cloak's rule, perhaps the only people who had the power to do so. That's all he'd ever
needed
to know. Beyond that, he knew that the Rangers had first banded together before he'd been born. They'd cleaned up Sterling City, and their presence had helped to turn it into the metropolis it was today. Or it least that it
had
been.

“The Cloak Society is made up of people unafraid of breaking laws to get what they want,” Gage said. “The world calls them supervillains. The Rangers of Justice are the law enforcers called heroes. It's only logical that two such forces would clash. Philosophically speaking, I'm not even sure one could exist without the other.”

“How does that make sense?” Kyle asked. “I mean, if we stop Cloak, we'll still be Rangers.”

“You can't have heroes without villains. And there will always be someone else,” Gage said, glancing at Alex. “We'll need to brief them on the Guild of Daggers when you're feeling up to it.”

“Then they didn't tell you,” Lux said. “I can understand why. I mean, we hadn't told the Junior Rangers yet.”

“Told us what?” Kirbie asked.

Lux paused. She took another look at Lone Star outside, then a deep breath.

“How did the Rangers of Justice form?” she asked.

“Bastion,” Amp said. “He was the first Ranger almost three decades ago. When he saw that crime in America was on the rise and that villains with dangerous powers were becoming more and more common, he gathered together forces of good from across the country. In the name of truth and peace, they formed the Rangers of Justice. Eventually, they settled in Sterling City. Bastion died fairly young. He was sick. Leadership was passed down over the years to my father, the Guardian, and after Victory Park, to Lone Star.”

Alex could tell that this was something Amp had probably heard a million times. When he spoke, it was like he was reading from a teleprompter.

“That's exactly what Bastion wanted the public to believe,” Lux said. “That people with astounding powers banded together in the name of justice. Who wouldn't read that story and champion their cause?”

“But it's not true?” Kyle asked warily.

“Only partly,” Lux said. “The myth of the Rangers leaves out an important detail: Bastion had grown up in the Cloak Society. He was a deserter. The Rangers weren't going all over the place just to rid the country of crime. They were recruiting. Bastion knew if Cloak ever took action, he'd need other superpowers to fight against them. He founded the Rangers to protect the world against Cloak, or any other force like them.”

Alex's eyes went blank. His lips started to form a series of words all starting with
W
, but his brain couldn't figure out which question to ask first. Around him, the others looked dumbfounded. Everyone except for Gage, who narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

“Who knows about this?” Amp asked.

“Only us, now,” Lux said quietly. “Actually, I'm assuming the higher-ups in Cloak know as well. It's a closely guarded secret. We were just waiting for the right time to tell you.”

“I can see why the High Council would want to keep this from us,” Gage said, nodding. “It doesn't really bode well for their ideology if their greatest enemies came from their own ranks.”

“It would have been the generation between my mother and grandfather,” Alex said. “No wonder my mother and the others were so eager to go into battle against the Rangers at Victory Park. They were fighting against someone who'd betrayed them.”

As he spoke the words, he realized immediately how well they described him, too. He shuddered.

“It also explains why they moved from the old mansion to the underground base so quickly,” Mallory said, smoothing down her chestnut hair.

“Wait,” Misty said, joining the conversation. “So we're basically just like the original Rangers, right?”

“Exactly,” Lux said.

“Most people who made a difference in history were rebels or deserters of some kind,” Gage added.

“It's a good story,” Amp said, “but it doesn't really change what's happening
now
.”

“What do you think they're doing?” Lux asked.

Alex explained to the others the only updated information they had—who the Guild of Daggers was and that the group was somehow involved. Cloak would be expanding as soon as they'd secured Sterling City. Their retaliation for Phantom's death would no doubt be swift and extreme.

“I don't even know where they'd be right now.” Alex sighed. “But the way my mother talked today . . . I think there's something big coming. Something that threatens everyone, not just the people of Sterling City.” He glanced at Gage. “I just don't want anyone else to get hurt.”

The back door swung open. Lone Star stood there, grim.

“It's time for the news,” he said, staring at the television. “I want to know what they say about us.”

Alex and his teammates gathered around the television in Carla's living room. The news coverage from the groundbreaking played out just as they'd expected. Newscasters praised the return of Lux while condemning the Junior Rangers once again, implying that the Lux and Lone Star “impostors” were in fact agents of the Cloak Society sent to try and destroy the New Rangers from within.

“The Rangers of Justice, in conjunction with the mayor's office and the city council, have declared martial law in Sterling City,” a newscaster reported. “In addition to the curfew already in effect, a full-scale manhunt is currently underway for any and all persons who can be linked to the Cloak Society. Roadblocks have been set up on all roads leading out of the city, and helicopters are patrolling our borders. Citizens are urged to stay in their homes and follow any directions given to them by the Rangers or Ranger-appointed Deputies. Remember, no matter how well you
think
you know someone, they may in fact be a highly trained Cloak operative. It's important that you report any suspicious behavior to the Ranger hotline listed at the bottom of the screen.”

“Great,” Amp said. “Just what those untrained idiots need: absolute authority on the streets.”

“That hotline probably goes directly to Cloak,” Mallory said. “They're completely bypassing the police.”

“And spreading fear,” Gage added. “That line about not trusting your friends and neighbors—they're cultivating paranoia.”

“It's going to be madness,” Lux whispered. “Imagine being able to send Deputies to the doorstep of any person you'd ever been angry at.”

“We could get out if we really wanted to,” Bug said. “Misty could help us, or we could just fight through the roadblocks.”

“They're not worried about us escaping,” Alex said. “They know we won't leave the city. This is just an act. They're showing off how much control they have.”

Onscreen, the newscaster continued.

“The following footage is a taped message from Lux, whose return was announced before the Cloak interference at today's groundbreaking ceremony.”

In Carla's living room, the real Lux jumped to her feet as Novo the shape-shifter stepped in front of a microphone. Alex could only imagine what it must have felt like to see not just a copy of yourself, but one that seemed to exude the sort of strength and vitality that had been sucked out of you.

“I am here tonight to inform the villains of this city that no longer will the Rangers sit idly by waiting for your next move. We are coming for you. We will find you. We have help.”

Beside her, Titan appeared, holding a large silver metal case. On the top was a small symbol in black: two daggers laid across one another to form an X.

“The Guild of Daggers,” Alex said. “This must be what my mother was talking about. They're working together on something. They—”

Alex stopped as Novo pulled a weapon out of the case. It was a sleek, matte-gray rifle with a boxy containment unit on the back. It pulsed with a deep-purple light.

“Impossible,” Gage whispered.

“This is a fully functional prototype for what we're calling ‘the Umbra.' It's an ingenious crime-fighting tool developed by our resident weapons expert, Shade. This device does not shoot bullets or lasers, but a
synthesized
, nonlethal energy bolt that immediately transports anything—or anyone—it touches to a state-of-the-art prison facility designed to house superpowered criminals. For security reasons, we are not currently at liberty to say
where
this facility is located. While the use of this weapon is a last resort, if the villains of the Cloak Society do not turn themselves in, we have no choice but to use drastic measures. At an accelerated manufacturing speed, we will be able to arm our ever-growing squad of Deputies with these weapons in the near future.”