Overpowered (Powered Trilogy #2) (21 page)

If there’s one way to describe the Hero Brigade it is this: efficient. Within seconds of my calling for help, the sound of metal doors slamming open echo through the underground tunnels. They’re coming. And by the sound of it, they’re smashing any and everything in their way. With nothing left to do but wait, I scroll through Felix’s cell phone, a human device with the letters AT&T on the top of the screen. I find an icon called Messages but it’s empty. Felix is smart. He hasn’t left me a single clue on this phone. He probably has dozens of them. That’s what a good villain would do.

Nova’s neck heals and she and Nyx lean against the wall, both supporting each other’s weight. His power levels are nearly nonexistent, but he keeps a brave face on. Mara and Li and George brighten at the sound of our impending rescue. Corey is alive, but hasn’t moved from his place on the floor.

The air buzzes with the aura of at least a dozen Heroes. Blindingly bright light comes from the door. The room lights up in a haze. I blink and when I open my eyes, the silhouette of my brother stands in the doorway, massive and muscular. Max enters with a dozen of Central’s greatest Heroes. For the first time in hours, I breathe a sigh of relief. Everything will be okay now.

Heroes blur all around me as they get to work. Someone finds a way to turn off the power sucking machine. Medics arrive shortly after and tend to the kidnapped Supers. I turn away because I can’t
bear watch another person get deharnessed.

Heroes Ernesto and Katia find me and ask to be briefed on the situation. I tell them about Felix first. About the kidnapped Supers who have been harnessed for their power which he sells to humans as a drug. I avoid the whole truth for as long as possible.

Which isn’t very long.

“How did you get down here in the first place?” Ernesto asks.

“Um,” I say. “Well it’s kind of a long story, but I was working on my mission to find the depowering machine. I suspected that whoever was selling power as a drug was getting it from the machine, not from kidnapping Supers.”

Nyx taps my shoulder. “Mind if I help explain things?”

I lift an eyebrow. He doesn’t know how and why I got here. But then his eyes give me this weird look, like he’s trying to signal something to me. Finally, it clicks. “Yeah,” I say. “Please do.”

I give a casual glance over my shoulder to where a dark, smoggy part of the cave-like room is. It’s off to the side and it’s seemingly unimportant. But I know the dark shadow sitting on the floor is Nova. When the Heroes find her, all hell will break loose.

You know, more loose than it is right now.

A medic approaches Nyx but he shrugs him off. “No care for me until all of the Supers have been treated and moved to a room in the medic ward,” he says. To the Heroes in front of us, he takes a deep breath and stands straight. His face is smooth and serene. “As fellow members of the Hero Brigade, I must ask that you grant me permission to tell you everything I have to say before you react.”

“Go on,” Katia says, sounding almost bored. “I have to make an official report of this mission so I’ll need every detail.”

“You don’t understand,” Nyx says. “You will hear what I say and you will want to react. I need your promise that you will remain standing right there until I am finished. I am risking my status as a Hero to conceal the details until you both agree.”

Katia’s eyes narrow. She glances toward Ernesto and they share a silent look. As partners for the last fifty years or so, they probably see Nyx and me as silly rookie Heroes who are prone to making a big deal out of something that isn’t one. If that’s the case, then they’re in for a surprise.

On the other side of the room my brother carries a limp Mara
Moone in his arms, taking her out of the cave and back up to civilization. Other Heroes do the same to the rest of the Supers. Soon, the only remaining souls in this room of horrors are Nyx, me, my hidden sister, Felix and Heroes Ernesto and Katia.

Ernesto grabs Felix by the elbow and pulls him into a standing position, leaning his rigid body against the wall. Grabbing the jacket off the floor, the shoves it in Felix’s hand, then scans his BEEPR over him to report it back to Central. To me, he asks, “What happened to your BEEPRs?”

“The other unconscious woman had a device that broke them,” I say, nodding to where she had lain until another Hero took her away with the others. Ernesto frowns. “Keep the broken BEEPRs. We’ll have to get them analyzed so we can find a way to prevent another attack like this.”

I nod and Nyx shuffles on his feet, clearly annoyed that his epic speech got interrupted.

“Go on,” Katia says. “We will not react until you say that you are finished talking.”

Nyx looks at Ernesto and he nods in confirmation. My teeth dig into my bottom lip as I wait for Nyx to speak. Somehow, even with a Heroes’ promise, I’m still concerned that they’ll hear Nova’s name and throw her straight into the
depowering machine without so much as an
oops
. At the same time, I am grateful that Nyx is the one vouching for Nova and not me. She is my sister and if I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t trust me either.

Nyx finishes his story with the words, “I swear on my Hero status that she can be trusted.”

“Where is she?” Katia asks. I have to give it to the two older Heroes...they keep their cool better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Nyx takes one step forward and brings his hand back, gesturing to where Nova huddles in the darkened corner.

I glance around, wishing Max would hurry up and get back. Maybe it’s just childhood nostalgia,
where he was my big brother who always fixed every problem, but I know he would find a way to smooth over everything with Nova. Katia and Ernesto move toward the shadow in the corner, their expressions a mixture of disbelief and exhilaration. Nova looks to me for some kind of confirmation, some kind of reassurance that my promise to keep her safe will remain intact. But right now I’m not sure of anything. I look away.

Max bursts through the aluminum door in the wall, his BEEPR close to his mouth. “Red alert!” He scans the room, his eyes landing on mine. “Villains!”

We have only a moment to react. Katia and Ernesto spin around, all six senses ready to fight. Nyx dives in front of Nova, throwing a protective hand around her. If a serious issue wasn’t about to go down in this tiny room, I’d roll my eyes at him.

Three men dressed in solid black, wearing hoods pulled up
over their faces burst into the room. Max and Ernesto rush them, slamming them into walls. Katia takes the third guy but he lands a punch directly in her throat. She stumbles backward for a split second and I move to relieve her, my body aching to get into a fight. I charge toward the man who at least a foot taller than me. My mouth nearly waters with satisfaction when I land a fist against his jaw. Finally, I can fight the way I love fighting--without reservation. Only, this guy doesn’t fight back. He runs away from me, toward Felix. With one uninhibited motion, he grabs the hooks from Felix’s body and rips them out of his flesh.

I catch one of the hooks in the air right before it hits the ground, spin it around pointy side out and plan to slam it back into the power-stealing villain. But now that Felix is temporarily freed from his frozen state, he reaches into an inside pocket in his jacket. An explosion blinds everyone. Rocks fly from the walls, knocking me on my butt which sends sharp nerve pains jolting through every inch of my body. A second explosion tears through the room, embedding more pieces of rock into my skin. I hear the painful cries of my colleagues. My eyes burn from gritty sand and smoke as I blink away the ashes, trying to see again.

The dust begins to clear. Nyx and Nova appear at my side. Blood pours out of a gash in the side of Nyx’s head--well, what used to be a gash before it healed. “What happened?” Nova whispers.

“Felix,” I say.

Ernesto’s voice rings out from across the room. “I lost them! On guard, everyone!”

“I lost them too,” Katia says between coughs.

Ernesto comes into view, his shiny suit covered in ashes and blood. “FIND THEM!”

“They’re gone,” Nova says. All eyes turn to her. She shrinks backward, somehow finding her way between Nyx and me. “Felix busted a hole in the wall. They all went inside and then he closed it up again.”

“How do you know this?” Ernesto bellows, nearly tearing into her with his power.

“I saw it happen!” Nova yells, folding her arms across her chest. “Don’t act like I had a hand in it because I didn’t. I killed Felix’s friend. I am not with him.”

This shuts him up, but it doesn’t solve the problem. Nyx runs his hand over the pile of rocks that covers what used to be a hole in the wall. Wires jut out in all directions, giving away the answers that prove Felix had this planned all along. The wall was rigged with explosives in case he needed to make a quick getaway. Nyx punches the wall, kicking and pulling at the rocks in an attempt to reopen the hole, but it’s obvious that by the time we dug out the hole again, the villains would be long gone.

Ernesto and Katia make calls on their BEEPRs, alerting Central to the situation. Nova grabs my hand and whispers in my ear. “You can’t let them think I did this,” she says. “I swear I didn’t.”

“I know,” I tell her. “You’ll be okay. No one will hurt you. They’d have to go through me.”

“And me,” Nyx says.

“And Max,” I add with a smile. I look around for my brother, waiting for him to agree with me. But he doesn’t.

Because he’s gone.

“Where’s Max?” Panic rises in my chest but I push it away. I tell myself it’s silly to worry about my big, huge brother. He’s fine. He’s probably just around the corner. Only he isn’t.

He isn’t on the other side of the aluminum door.

Katia’s face glows from the screen of her BEEPR. Ernesto calls a mayday.

“What is it?” Nova says. “Where’s Max?”

“He’s offline,” Katia says. “He’s gone.”

My father is handsome in his Hero suit. The purple King City crown shimmers in the spotlight that pours down from the ultra-high ceiling of the Atrium. He stands at the crystal podium in the middle of a stage that only comes out for special occasions. Although I’m not sure
special
is the word that best describes tonight. I shouldn’t feel sick to my stomach when something is
special
.

All of the Supers in Central and many of the ones who live all over the world gather here tonight. The cameras are still rolling, even if no one is at their home to watch tonight’s address to the nation. To the
Super
nation. Central decided it wasn’t in the human’s interest to know what is going on. At least not right now.

I follow the black lens as it zooms through the air above our heads, focusing in on my father as he gives his speech. Normally I follow his every word. Tonight, I stand rigid on the stage in my one-armed Hero suit, staring out at the crowd in front of us. A vast empty space fills the three feet to the right of Dad in the spot where Max usually stands. I am next to the space, feeling its emptiness bury deep into my soul.
I miss my brother more than words can describe.

Nova’s warm presence is to my right. She wears a silver lace dress with a purple belt and tiny silver ballet flats. The elders thought it would make her look more likeable if she wore something sweet. Something non-confrontational.

Something that says:
trust me, I’m not a villain
.

Dad’s voice is steady, powerful. “We are now in a state of war.” Chills prickle down my bare arm. I tighten my powerless hand into a fist. I do not show emotion. I am a Hero. “The Heroes will not rest until we have rescued my son, Max Might from villain imprisonment.”

Dad clears his throat and looks out onto the people who trust him to lead, even now when he is a powerless shell of the Hero he used to be. “I trust that the great people of King City and beyond will feel confident in the decision of the elders and myself. Nova Might will remain in custody of Central and will train as a Hero. We believe her experience as a prisoner in the villain community will aid in helping us bring justice to the villains responsible for this attack upon our citizens. We believe, with full confidence, that Nova Might is not a threat to our society.”

A slow clap sounds from somewhere in the back of the room. My eyes narrow, skimming the room for the source of the clapping. A flash of black,
short hair catches my attention. Jake lifts his hands above his head and continues clapping. Other people join in, and within a few seconds, the entire room is clapping for my sister.

Dad bursts into a smile that I haven’t seen since before he was depowered. Nova’s eyes go wide and she peeks over at me, waves of nervous bashfulness pouring off her. I throw my arm around her shoulders. I only have two words for her. “Told you.”

Evan paces the length of our kitchen island, staring at his laptop and punching a few random keys every few seconds. I watch him think as I scarf down dinner, takeout for the fourth night in a row, gulp an orange Gatorade and prepare to get back out into the tunnels. I only come home to eat now. Every other second is spent looking for my brother.

My arm slides around Evan’s waist, pinning him in position so he can’t keep pacing. “What’s going on?” I ask him. He leans over and kisses my forehead. Even in this state of constant panic and anxiety about Max, I still get butterflies from Evan’s kiss.

He shakes hair out of his eyes, grabbing his chin with his thumb and index finger. His eyes don’t leave the screen. “I need to raid Max’s room again. Try to get more of his DNA. Maybe there’s some hair on his pillow. I only need a little more to see if this will work.”

I stare at the screen, but as always, the program is nothing but gibberish to me. “What is it?”

“It’s a device that we can hook to a drone and send all over the world. It’ll pick up any trace of Max.”

“Seriously?”

He gets that cheesy grin of his and nods. I throw my arms around him. “Have I told you I love you lately? Because I do. You’re amazing.”

Evan’s eyes go wide. My cheeks burst into flames at the realization of what I just said. “I mean,” I stutter. “I mean, like I love you
because you’re awesome, not like--”

“I know, Mace,” he says with a snort. “I get it.” He makes air quotes with his fingers. “I
‘love’ you too.”

The front door opens and I think we’re both grateful for the distraction. Nova enters, wearing a big freaking arrogant smile and a new suit. It’s white with lines of black down the sides in a shockingly familiar pattern. “Like my new suit?” she says, holding out her arms and twirling around on the carpet.

“Where did you get that?” I ask.

Dad enters from outside, his eyes focused on his BEEPR. “I took her to Pepper’s studio,” he says. “We’ve been interviewing new suit designers so while I was there, I figured we needed to get her a suit.”

“There’s no way someone designed that,” I say, stepping up to her and touching the fabric on her arm. She shakes her head. Chewy runs out from her bedroom, tail wagging because she’s finally home. Nova swoops him off the ground and cuddles him to her chest. “I found it in the computer,” she says. She bites her lip and I narrow my eyebrows. “What do you mean by that?” I ask. “Why are you hiding?”

“I looked up your file,” she says nervously. “The one Pepper had for you. It had your Hero suit in there and well...I asked the computer to reverse the colors and make one for me.” She glances down at her new suit,
trailing a hand down the black side that’s white on my own suit. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Everything inside of me tells me that I should mind. That should be annoyed or jealous or pissed off that she copied the suit Pepper had made just for me. But I’m not. In a way, her new suit is exactly what Pepper would have designed for her. She is white where I am black. She is good where I am bad. She’s calm when I’m a thunderstorm. We are the product of our genetics and of our own willpower.

“I don’t mind,” I say. “It’s perfect.”

“I’m going to go search Max’s bedroom if that’s okay,” Evan says to Dad and me. Dad nods and looks over Evan’s computer screen with a hopeful look on his face. “Do whatever you need.”

“I’m going to find him,” I tell Dad, looking him straight in the eyes. “I will do whatever it takes to get my brother back. I promise you.”

“No,” Nova says. She runs her hand down
Chewy’s tiny back. “
We
will do whatever it takes.”

For once I don’t say something snappy or rude. I don’t roll my eyes and I don’t try to object. I just smile.

Because for once, I agree with her.

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