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 pou
rs 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.”