Overpowered

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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