Supernova, page 45
He watched her. Unmoving, unmoved. And, when he finally spoke, remorseless.
“Your father betrayed me,” he said, speaking in the low, soothing voice Nova knew so well from her childhood. “He sold my greatest secret to my worst enemy. Such treason could not go unpunished.”
A cry fell from her lips. “You had him murdered!” she screamed. “And my mom and”—a sob swelled in her throat—“and … and Evie. How could you?”
“I know,” said Ace, still disgustingly calm. “It’s awful. I know. But you understand how our world works. It is necessary to send strong messages, lest others think to one day betray you as well.”
Nova pressed her palms into her eyes. “What about the Roaches? You told me you slaughtered them, the whole gang, in retaliation…”
“And I did, every last one,” said Ace. He shrugged, remorseless. “I couldn’t have you guessing the truth. Not after I’d seen what you could do.”
“What I could do!” Nova’s pulse stammered. “My father never told you I was a prodigy, did he? Because … if you’d known … you would have tried to turn me into a villain.” Her lip quivered as she realized that she’d become exactly what her father had tried to avoid. “I was supposed to die that night, too. You only saved me because…”
“Because I saw your potential,” Ace insisted. “Because you were my little Nightmare. Listen to me, Nova. I know how much you loved your family, and how the tragedy of losing them has driven you all these years. But for all your father’s talents, he was weak. He did not belong in our world. Your family was not like us. And now … look around. Look at what we have achieved, together. We have torn the Council apart. The Renegades are in shambles. But we still stand, Ace Anarchy and his Nightmare.” He raised his arms toward her. “We are strong, and we have conquered today, because of you.”
Her blood congealed, with revulsion, with dismay.
But in all the tumult of her raging thoughts, she had a flash of clarity.
This moment was what she had been working toward her whole life.
Vengeance.
“No,” she said, her voice shaking. “I am strong. You are a murderer and a liar. You were defeated once. You can be defeated again.”
In a blink, his warmth vanished, masked over with calculating precision.
“It saddens me to have been so wrong about you. Still, you will always have my gratitude for bringing me to this moment. And … for bringing me this.”
He stretched his fingers toward Nova.
The bracelet flew out of her hand. Nova cried out, but was too late to grab it from the air as it sailed into his waiting palm.
She released a war cry and charged for him, no longer thinking strategy, only that he couldn’t have it, she would not allow him to abuse her father’s last gift—
Ace sliced his hand through the air. The star flashed, briefly illuminating the atmosphere in blinding electric waves.
An invisible force struck Nova and she was thrown backward. Her body tumbled, weightless, for nearly twenty feet before her back struck the stone wall of the nave, forcing the air from her lungs.
Ace laughed. “Finally! All these years, being limited to only the control of the inanimate. My brother truly was a genius.”
Nova struggled to breathe, but her lungs wouldn’t expand.
Nova!
The scream was muddled in her head, eclipsed by mounting panic and throbbing pain.
“Adrian! You’re alive!” yelled Captain Chromium.
She peeled her eyes open, wincing from the effort.
A figure was sprinting toward her. Tall and broad-shouldered. Dark skin and thick glasses and a metal pike gripped in one hand. Sweet rot, but he was the most handsomely heroic vision she’d ever seen, and Nova was filled with abject terror that he was there.
Ace would destroy him.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
“DAD, CATCH!” ADRIAN yelled.
Captain Chromium caught the pike one-handed.
“Don’t get overconfident,” said Ace, humoring himself. “The rules of this game have changed.” With the star in one hand, he stretched his other toward the chromium chain that was coiled not far from Adrian’s feet. It sprung to life, slithering like a snake toward Ace, one end coiling around his waiting arm. Ace pulled his arm back and lashed out at the Captain.
The Captain blocked with the spear—once, twice—the sound of metal striking metal rang across the wasteland. But Captain Chromium was losing ground, each blow pushing him closer to the edge of the roof. He looked down once to gain his bearings, when the chain reared up and circled around his throat.
Adrian cried out and ran to him. He tried to dig his fingers between the chain and his dad’s skin, even as the metal squeezed tighter. His dad fell to one knee, suffocating.
The most ear-piercing, skin-crawling screech echoed from overhead. Adrian flinched and resisted the urge to cover his ears, still pulling at the chain. It started to come loose as Ace shifted his focus to the barrier overhead.
With a reverberating groan, the enormous back end of a rusting semitruck that had been attached to the barrier pried loose and fell. It landed with a resounding crash in the wasteland, mere feet away from the cathedral’s side wall, sending up an enormous cloud of dust.
Captain Chromium ripped the chain over his head and tossed it away, panting and massaging his throat.
Adrian squinted toward the gigantic hole left behind by the semitruck, taking in the patch of night sky. There should have been stars, but some artificial light was being shed on the dome, blocking them out.
“Who dares interfere?” Ace growled.
As if summoned, a head appeared over the edge where the trailer had been. With the figure silhouetted by the glaring lights, Adrian couldn’t make out any details, but he would know that fluffy hair anywhere.
He didn’t know if he was more elated or horrified.
“Sorry!” Max shouted. “Is everyone okay? It didn’t hit anyone, did it?”
In response, Ace released an enraged scream. He took to the air. Gripping the chain, he reared his arm back and sent it whipping toward the opening. Max’s eyes went wide and he vanished.
The chain struck the barrier, knocking loose an aluminum wheel. Ace froze, hovering over the cathedral as the chain swung beside him. He scanned the barrier, tense and watchful, as he gradually lowered himself back down to the roof.
A tall, narrow spire snapped from the western tower and plummeted toward Ace. He sneered and sent the chain soaring for the spire. The chain lit up, as if made of molten gold. When it struck, it sounded like a bomb going off. Stonework cascaded around them, chunks of shrapnel, some as big as Adrian’s head, raining across the roof and down to the wasteland.
Adrian heard a cry of pain. He blinked back the dust as he searched the roofline of the cathedral.
Max flickered back into view. He had followed Ace, trying to get closer, and was now caught in the deluge. He lifted his arms to protect himself from the blast.
Ace roared at the sight of the boy. “I’d hoped we would meet again! You and I have unfinished business.”
Max startled as he realized his mistake. He winked into invisibility again, but the chain was already careening through the air.
It crashed through a window, catching the wall above the jagged stained glass as Ace yanked it back. Stones blew outward, leaving a crater where Max had stood.
Adrian searched the cloud of dust, his body trembling with fear and adrenaline.
“I’m fine!” said Max, his disembodied voice a little breathless. “Don’t worry about—”
Ace swung the chain again, aiming for the air where Max’s voice was coming from. It crashed through one of the flying buttresses, sending more stonework and a hefty gargoyle toppling over the side of the cathedral.
“It shouldn’t be possible,” said Hugh—drawing Adrian’s attention to him—aghast and pale, red impressions on his neck where the chain had dug into his skin. He was watching Ace. “He could never use my weapons before. They always defied his telekinesis.”
“It’s the star,” said Adrian. “It’s changed him somehow.”
It was difficult to see his dad this way, weaker than Adrian could even have imagined him looking.
“You think you can stop me?” Ace bellowed. “A child?”
“I did once, didn’t I?” Max appeared again, crouched on the edge of a tower, holding on to one of the decorative spires for balance. “Besides, you’ll have to kill me to stop me. All I have to do is get close to you.” He stood, his jaw set. His feet lifted off the roof, and he hovered there a moment, before sinking down to Ace’s level. A few feet closer than before.
The sight left Adrian awestruck. Max was wearing a Renegade uniform. It might have been a little long in the arms and legs—Adrian guessed it was Ruby’s—and yet, for all the greatest skies, his little brother really did look like a superhero.
Hearing a groan, Adrian glanced at Nova. She had been slumped against the wall on the opposite side of the roof, too far for him to reach her. Relief welled inside him now to see her conscious, using the wall for support as she staggered to her feet.
He wanted to tell Max to be careful, to not get too close to Nova, but he bit back the words. She still had the Vitality Charm beneath her jacket. It would protect her.
Besides, Max had enough to worry about, facing off against Ace.
All he had to do was get close …
Even as Ace was taking a step back, keeping the distance between them, he curled one finger toward the nave. An arched window of stained glass shattered. Max ducked, protecting his head as the glass drove toward him, sharp edges slicing through his skin, one shard lodging itself into his thigh. He hollered in pain.
With an enraged scream, Hugh took off running, charging toward Ace with renewed vigor. He brandished the pike, holding it like a javelin, ready to spear the villain through the gut.
Ace spun to face him, the chain swinging overhead.
Captain Chromium leaped, at the same moment Ace lashed at him with the chain. Another flash from Ace’s fist, igniting the weapon.
The Captain was in midair when the chain struck him squarely in the chest. The golden aura rippled outward, an explosion of light and sound, burning the air where the invincible chain met the Captain’s invincible body.
Then his dad was falling, his body limp as it was thrown backward, tumbling head over feet off the side of the cathedral.
Adrian wasn’t sure if the scream was his or Max’s, maybe even Nova’s. He didn’t remember sprinting to the edge of the roof. Desperate hope surged through him as he leaned over the short stone balustrade. He imagined seeing Captain Chromium, as ferocious as ever, already scaling back up the wall.
But that’s not what he saw.
Captain Chromium was on his back, eyes closed, the Silver Spear a few feet from his limp hand. A cloud of dust billowed around his body.
Adrian stood motionless, waiting. Waiting for his dad to wake up. Waiting for him to groan and shake it off and get back into the fight.
But Captain Chromium didn’t move.
“Incredible,” Ace murmured. “I remember this feeling.”
Adrian stumbled back from the edge of the roof.
The villain was levitating again, his eyes half closed in euphoria. “The first time I wore this helmet, I was a changed man. Everything that I am, everything I ever hoped to be, was within reach. And now I surpass even those bounds. The world at my fingertips, malleable as clay…”
A hiss of pain drew Adrian’s attention to Max. He watched as Max pulled the shard of glass from his thigh, then stood on weakened legs, dozens of cuts leaking blood into the gray suit. He kept coughing. Beads of sweat dotted his brow. But still, he scrunched his face in concentration, and the wall behind Ace began to tremble. A small vibration at first, until, all at once, the great slab of stone pulled free from its mortar and launched itself at Ace.
He was too distracted by his own glory to notice. The block hit him in the back and Ace fell, sprawling onto his knees as the rest of the wall clattered around him.
For a moment, the villain didn’t move, and Adrian could almost hope that this would be enough—he was still just a man, wasn’t he?
But then Ace released a guttural scream, and the stones shot back at Max.
“Max!” Adrian cried, unable to do anything as the stones collided into Max’s slim form. He fell, curling into a ball as the storm rained down around him. Adrian sprinted across the rooftop, in agony to know there was so little he could do. What he wouldn’t have given to have the powers of the Sentinel again …
“I will not be defeated!” Ace yelled. “Not by you! Not again!”
Adrian skidded beside Max and started pulling the rubble away. He was relieved when some of the stones moved of their own accord, Max lifting them with his powers.
“I’m … okay,” Max muttered, clearly not okay.
“Stop wasting your energy on attacking him,” said Adrian, scooping one arm around Max’s shoulders and helping him sit up. “Focus on getting close. You’re the Bandit, remember?”
“Not ready to surrender?” said Ace, chuckling as he watched Adrian and Max stumble to their feet. “You have no idea what I’m capable of! No idea of the power—!” He cut himself off and a wicked gleam entered his eyes. “Perhaps a demonstration is in order.”
Adrian and Max took one step forward, and Max’s body collapsed against him from the effort. Adrian realized that Max wasn’t putting weight on his right foot. Was his leg broken?
Lifting his head again, he locked his attention on to Ace Anarchy, who stood at the far end of the rooftop. The distance could have been miles.
“I’ve got you,” said Adrian. “We can do this.”
A shocking burst of light drew Adrian’s attention back up to the overhead barrier. His feet stumbled. The barrier was shifting. Starting from the opening that Max had created, the whole thing seemed to be splitting open. Sewer pipes, utility boxes, traffic lights. Jumbled architecture and found machinery, abandoned vehicles and wrecked buildings. All peeling outward toward the city. Being dismantled, bit by bit. The glare from enormous floodlights that had been erected on a series of trucks cascaded over the wasteland, making Adrian squint against their brilliance.
As the hole grew larger, it revealed the city skyline in the distance and a night sky with the faintest haze of electric blue along the eastern horizon.
Media helicopters circled overhead. It was disorienting, after having the battle relegated to Ace’s small bubble, to suddenly be thrust back into the real world.
That is, until Ace snarled and waved his arm as if swatting at mosquitoes. Both helicopters careened off course, plummeting from the sky.
Adrian ground his teeth. No time to worry about whether or not the pilots had parachutes. He tightened his arm around Max and started moving again, when he heard a new sound—a war cry, blaring from all directions.
His heart leaped. The Renegades had been waiting outside the barrier, desperate to get in. Now, with the wall torn down, they wasted no time in charging across the wasteland. The sight was mesmerizing—wave upon wave of identical gray uniforms. Thousands of superheroes from every corner of the world. Even many of the Renegades who had been neutralized at the arena were still among them, ready to be heroes with or without superpowers. He spotted Tamaya Rae, wingless and hoisting an electric trident that he recognized from the artifacts department.
She wasn’t the only one. The mob was brandishing an assortment of weapons and artifacts. Powerful ones.
They must have raided the vault.
The mob raced forward, more unified than ever. Though it was chaos, Adrian couldn’t help but seek out the people he cared for most. He found them easily, as if drawn to them. Simon. Ruby. And in the wasteland, preparing to join them—Oscar and Danna.
He was glad the villains had abandoned Ace and the cathedral. Seeing the Renegades now, Adrian knew this fight would have become a massacre.
Now, the only enemy left was Ace.
“Isn’t that charming?” said the villain, watching the Renegades come. The way he said it, unconcerned, even amused, sent a chill into Adrian’s bones. “Unfortunately … I fear they’re too late.”
Ace let the chromium chain slip from his hand and cupped the star in both palms. It flashed, and for a moment, Adrian saw streaks of energy in the air, flickering all around them, as far as he could see. Then Ace stretched his hands toward the city.
CHAPTER FIFTY
THOUGH SHE COULD barely stand, Nova forced herself away from the wall. One knee buckled and she half fell onto the hard stone. A chip from a broken spire caught under her kneecap and she flinched. Planting both hands on the ground, she pushed herself back up. Wobbled unsteadily for a moment, then kept going. One foot in front of the other, even as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Step by step, even as her muscles rebelled.
Movement in the distance made her hesitate, the small momentum she’d picked up nearly sending her crashing down again. She barely caught herself.
Her jaw fell as she took in the sight.
Beyond the cathedral, beyond the wasteland and a rush of Renegades, more Renegades than she’d ever seen in her life, the city skyline began to rise upward. Hundreds of buildings shuddering, undulating, lifting into the air. Nova watched a multistory hotel torn from its foundation. She saw the stately courthouse, with its Roman pillars, disconnect from the imposing front steps. She saw the enormous backlit G on top of the Gatlon Gazette building topple over, while the structure underneath swayed upward. Building after building succumbed to Ace’s power, sending bits of concrete raining down on the streets below. Plumbing pipes ruptured, spewing water and sewage into the craters of empty foundations. Wires and rebar dangled from the bases of the levitating structures.
The power grid was disrupted, plunging whole swaths of the city into blackness. It was like watching someone flick off the lights neighborhood by neighborhood.
From the sudden blackness came screams. The screams of people who appeared at their apartment windows and saw the ground suddenly too far away. The screams of those below as they sensed the ominous weight of the buildings above them, with nothing to keep them from falling.
