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yone has taken an interest in him. So, of course, he raises his voice. “I work in robotics, in case some of you didn’t know. They brought me a damaged droid at work today. The kind they use for training, and more specifically, for Hero exams.”
“Shut the hell up, Aloki, I’m not joking.” My icy stare goes unnoticed. Power rolls under my skin in anger.
“The motherboard was completely shredded and all the synthetic flesh around the chest was ripped open. This wasn’t an accident. The droid was murdered.”
“You are breaking a dozen confidentiality laws right now,” I stammer. Okay, it’s more like one law of confidentiality—but it’s still a law. “Are you trying to get fired?”
“They won’t fire me for this,” he says, but he doesn’t look entirely convinced of his own words. “Besides, you guys won’t say anything, right? We’re all Supers here and we all deserve to know that Maci Might is a potential villain.”
A palpable panic unleashes in the crowd at Aloki’s blatant use of the V-word. Only the three Heroes among us—Nyx, Crimson and my brother—stand cool and unwavering.
“Hey now,” Max says. “That is the most ridiculous conspiracy theory I’ve ever heard. You have no proof Maci damaged that droid or if it was even done on purpose.”
“Proof?” Aloki laughs. “Look at her brown hair. That’s all the proof anyone needs. It’s too bad her father is too damn stubborn to recognize it.”
A crackle of power bursts from Max and me, but unlike my strong-willed brother, I don’t have the self-control to ignore it.
Lunging past Max and shoving Crimson aside with enough force to send her tumbling into the sand, I throw my arm back and punch Aloki straight in his perfectly chiseled jaw. His head snaps back with a satisfying crack. I try not to smile. “I told you to shut up.”
I shove my hands on his chest, pushing him back several steps. He staggers and grabs my wrists to push me away but I am too strong and break out of his pathetic grasp only to punch him again.
“Dude, get away from me.” He’s smiling, or at least attempting to with the side of his face swelling as he speaks, but I feel the fear underneath his friendly façade. His power level shrivels until it’s gasping for air. He knows he’s gone too far. And now he gets to pay.
“You have no right,” I hiss as I grab his shoulder and pull him toward my knee. “I am not evil!” He doubles over in pain as my knee crushes into his ribcage. Power pumps through my chest, so raw and unhinged with rage that it’s almost painful. The only thought in my mind is to make Aloki sorry for what he said.
Before I can throw another punch at his remaining unhurt eye, my heightened senses notice a small clicking sound to my left. A split second later, someone releases a pair of Retriever hooks in my direction. I dig my fingers into Aloki’s shirt and twist him in front of me. His body seizes as the hooks bury into his back. Not so sexy now, are you?
He drops to the ground—alive, but immobile. My chest heaves as I gasp for breath. A tiny part of my subconscious is freaking out about how wrong all of this is, but I find it easy to ignore. He deserves what he got. Screams fill the air and bodies of my former friends blur into the night as they run away from me. KAPOW pods arrive and zoom off left and right. The beach is in full hysteria mode. And that’s really unheard of in the Super world.
Max appears in front of me, his face glowing with the reflection of his BEEPR. His thumb swipes frantically across the screen. He grabs me around the waist with his other arm and shoves me toward our KAPOW pod.
My back presses against the inside of the cool metal pod. Max joins me and the door closes behind him. “Home,” he tells the tiny MOD screen. This is the first time his voice sounds unsure. The robotic voice confirms the destination, and even it sounds disappointed in me. The pod lurches forward and I fall into my seat.
“Oh god, Max.” I sink my head into my hands. “What have I done?”
The only sound for two full minutes is the gentle hum of the KAPOW and the unsteady gasps of breath filling my lungs. My mind functions in overdrive, bouncing from thoughts to emotions so quickly I can’t decipher any of it. All I know is that this is bad.
But it feels a little good.
And that is really bad.
“Okay.” Max breaks the silence by sucking in a deep breath. His hands slide down his thighs and rest on his knees while he looks at the celling. I look up there too and see both of our faces reflecting back on the distorted chrome surface. His hair looks lighter than normal—or maybe mine looks darker. He talks to me through the reflection. It’s probably easier that way.
“We can smooth this over. Nyx will say what I tell him to. Crimson, well, she’ll come around. We’re the only Hero witnesses and Central will accept our word over anyone else’s.” He lowers his head and looks directly at me. Blonde hair falls over his eyes and he shrugs it away. His hair is definitely not lighter than normal. I glance back at the ceiling, pulling my hair in front of my shoulders.
“We’ll state the facts,” Max continues, pointing to his index finger. “You had your Hero Exam today, which was very stressful.” I cringe. He continues, pointing to his middle finger. “They denied you Hero status when you clearly deserved it. Three—you were whisked away to a party that caught you off guard, four—”
“Don’t say it,” I whisper.
“You were thoroughly embarrassed in front of your peers when your crush was revealed to everyone.” I bang the back of my head against the wall. “Aloki? Seriously? You can do better. And five—Dad SOS’d you, and me for that matter, and it was hands down the most mortifying moment of our lives. So you had more than enough reason to snap tonight. Plus Aloki provoked you. We’ll be sure to note that as well.”
His BEEPR lights up and he reads a message on the screen. “Nyx is on your side. Said Crimson is too.” He taps out a reply and his screen lights up a few seconds later. “She’s pissed. But on your side.”
It must be a shadow on the ceiling. Hair doesn’t just turn a darker shade of brown overnight. I flinch as a hand touches my arm. Max meets my eyes. “This will be okay,” he says.
“I liked it.” My words are a whisper. When Max doesn’t acknowledge them, I’m compelled to keep talking. “I liked the feeling of being in control and knowing I was stronger than him. I liked making him pay for what he said to me.”
“Those are normal Hero feelings,” Max says. “Of course, it’s something we reserve for villains. We’ll work on keeping your temper under control.”
