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She walks around her desk and sits in her fluffy leather chair, motioning for me to sit as well. “You’ve been chosen for another mission.” She leans forward, cupping her hand around her mouth like she’s telling me a secret, despite the concrete walls and door that would block out the sound of her voice even if she yelled. “If I’m being honest with you, the elders wanted someone more experienced to take over this mission but I fought for you. I think this would be a really great opportunity for you and it deals solely with humans, so...” She clasps her hands together. “It’s perfect for you!”
“I’m happy to help. Sorry we haven’t found any of the missing Supers yet.”
“Everyone’s impressed with your progress on that. I’m sure you guys will find all of them safe and sound in no time.” She smiles and I wonder if she truly means that. No, I decide. Everything about Bonnie has to be some kind of act. No one is that truly happy and enthusiastic and upbeat about everything all the time.
Bonnie doesn’t flip open a holograph like she did on my last visit to her office. She just takes a deep breath and lets it out in this gee-golly this really sucks kind of way. “This will be hard to hear, but I’ll just be straight with you, Maci. Humans are dying. There’s this new street game popping up in various cities. Humans get together and place bets and they…” She shakes her head as if she just can’t believe it.
“Fight?” I supply the last word for her.
“Yes. If only it were just fighting, Maci. It’s much worse than that. People are dying.”
“I can see why. They’re beating the shit out of themselves. Nov--um, my dad and I think they might be using some kind of drug when they fight.” I suck in a deep breath to quell my nerves. I almost said her name out loud. What an idiot.
Bonnie doesn’t pick up on it. “That’s interesting. Our files suspect the fighting is just a new human trend, like ‘planking’ or ‘selfies’. But if drugs are involved, well that’s a much bigger problem.” She swivels in her chair, focusing on her computer screen. Her fingers fly across the glass keyboard while I wait patiently for more instructions.
“Okay,” she says, moving her hands over the keys a few more times. “Your mission will still include stepping in when the human police can’t stop a fight. I know you’ve completed missions like that before. But I am also assigning you the task of looking into the fights, seeing if there are drugs involved. I know the humans could do this, but your senses are superior. You could find the
drug and put a stop to this before any more humans die.”
“Sounds great,” I say. My pocket feels a thousand pounds heavier. She’d freak if she knew that I already possessed the suspected drug in question. But I can’t give it to her now. They’ll take it away from me when they discover that it’s villain created. And then I’ll be yanked away from my own discovery because of my probationary status. This is my mission and I want to see it through until the end.
“Where should I report my findings?” I ask. “You know, if I find this drug.”
“Your father.”
“Huh?”
She nods and swivels her monitor toward me. An email exchange between her and my dad is on the screen. “He’s very interested in this human case,” she says as if that explains everything. As if not having powers anymore has turned my dad so human-like that his only interests are now in human affairs.
I stand. “Thanks, Ms. Bloom. I’m on it.”
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to feeling all the dead air around my dad. His power is totally gone and it’s so unnerving, I feel like I’m staring at a ghost. The distinct hum of three different power levels hover in the living room but there are four people in here. Dad and Max sit on the couch and Nova hangs out on the recliner with her knees pulled up to her chest. Chewy is curled up next to her with his little face buried into the crack of the cushions. I let out a massive sigh a few seconds after the front door closes behind me.
“That was an interesting meeting with Bonnie Bloom,” I say, giving Max’s ankle a little kick so he’ll move his massive body out of my way. I sit between him and Dad on the couch. “She had no idea about our drug theory until I mentioned it to her.”
“How could she?” Dad says, turning down the volume on the television. It’s sports again. It’s always sports. “We’re not used to dealing with human matters that their police officers are supposed to take care of.”
“Tell me about it,” Max says. He doesn’t move his attention from the holo-disk he’s studying, or more like obsessing over. He probably knows every detail about the four missing Supers by now. “We fight villains. We kick ass and take names. Occasionally we save some humans from natural disasters but we do not stop their street fights. This is complete bullshit.”
“Max,” Dad chides. He only gets that one word out before he gives up under my brother’s annoyed expression. Max shakes his head. “No. It’s bullshit. Our jobs are just a joke as of lately. Hell, Supers are disappearing without a trace just so they can get away from the boredom.”
“You don’t know that,” Nova says. “They could be hurt. They could be in danger. Don’t carelessly talk about their lives as if they’re okay.” Her eyes narrow at my brother. “Because you don’t know that for a fact.”
Max’s massive form shrinks under her glare. He switches off the holo-disk. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m just sick of the status quo lately. I’m restless. It’s like every villain in the world has gone into retirement.”
“That’s not entirely true.” I reach into my pocket, glancing at Nova. “Have you not said anything?”
She shrugs, strands of dingy blackish-blonde hair falling over her shoulders. “I didn’t think it was my place to say anything.”
Color me freaking impressed.
I slip out the silver vial, holding it up between my thumb and index finger. “It looks the same, and some kid sold it to us claiming that it was the drug, but as you can see, it’s a metal tube, not glass like the one we think came from Felix.”
I wiggle my hand back and forth and Dad grabs my wrist. “Wait, it is glass. Look at it.”
My eyebrows draw together as I watch the metal vial in my hand. The metal color...moves. No. It isn’t metal at all. It’s silver liquid as thick as syrup inside a thin glass tube.
Nova eases onto the floor in front of the couch to get a better view. Max holds out his hand. “Can I?”
