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Jubilant power pours off him. He breaks into a smile, slips out a pair of Retriever hooks and bellows, “Hero Maci! Well done, Maci. Well done.”
Nova doesn’t say a word. I shove her forward, toward the man responsible for ensuring that she’s depowered. Paul barks orders into his wrist MOD, and then again out loud to the few Retrievers who have slipped out of their makeshift cubicles and poked their heads into our business. He leads us down a hallway between rows of empty fenced in holding cells to a bigger MOD screen on the wall. He shoves Nova’s hand onto the glass and two names appear on the screen.
Mine and hers.
He selects Nova Might. Then turns toward me with a big, satisfied smile. “I will ensure that you are given full credit in the apprehension of the villain. Let me also assure you that it will be depowered immediately and then we’ll hold a press conference and tell everyone the good news,” he says as if Nova isn’t right here, able to hear him speak about her like she’s scum of the earth.
Which, I guess, in any other situation with any other villain, I wouldn’t mind one bit.
When he leans in, his breath smells like old coffee. “I do have to ask that you keep this confidential until at which point we make an official announcement. You might want to go get gussied up for the press conference and interviews.”
Gussied up?
I keep a polite smile on my face even though I kind of want to ask him what the hell is wrong with the way I look right now. “Actually,” I say, grabbing onto Nova’s elbow. “I would like to witness the depowering.”
“Oh?” he says. The gears in his brain scramble to think of something to say next, but I beat him to it.
“Yes, actually. I am the Hero who captured this villain and seeing as how this is a high visibility mission, I would like the satisfaction of seeing the punishment take place with my own eyes. I am sure my father, President Might, will agree.”
His lips form a flat line. “Okay then. Follow me.”
Four Six Two Four. Retina scan. Six Six Eight Three. Thumb prints. One One One Zero Star Three Two Nine. Key. Deadbolt. That’s how far I get before I can no longer keep track of the multiple security measures that meet us as we travel into the depths of the canyon. The air cools as we travel down and the polished rock walls of the corridors have long since turned into rough, uneven chiseled surfaces. These corridors must be access ways or maintenance routes never meant for normal use. They don’t even register when I check the GPS on my BEEPR.
Nova’s hands are behind her back, Retriever cuffs keeping her in place. I know from experience in my Hero training that those things suck. They’re made with powerful magnets that inhibit your power and basically allow you to walk, follow directions and that’s about it.
Paul leads us as the hallway narrows and the floor becomes more uneven and cavernous. Nova shuffles along behind him, taking smaller steps to avoid losing her balance. I walk after them, carefully scrutinizing Paul’s movements and gestures. He looks and acts like a Retriever, a law enforcer. Maybe he has no idea what’s going on with the power stolen from the depowering machine. Or maybe he’s involved in it.
Which is why I watch him closer than I watch my own sister.
“The great thing about this new location,” Paul says, briefly looking back at Nova before unlocking another steel door. “Is that you can scream all you want and no one will have to listen to it.” He smiles. Smiles. As if it’s some kind of grand gesture that they moved the machine all the way down here so that her torturous depowering will be able to take place in a soundproof cave that won’t bother anyone who happens to be passing by. I pat the vials of juice on my forearm, making sure they’re still secure and ready to be used at a moment’s notice.
Because I’m pretty sure this guy is a villain.
The next door we come to is a massive slab of steel, the size of those doors in car dealerships that allow entire trucks to drive through. Paul palms the MOD screen to the right of the door. Metal gears dig into each other and the doors slowly pull apart.
“Ah-ha,” Paul says, arms spreading open as the doors part. “Here we are.”
My stomach drops. A lump forms in my throat that threatens to suffocate me. All of these feelings are Nova’s and they slam into me as I walk behind her. In front of us, with a single ominous light bulb hanging over it, is the depowering machine.
Paul approaches the right side of the machine, flipping switches. His expression delights when the machine hums to life. Nova glances at me but I look away. Something isn’t right here.
The machine’s new home is inside a man-made cave hundreds of feet underground. Inside is the machine, the single light bulb and a MOD screen near the doors. Everything else is completely barren.
“Where do you…” I begin, stopping because I can’t exactly ask where he puts the power when he steals it. Nova’s power enlightens as Paul steps closer to her. She keeps looking at me with those piercing eyes, which only makes it harder for me to think.
He looks sideways at her. “You two are almost identical,” he muses. To me he says, “I guess that trademark dark hair of yours is coming in handy now.”
I almost punch him in the face.
Paul grabs Nova’s wrist, dragging her across the room. For the first time since we left my house, Nova puts up a struggle. She digs her feet into the stony floor, refusing to budge. Paul grits his teeth and pulls harder.
“Go,” I say, ignoring her silent pleas for help. “You know the drill.”
“Apparently she doesn’t,” Paul says. He reaches into his pocket and steps forward. His other hand swings toward Nova. She grunts in pain when he stabs a retriever hook into her abdomen. With both ends of the horseshoe shaped hook jabbed into her body, he curls his index finger under the hook and pulls her toward the machine. Tears roll down her cheeks.
He forces her to lie down on the machine’s conveyor belt. After she’s completely docile, he removes her handcuffs. Shoves her head onto the curved surface.
I’m running out of time.
