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“Nick!” Pyro Storm shouted as he struggled against the smoke, bursts of fire crackling the air around him. “Get out of here! Run—you need torun.”
He should have. If he was smarter, he’d have taken off down the alley into the street, where he could see crowds still moving on the sidewalk. Even though he was scared out of his mind, he couldn’t leave Pyro Storm and Miss Conduct.
Without thinking, he rushed forward, but not toward Ice and Smoke and Miss Conduct and Pyro Storm. Instead, he went left, picking up the trash can that he’d tried to move with his mind. He grunted as he lifted it above his head, and he knew then and there that he’d probably never have a moment like this again.
So he said, “It’s time to take out the trash.”
Like abadass.
He hurled the trash can at the villains who dared to try to hurt Pyro Storm. Smoke saw it coming and dissipated again, the binds holding Pyro Storm in place falling away. But Ice didn’t move as fast, and the trash can broke a few of the icicles before smashing into his back, knocking him forward. Miss Conduct was ready and waiting, reaching up and grabbing Ice by the throat, electricity arcing off herarm. She pulled Ice close, their faces inches apart. “Ice, huh? Which is water. And we all know what happens when water meets electricity.”
Ice screamed as electricity coursed through him, snapping furiously, causing the spikes above him to shatter into powder and rain down around them. Miss Conduct lifted him off the ground, Ice’s legs kicking uselessly. “Get out of my face,” Miss Conduct hissed before throwing him as hard as she could. Nick managed to duck in time as Ice flew over him, smashing against the rusted door in the alcove.
Pyro Storm surged forward, leaving a trail of fire in his wake as Smoke re-formed, turning to look for Ice. Smoke grunted when Pyro Storm collided with her back, knocking her off her feet. Nick crouched low, and just when Smoke was about to hit him, he pushed himself up as hard as he could. Nick’s shoulder hit Smoke in the chest, and he pushed Smoke up andoverhim. Smoke hit the ground hard behind Nick, rolling until she stopped at Ice’s feet. He helped her up as Miss Conduct and Pyro Storm appeared on either side of Nick.
“Better than we thought,” Ice said, voice cold.
“Underestimated,” Smoke panted as she stood. “We will not make that mistake again. Finish this.” She took Ice’s hand in hers, raising them both toward the others. And though Nick couldn’t see their mouths, he thought they were both smiling.
Black clouds mixed with particles of ice as the alley rumbled around them. The door rattled and the lightbulb burst, sparks raining down as darkness fell. Nick took a step back as Ice and Smoke rushed toward them, hands still joined, the black cloud mixing with the ice and forming a gigantic wall in front of them, scraping along the ground, streams of black trailing behind it. He raised his hands in front of his face and screamed. A sharp pain lanced through his head, a pressure, as he waited for impact.
It never came. He cracked open an eye, wondering if he was already dead. He wasn’t.
Smoke and Ice were frozen mid-step, eyes darting wildly from side to side, still holding hands behind the wall of ice and smoke.
“What the hell?” Pyro Storm whispered. He looked around and raised his voice. “Who’s doing that? Show yourself!”
“Uh,” Nick said, grimacing. “I think it’s … me?”
Pyro Storm jerked his head toward him. “What?”
“Maybe,” Nick said, looking down at his hands. He raised them again, pointing them toward Ice and Smoke. He flexed his fingers, and the wall cracked furiously before shattering, ice turning to powder as the smoke blew away. “Holy shit, itisme! Suck it, you dicks! I’m an Extraordinary, and I’m going to kick you in the freakingballs.”
The pressure in his head released, the pain falling away. Ice and Smoke stumbled forward, both gasping.
“Oh crap,” Nick said, eyes growing wide. “No, come back! Turn on again! Powers, if you don’t activate, I’m going to—urk!”
His arm was almost torn from his socket as Pyro Storm pulled him at a run, heading for the mouth of the alley. “Miss Conduct,go!” he cried over his shoulder.
“I’m notleavingyou to—”
“We’ll draw them out into the street, but you’ll be seen! Get out of here!”
Nick looked back in time to see Miss Conduct turn completely into electricity, her body morphing into arcs of blue. One moment she stood in the alley, and the next, she flashed like lightning, rising off the ground and hitting the cord that held the broken light bulb. Her bodyshrankas she hit the filament of the bulb, and then she disappeared, the cord shaking as if …
As if she’d turned her entire body into a current and was riding the power line.
“I love drag queens,” Nick managed to say as they ran toward the street. Ice and Smoke chased after them, Ice jumping to the side of the building and running along it, Smoke turning into just that, a gigantic cloud that roiled toward them.
“Move!” Pyro Storm shouted, and Nick turned his head to see a crowd of people gathering near the mouth of the alley. “Get out of the way!”
People screamed and jumped as Pyro Storm raised his hand in front of him, fire bursting from his palm and forming a rail of sorts that snapped and crackled along the street. “Hang on!” Pyro Storm bellowed at Nick.
“Towhat?” Nick screamed back.
“To me,” Pyro Storm snarled, and then jumped even as he hurled Nick forward. He didn’t let Nick’s hand go, and the momentum caused Nick to fly in front of Pyro Storm, his shoulder protesting angrily as Nick snapped back against Pyro Storm’s front, an arm wrapped around his waist, holding him tightly. Pyro Storm landed on top of the fire covering the ground, and like Ice had done, began toskatealong it. Wind whipped around them as they flew by the crowd of people, their faces pale, eyes wide, many of them shouting in warning, even as they held up their phones to record.
“How are you doing this?” Nick demanded.
