SuperNova: Heroes of Arcania Read online

  “We shouldn’t let them get away with it. I mean, robbery by candy bar, really? How stupid,” Penelope said, motioning to the jackass with the candy bar.

  “What exactly are you suggesting?”

  “Toss them around a little, teach them a lesson,” she said, shrugging.

  “I don’t hate the idea,” Cole muttered to me. “What do you think?”

  I felt torn. Part of me agreed with Pen; the look on the store owner’s face sent fury raging through me. The other half, however, didn’t want Penelope - or me, to be honest - to fall into some dark place, a person who solved every problem with violence. It had to start somewhere, right, and couldn’t that be now?

  Penelope decided for us. With a mischievous smile on her face, she nudged Cole off-balance and he lost his hold on time. The surprise caused him to tumble sideways into the row of magazines, the freeze officially off our bad guys. The two punks jerked at our sudden arrival. The owner gasped; realizing the attention was off him, he reached for the phone that I left off the hook. He hesitated when he noticed, slowly brought it to his ear. When he heard the operator already on the line, shock registered on his face.

  Paying no attention to the store owner, the candy bar kid recovered first. Now facing me, I could make out his acne scars and close-set eyes. His hand in his pocket, he moved as though to threaten us. “Give us your money or I’ll shoot you.”

  Despite, well, everything, I laughed. Right in his face. Cole almost smiled. Confusion crossed the robber’s face, replaced by anger at the general insult.

  “Bitch,” he spat.

  My laughter ceased, eyes narrowing at him. “That’s rude.”

  Cole’s hands twitched, but when his eyes met mine, I shook my head just so. He paused.

  The one with the knife brandished his weapon at us. “You heard him. Money.”

  “No.”

  Penelope and Cole watched, eyes back and forth as though on a tennis match. My tense posture was rigid with stress. Penelope, on the other hand, snorted at the exchange. In my peripheral, her hands were up, ready to defend…or attack. Her fingers wiggled a little in anticipation.

  When the punks just stared at me, I bared my teeth. “Get out.”

  The one with the knife laughed, gesturing to his friend. Under his breath, I could barely make out his Spanish. I definitely heard the words “chica” and “loca.”

  My patience snapped. I reached out, hand going around the proffered arm from the knife-wielder. My fingers clenched his wrist, twisting so that the knife fell from his hands. The guy’s outburst could only be described as a scream as his bones cracked under my grip. His free arm swung out to hit me, but I also blocked that, other hand going around his elbow.

  His buddy moved to step in but Penelope struck first. She used Telekinesis and threw him in the air and over two aisles; he crashed into a third, taking the entire thing down with him. Chip bags went flying, groans now the only response. The store owner didn’t move from his spot, unable to look away.

  “You want me to break your arm?” I asked my captive, squeezing for effect. “‘Cause it would be pretty easy.”

  The pain made his knees quiver so that I had to pull him back to his feet. I loosened my grip slightly, glancing at Cole before back on him.

  “Do you work for Fortune?”

  Fear shone in his muddy brown eyes. “No.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I—I,” he stammered, head shaking in a frantic motion. My fingers squeezed, the pressure making him yelp. “So what if I do?”

  “What’s he doing with the money?” Cole chimed in.

  Disbelief crossed the punk’s face. “You think I know? I sell weed and pick pockets.”

  “And rob innocent store owners, so why’s Fortune so interested in you in the first place?” Anger pumping, I barely recognized my own voice. He buckled again at my grip, eyes shut and mouth open in a silent scream.

  Sirens wailed in the distance. Time to go. Cole gestured frantically to leave. “No way can I hold everyone at once. Gotta go!”

  I dropped my hold on the thief. He barely registered belief before I shoved him; he fell back and stumbled into the register, head thunking against the wood. He didn’t get up and I nodded in satisfaction. The owner, wide-eyed and stunned, simply stared at us. As we rushed out, however, I heard him stammer out a “thank you.”

  Police lights bounced off the building windows, warning us our time was out. Penelope was half a block ahead. Tires squealing behind me, I took off in a sprint. A car honked and I pushed harder, worried the cops were about to catch me. I glanced over my shoulder to see an old man at the wheel, shaking his fist at me. I couldn’t help but laugh as I continued to run. When Cole passed my pace, I got a second wave, legs pumping until we caught up with Pen. We ran far past my usual comfort zone from the parking garage, long after the sirens and lights disappeared behind us.

  “I don’t know about you guys, but what a rush,” Penelope said. Her eyes glittered with excitement, the fading adrenaline making her fidget.

  “Are you okay?” Cole asked me.

  I shrugged, catching my breath. “Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Just checking. That was smart, thinking to ask him about Fortune.”

  “Oh,” I said with a shake of my head, “well, it’s not exactly news he’s got lowlife scumbags in his little club.”

  “And the dealer even admitted he’s too stupid to know any of Fortune’s plans,” Penelope added. She gave me a thumbs up and waved a hand at her brother. “It’s all good, Cole. We caught the bad guys, turned them into the police, and helped someone tonight.”

  He grinned at me and any trepidation I had eased. I didn’t want to admit it, but she was right: there was a satisfaction in my belly. I hoped it came from actually saving people, as opposed to Pen’s newfound enthusiasm for beating them up. In any case, Cole and I agreed that it felt good to help clean up Arcania’s streets. Those guys wouldn’t be robbing another convenience store anytime soon.

  Going into the heart of Arcania was all I could think about for the next three days. I itched to get down there and help someone. I could tell Nova felt the same way; neither of us could sit still in class, grinning every time we caught each other’s eye.

  The convenience store robbery had been a blip in the news, with the reporter mentioning “strange rants of vigilantism” from the criminals. The store owner stated three people had saved him from gunpoint, while the police waved off ridiculous notions of “citizens trying to stir up trouble.” The less they knew, the better.

  We’d agreed to keep a low profile since being in the news, but I was glad when we teamed up again a few nights later. All Penelope talked about all day was finding and hurting the bad guys. I had to warn her to calm down, not wanting Dad to overhear about our new activities.

  When we pulled into the parking garage, Penelope nearly jumped out of the moving car in excitement. We began our patrol, walking several blocks before glass broke somewhere near us. We froze, listening for any more sounds. Penelope inched forward, despite my disapproving glare to stay put.

  “It could be a dog,” Nova said, recalling her first night out. She’d shared the story earlier this evening.

  “Only one way to find out,” I said grimly.

  The three of us eased forward until nearby movement stopped us. Murmured voices and the shuffle of footsteps sounded; my stomach clenched. This was more than one man. Nova glanced to me and I nodded on cue. My hands came up and gripped into fists. The air shivered and stilled.

  Penelope didn’t wait for any command, tiptoeing forward to peer around the corner. Nova and I followed her lead, hardly daring to breathe. She looked back to us, unable to contain her enthusiasm.

  “We’ve got something.”

  The words I thought I’d dread instead excited me. I could hear it in Nova’s voice, too. “Is it him?”

  Penelope shrugged. “You’re the one who knows what he looks like.”

  “
I don’t,” Nova corrected her quickly, “I just know he’s tall and has dark blue eyes.”

  “Descriptive,” she mumbled.

  I shot my sister a dirty look. “She’s not telepathic either, remember?”

  She had the decency to grimace. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Are we doing this or not?” Nova asked with a huff.

  “The sooner, the better,” I replied.

  We stepped out onto the sidewalk for a better look. The three of us stood tall in the streetlight, our shadows slinking into the alley where the sight unfolded before us. Penelope was right; I had frozen something, all right. Five men loaded duffel bags into an unmarked truck. Unable to move, they didn’t see us standing in front of them.

  If Fortune was with them, I certainly couldn’t tell. Their masks and dark clothing were indistinguishable; we’d have to get much closer for details on their eye color.

  “How long do we have until they unfreeze?” Nova asked me out of the side of her mouth.

  “No idea,” I said, hands trembling a little. “They’ve got mojo for sure. I’m putting everything I’ve got into holding it all together.”

  “Penelope, why don’t you take the keys from the ignition?” Nova suggested.

  Pen grinned, slapping her palms together in anticipation. Her eyes didn’t stray from the truck; I held my breath, wondering if she’d come through. A jingling could be heard and I watched as the keys floated up and out of the open driver’s side. They came toward us in midair, not making a sound. She used her gift to bring them right to Nova, dangling them in her face. Nova’s right hand eagerly closed around them.

  Without warning, Nova chucked the keys in the opposite direction as hard as she could. We watched the silver glint in the lights as they soared out of view.

  “With your arm, those things are long gone,” I said with a smile.

  Penelope let out a peal of laughter. “Yeah, they had to have gone at least three blocks over.”

  “Anything to annoy them.” Nova grinned.

  I jerked with effort to keep the men still, sweat forming on my brow. “Let’s finish whatever it is we’re gonna do. Time is starting to put up a fight.”

  Penelope and Nova hurried forward for a closer look. She went straight to the duffel bags while Nova inspected all the masked men.

  “They’re heavy,” Pen said after attempting to lift one. “I’d need my gift to carry one out.”

  Nova glanced at the masked men, nearly identical except their eye color. Disappointment and anger crossed her face. “He’s not here.”

  “How do you know?” I asked her.

  “He wears a black suit.”

  “He wears a suit?” I echoed. ‘Cause that’s not weird at all.

  Pen crouched down to examine the black bags. They were unremarkable, aside from the fact that they carried something. She unzipped one of the bags, whistling between her two front teeth. Her hand went into the bag, pulling up a fistful of hundred dollar bills.

  “What are they doing with all of this?” Penelope wondered aloud.

  “Delivering it to Fortune,” Nova said without a doubt.

  “And what’s he doing with it?”

  Her question went unanswered. The men were fighting against my time freeze. One of the men broke free of his cage and I gasped. The man who’d been in mid-step, stumbled forward. He glanced up in surprise, focusing on Nova, who surely looked like a deer in headlights.

  “What the—?” he started, but Nova moved fast.

  Her arm pulled back and she put all her weight into slinging her fist at his face. Caught off-guard, her punch met its target, square in his jaw. The velocity of her gift spun him around, dropping like a brick to the floor. He didn’t get up, but as I lost control, the four remaining men stirred. They looked equally surprised, then pissed when they saw their buddy out cold.

  “Oh uh, hey guys,” Nova said, hands up with an awkward wave.

  “It’s her.”

  She brightened. “Oh good, you have heard of me.”

  “Get her,” one growled.

  I tried to grab hold of time again, but my energy waned. Two men on either side of Nova lunged at the same time. She dove forward, tucking into a roll. Back on her feet in an instant, she turned to see the first two slam into each other. Penelope giggled behind me; I glanced to see her arms up. She’d slung them together like rag dolls. The men slid to the ground, unmoving. I grimaced, hoping she hadn’t shattered their skulls.

  The remaining two men came after Nova. She scrambled out of reach, but one caught her around the knees. They crashed to the ground, him crawling up after her. The other moved to kick her in the face. She kicked and fought, but her eyes squeezed shut as she braced herself.

  Red flashed in my vision and I took off towards the struggle. I didn’t want to freeze him even if I could; I wanted to beat him to a pulp. With a yelp, I tackled the man to the ground. I even got in a couple solid punches. I managed to box his left ear; one hand went up in pain when the eardrum shattered. Nova gave a swift kick to her own attacker’s groin; he curled into the fetal position, cursing her.

  “Go!” I shouted.

  I grabbed Nova’s arm, helping her to her feet. Penelope slung the conscious men out and away from us, behind their truck. We moved forward and Nova gave me a heart attack as she played a bold move. She slipped out of my grip, ran to the mountain of duffel bags and grabbed the handles of two.

  She slung a duffel bag over either shoulder. Taking off, I prayed the men didn’t get up and chase us. Blood rushing in my ears, feet pounding the pavement, we hauled it to the parking garage. Nova must have twenty-five grand on her shoulders right now. The three of us ran to my car, getting back to our house as fast as possible. I kept a watchful eye on the rearview mirror as I swerved onto the main road. No one followed us.

  Cole’s tires screeched as he slammed to a stop in his driveway. He unbuckled his seatbelt, his movements quick. “Come on.”

  Penelope and I followed him into the house, locking all the doors behind us. I tossed the duffel bags onto the living room floor with a thud. The three of us checked the windows and waited a few minutes. Nothing unusual sounded outside and we eventually calmed down enough to regroup downstairs.

  Penelope flopped onto the couch, her legs curling up beneath her. “That was fun!”

  I kind of agreed with her.

  “You know,” Penelope said as she kicked off her shoes, “those thugs knew you. Well, you know what I mean.”

  I nodded. Those men had recognized me, or at least my alternate persona. They’d known the superhero side of me. That meant Fortune could be paying attention. It gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction.

  “That’s pretty badass,” Penelope continued, shooting me an admirable look.

  I waved her off. “That the bad guys know there’s a teenaged girl out on the streets? Kinda hard to avoid that one.”

  “At least you’ve taken down a couple. They can’t think you’re an idiot,” she said, trying to be helpful.

  “One way of looking at it,” I said with a sigh.

  “What do we do with his money?” Cole asked, ignoring his sister. He eyed the bags as though they were venomous snakes. “I mean, how do we get rid of it?”

  Penelope raised an eyebrow. “Who said anything about giving it up?”

  “Pen,” Cole admonished.

  When she didn’t say anything, I scoffed. “You can’t be serious. This is bank heist money. We have to turn this in.”

  “We could keep it as commission for taking those losers out.”

  Cole opened his mouth to reply, but I held up a hand to stop him. “Penelope, even if I wanted to keep stolen blood money, there’s no way the police don’t catch us. They have marked bills and will be checking everything against the numbers. If we spent it, they’d end up hunting us instead.”

  Her face fell. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  “We in no way keep any of this money,” Cole said, though we all kne
w he was speaking directly to his sister. I nodded anyway.

  “I have to give it to my dad,” I said, not taking my eyes off the duffel bags.

  Cole nodded and Penelope did the same, though she looked a bit more dejected. I glanced at my watch, grimacing at the late hour. If I was going to wake my dad up to give him the money, the sooner, the better. He would be annoyed if I waited on something like this until morning.

  “I gotta get home.”

  “I’ll walk you,” Cole offered.

  Penelope declined to join, fake yawning and heading upstairs. Cole went to pick up the duffel bags, grimacing at the weight. “Huh. I didn’t know money could be so heavy.”

  I bit back a laugh, walking over and lifting it onto either shoulder. “I got it.”

  Cole laughed too, not looking the least bit embarrassed. “Penelope does a lot of the heavy lifting, too.”

  “Her gift is really amazing,” I said as we exited the house.

  Cole grimaced, ushering me out. The backdoor shut behind him with a click. Once we got out of his yard, he spoke again. “That’s not who she is, that person who knocks men unconscious with her gift.”

  I stayed silent on the matter. Obviously he was talking himself into that, but I wouldn’t be the one to tell him. It sure looked like she’d enjoyed it and that was enough to tell me what she was capable of. I shifted the bag straps on my shoulders.

  “Are you okay?” Cole asked, glancing over at me.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I mean…I don’t know.”

  Cole shot me a knowing look and summed it all up for me. “Fortune wasn’t there.”

  My breath blew out at once. “Yes! I wanted him there so I could take him down. I want it to be over.”

  “But you’ve only just started.”

  I started, glancing at him in surprise. “I don’t know if this hobby is really a marketable skill, Cole. I can’t exactly put it on college applications.”

  “‘Vigilante’ won’t add a bit of flair to your resume?” he teased.

  “I don’t want to be a vigilante,” I said honestly. We slipped into the neighbor’s backyard, sticking to the shadows to avoid being seen. “I want to rid the world of Fortune. That’s my one goal, end of list.”