Overpowered (Powered Trilogy #2)

by Cheyanne Young

  The loser of the fight hobbles ahead of us, turning left into a darkened alley. “He’s our man. It’ll be less suspicious to talk to someone away from a crowd.”

  “This isn’t your mission,” I hiss, turning back with my fingers digging tightly into her forearm. “Do not leave me again.”

  “I didn’t leave,” she snaps, trying to wrench her arm from my grasp. I don’t let go and she doesn’t try to break free again. “I thought you were following me.”

  “Oh you did, huh?” We slip back into the crowd of humans. I lean closer. “Here’s another rule: stop thinking.”

  Anger pours out of her but she doesn’t say another word. Her arms fold across her chest and she stares straight ahead, watching the next fight as if she has money bet on the outcome and she’s currently losing.

  Maybe her idea of talking to that guy would have been beneficial in finding some of this new drug. But I am so sick of her ideas. I am the Hero here. Not her. I smile at the two teenage guys standing next to us. “This is crazy,” I say, biting my bottom lip with a look that pinpoints me as a normal American teenager with a slight wild side. “Have you seen these fights before?”

  “Tons,” the guy closest to me says. His friend holds up his left arm which is covered from fingers to elbow in a bright red cast. “I can’t wait to try it again.”

  My mouth falls open, impressed. “Oh my gosh, did you get that fighting?”

  “Yeah, baby, I did,” he says with a wink. “I won it too.”

  His friend rolls his eyes. “Whatever dude. It was a tie.”

  “Man, no. I won two thousand bucks off that fight. I’ll be back out there too, as soon as my stupid arm heals.”

  “I hope I’m here to see it,” I say, realizing a moment too late that my fake teenager-from-the-movies voice came out way too cheesy to be taken seriously. Nova steps around me. “Our brother really wants to start fighting. He just can’t find a good source…” She presses her fist against her arm, miming injecting herself. “...if you know what I mean.”

  It takes a mountain of self-control for me to keep my power levels at bay. Even more so when the guy with the broken arm nods and says, “I got ya, sweetheart. We know just the guy.”

  “Really?” Nova says with wide, flirtatious eyes. “We’d love to meet him.”

  The first guy nods with a dreamy smile on his face as he’s probably, most definitely, fallen into Nova’s charming allure. “I can show you--” he begins, only to be kicked in the shin by his friend. “We’ll be just a second,” the friend says. We smile politely as they step away from the scene. They whisper to each other, but I hear every word.

  “Dude. We can’t be bringing chicks to the harbor. We’re lucky they sell to us. They don’t even trust us that much.”

  “But they’re hot.”

  “They’re not that hot.”

  “Maybe we could sell to them. Make a profit.”

  “That’s a good idea. You still got that double?”

  “Yep.”

  The first guy calls out for us and motions for us to join them. “I’ll do the talking,” I whisper.

  He leads us down the alley, just far enough away from society for a normal person to know better. I’m far from concerned about the distance. Nova looks a little unsure. That alone is satisfying enough for me to call this a good day.

  Our new friend leans against a brick wall, motioning for us to get closer. He reaches his hand into his pocket and keeps it there. “I’ve got one shot of Strike. Hundred bucks and it’s yours. But you gotta buy it now.”

  “Strike?”

  He nods. “You can’t possibly want anything else. This is the good stuff. The fighting stuff.”

  “A hundred bucks, huh?” I glance at Nova. “Do you have any cash?” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a handful of dollar bills, our change from a fast food purchase earlier. From the way she holds the cash in her fist, they won’t know it’s only a few dollars.

  “Let me see it first,” I say. “I want to know I’m getting the real deal.” Everything about this situation sounds like a hokey drug deal on some silly television show. But they aren’t really drug dealers and we’re not really drug users, so I guess it is pretty hokey.

  He sighs and pulls out his hand, showing me a metallic vial that I instantly recognize as Felix’s work. “Give him the money,” I say, nodding to Nova.

  She drops the wadded up bills into his hand and I snatch the vial from his other hand quicker than he has time to notice. Nova’s power feels antsy. If he has time to count the money then we’ll have some explaining to do.

  I clutch the vial to my chest and nod toward my sister. “Go!” We dash away, our legs carrying us through the darkest parts of New York City before the rookie drug dealers will have a chance to realize what happened.

  We run full speed, exhilarated with our successful heist, until we’re safely on the other side of the KAPOW entrance.

  My reflection stares back at me in the shiny surface of Bonnie Bloom’s mahogany desk. When I was summoned here by Hero alarm a few moments ago, I expected to see Crimson, Nyx and my brother again, brought here for an update on our missing Supers. So far I’m the only one in the room.

  Bonnie’s floral perfume wafts over me. “Hello, Maci.” Her voice is like sunshine. I relax a bit. I can’t be in trouble if she greets me with a voice like a sweet kindergarten teacher.

  “How can I assist you?” I ask when it’s obvious she’s not going to question my regular clothing in lieu of a Hero suit.

  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?”

  “No.” Dad takes the tube, holding it like it might hurt him. “We don’t know what this drug is. It’s killing humans so it could be toxic to us. We need to get it analyzed. Maci, call Evan.”

  Max’s power trickles with disbelief. I feel it from Nova as well. If I paid any attention to my own power, it would feel the same way. Max says what my sister and I are also thinking.

  “Why should we get it tested? It’s obviously power.”

  A thick blanket of rain drops splatter across my bedroom window. When the rain splashes onto my floor-to-ceiling window, I’ll usually pick a raindrop to watch as it makes its way zigging and zagging around other drops, absorbing and splitting again until it disappears out of sight. But the rain comes in a downpour tonight; even with Super vision I am unable to single out a solitary drop.

  I roll away from facing the window, letting my body decompress on top of my ultra-fluffy cloud-like mattress. Max was right when they ordered this mattress for me a couple years ago. Nothing beats lying on one of these beds after a long day of working as a Hero. If only they made memory foam mattresses that worked inside your head. A place to lie your thoughts at night so all the stress and anxiety that’s been balled up in your mind all day can decompress.

  Nova lies next to me, propped up on her elbows on top of the comforter. Sometimes she sleeps in here and sometimes she’ll slip into the safe room in Dad’s office. We haven’t talked about it, and I don’t ask. She’s holding a wallet-sized laminated photo of our mother, staring at it like she does every night. Her eyes trace the lines along Mom’s golden shoulder-length hair, her tight smile and big blue eyes. It’s an official photograph that Mom kept in her wallet next to her work badge. In it, she’s dressed in a royal purple Retriever suit, one of the old fashioned styles from before we were born.

  My sister’s hair has faded almost entirely back to blonde now. I guess that’s why human hair dye companies have never asked a Super to endorse their products. It doesn’t last in our hair very long. I reach out, touching a strand of her hair. Some of the dye rubs off at my touch, revealing shiny wisps of Nova’s real hair. “I should buy some more boxes of that hair dye. We might need it again to keep you hidden.”

  “I wonder if I would have been a Hero too,” Nova says, sliding her finger down the front of the glossy photograph.

  “What do you mean?”

  She shrugs. “If I wasn’t taken by Aurora and if I just grew up normally with you. Do you think I would have wanted to be a Hero?”

  “Hell, no.”

  Her face crumples up as if my words just slapped her. I roll my eyes at her stupidity. “You wouldn’t be a Hero, Nova. You’d be a depowered invalid. Both of us. We’d probably live on the street somewhere wishing we were dead.”

  “That’s a little harsh,” she mutters, turning Mom’s picture over in her hand.

  “It isn’t harsh. It’s the truth. Don’t you know what happens to Super twins?” I lower my voice so it isn’t so condescending. Maybe she doesn’t know. She wasn’t educated like I was on the history of the Super race. Nova swallows and her power level flattens out into a neutral state.

  “Yeah, I know. The laws say that we would have been depowered.”

  “So why bother reminiscing about some stupid make believe past that would never happen?”

  She shrugs. I feel like she has something more to say but I don’t bother asking. I’d rather just go to sleep.

  Evan stands awkwardly in our foyer, like he’s a guest in our home now that my dad is back from the medical ward. You’d never know by his rigid posture and the business-like expression on his face that he spent a few weeks crashing on my bed while wearing Max’s pajamas. It took him an entire two days to analyze the drug after we shipped it to him in full bio hazard protective casing. Dad’s having an off day, or at least that’s what Nurse Martha called it when we spoke with her earlier this morning, so we decided to have Evan come to us instead of risking bringing Dad on the long KAPOW ride to South Africa.

  “Is that all you brought?” Dad asks from his place on a barstool in t
he kitchen. He’s been drinking water all day so he hasn’t left that spot.

  Evan holds out the vial of the drug which is now half empty. “Yes, sir.”

  I motion for him to follow me into the kitchen and he finally uproots his feet from the foyer and joins us next to Dad. He places the vial on the countertop. Dad gives it a curious glance and then flattens his hands on the granite. “Well? What did you discover? What is it?”

  “Is it power?” Max interjects.

  “Yeah.” Evan chews on his bottom lip. “It’s power.”

  Dad lets out a disappointed sigh.

  I can’t help but think that Evan looks super freaking cute when he’s nervous about being around my dad. But that’s not the point right now. Max curses under his breath and takes a big bite off the protein bar in his hand. “What else is in it? Cocaine? Speed? Heroin?”

  Evan shakes his head. “No, just power. Good power actually.”

  “What does that mean?” Dad asks.

  “Well it’s not evil. It was a mixture of mostly good and a little evil.”

  Max chokes on his food. “Wait, what? You figured that out already?”

  “What’s going on?” Dad’s voice booms through the room, making all of us jump. Screw his off day. Right now he looks and sounds exactly like the man I remember. “Since when can you determine if power is good or evil?”

  Evan’s eyes go wide and I grab his arm to calm him. “I don’t know if it’s one hundred percent conclusive,” he begins, looking at his hands. “Well, no. It is. Max is right. I figured it out.”

  Dad looks at me. “When?”

  Evan hesitates and I squeeze his arm. “You can tell him. He’s my dad.” He gives me this look that says it’s your funeral. “A few days ago, Hugo Havoc and some of the other elders assigned me the task of determining if Super blood has evil or good coding in it. Only...well I was already secretly researching it myself. I tested it on Maci when she was on lockdown at my lab.”