Page 102 of No Capes
Materio doesn’t have flight powers, but Flare does. She could have flown to the window to help us, while Materio created a trap for Phil. Apparently, they need instructions.
“Dark Static is fighting Phil upstairs,” I say once air returns to my lungs. “We need to help without risking the evidence. And…” I try to find Arielle and my dad, whostillneeds a hospital, but the only figure left in the grass is Golden Ace.Where is Arielle?Arielle must have taken my dad for help once Flare and Materio stopped fighting her.
Materio nods, but before either of them can act, a whirl of black and grey plummets from the window. Phil touches down on the grass immediately followed by Dark Static. D.S. throws a punch at the mayor, exactly like he’d taught me, but Phil deflects it with another force-field.
“Flare, Materio,” he hollers. “What are you all waiting for?” He gestures at Dark Static and me.
Flare fires sparks at Phil, which erupt into a flaming circle around his feet. He leaps to fly and escape them, but the Super with the fancy rocks intercepts him and knocks him back with a strong gust of wind.
We’ve got him. We’re going to win.
“You don’t want to do this,” Phil cries. “I have information that you don’t. Capital City will fall because of this.”
“Stuff it.” Flare flicks a flame near Phil, who abruptly shuts his mouth. She blows smoke off her finger, and the wind Super throws another rock into the air.
Dark Static delivers the shockwave he’d been building all night.
I shoot a jet of water into the shockwave, trying to form a wall behind Phil. We can’t trap Phil in another hydro-electric vortex, because he’d be able to break through. We can only continue to fight until authorities arrive, who will hopefully believe Flare and Materio. As soon as anyone reported unusual activities near the mayor’s mansion, the authorities would be on their merry way.
Phil blocks D.S., Flare, and me simultaneously. He kicks a leg behind him, blasting tens of force-fields all at once, knocking each of us off balance. In the moment he’s bought himself, Phil leaps into the air and flies, bulleting away.
I unleash the rain on him, trying to hit him with anything I can. Flare shoots balls of fire and Vent tries to blow Phil back to the ground, but Phil’s air-based powers help him ride the sky.
The only Super who could fly fast enough to catch him is currently unconscious, lying in the grass. Still, Dark Static and Flare jump into the night, streaking after Phil.
The other Supers who’d been fighting off Dark Static, though nowhere near as powerful as Materio or Flare, huddle with Materio and me. They each wear masks and costumes I don’t recognize. They could be anywhere from fifteen to fifty years old, and I wonder who they are. Not that I can ask.
I push myself up from the ground. “I need to get the evidence,” I say. I need to get back into the tower.
“I can’t believe he was Super,” says Coco.
“Don’t call him that,” I snap. Phil doesn’t deserve to be termed “Super.” Coco doesn’t reply, and Materio’s already walked off. We’re lucky Phil stupidly debuted his powers and the truth came out.
Maybe that’s the only thing separating the good from the bad, anyway—whose story you believe.
I sprint into the mansion and beeline for the tower, hoping that Arielle and my dad made it to safety.
I find the tower’s doors still open. But among the chaos, find no folders or CDs that are still intact.
No no no no no no no no.Where did the evidence go?
I sprint down a level, then through the grand hallways, until I reach Arielle’s pink room. If she’s still in the mansion, she’ll be in here.
Right?
We need to find the CDsfast.If the police show up and find we’ve attacked Phil with no evidence, all of us will be locked up for using powers against a municipal servant.
The door is already cracked, and I push it open.
Arielle and my dad hunch at her computer. Arielle leans on her desk, holding herself up, while my dad coughs.
“Dad?” I run over. I steady him in his chair. “Dad, it’s okay. I’ll call an ambulance.”
“No need,” he says, but his words come unevenly.
“Dad?” I repeat. “You need to go to the hospital.” I look at my sister and she nods. I don’t have to tell her that she does too.
“I don’t need an ambulance.” He coughs and coughs.
