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“I let myself be played,” Nick said bitterly. “Regardless of what he did, I allowed it to happen. I should have seen it for what it was.”

“You aren’t responsible for what he’s done,” Martha told him.“If anything, it’s on us. We knew who he was, and so did Seth. We thought we could help him. That we could get through to him somehow, make him listen to reason. And at first, he wasn’tbad.Seth could handle him himself.” Her smile wobbled. “And then he started in with you, and things… stopped for a little while.”

“It was a game,” Seth said. “He was taunting me, I think. Or at least that was part of it. He had you, and then he didn’t, and then he tried to pull you back in again. He was trying to use you against me.”

Nick groaned. “This sucks. Not only am I the comedic relief/love interest, I’m also thecluelesscomedic relief/love interest who is a pawn in a game I didn’t even realize was being played. God, my life is so cliché.”

“But why would he want Nick to be an Extraordinary?” Jazz asked. “Why take him to Burke Tower at all? If his plan was to change Nick, why not just bring a pill to him?”

“Would you have taken a pill Owen pulled out of his pocket?” Nick retorted. “It wouldn’t have been the same. He knew I wouldn’t trust it coming directly from him. But from a secret basement in Burke Tower? I’m a sucker for secret basements.” He looked around the room. “Which is why this one is such a disappointment.”

“And he saw how much Nick wanted it,” Gibby said. “Especially when it started out being about Shadow Star.” She grinned. “Remember the mugging in the alley?”

Nick winced. “Not my proudest moment.”

“He would have made Nick an Extraordinary,” Seth said, sounding grumpy. “At least temporarily. Give him a taste of power, get him hooked. And then he’d tell Nicky who he was. WhoIwas. He would’ve turned Nick against me. Convinced him that I was the villain all this time, that I needed to be stopped. He knew I’d follow you to Burke Tower. That whole scene was staged. Just like the apartment building.”

“I wouldn’t have done that,” Nick snapped. “It wouldn’t have worked.” Suddenly unsure, he added, “Right?”

Except it almost had. If Pyro Storm hadn’t shown up when he did, wouldn’t Nick have doneexactlywhat Owen wanted him to do? Taken a pill. Become something else. Who knew what would have happened then?

“It doesn’t matter,” Seth said. “Not anymore. You trust me?”

“Yes,” Nick said immediately. Because of course he did.

“And you know Owen is the bad guy.”

“Yeah.”

“Which means he has to be stopped.”

Nick blanched. “Are you—are you going to kill him?”

“No,” Bob said sharply. “We don’t kill people. Ever. We have to find a way to subdue him. He needs help, Nick. More than anything. We’ve waited this long because we were so scared Seth would be unmasked alongside him. But now we need to take that chance. If it happens, we’ll deal with it then, as a family. The world needs to know who Shadow Star is and what he’s capable of. He can’t hide.”

“How?” Nick asked.

Silence again.

“Seriously? You guys don’t have a plan?Anyplan? You have a Systemax computer in a basement of a row house andno plan?”

“Sometimes we have muffins when Seth gets back,” Gibby said. “They’re pretty good. Martha makes them.”

Nick threw his hands in the air. “Useless. All of you. You’re lucky I know everything there is to know about being an Extraordinary. I’m pretty much an expert. I write fanfiction, after all. Thank god you have me.”

“Fanfiction?” Bob asked, brow furrowed. “What is… that?”

“I don’t have time to answer your ridiculous questions right now,” Nick told him. “I have a city to save. Move, Martha. I need the computer.”

Martha glared at him.

“Oh, crap. Sorry. Move, please? Ma’am? Please?”

Martha rose from the chair. “Just because a villain is trying to take over Nova City doesn’t mean we forget our manners.”

Nick took her place, pulling the keyboard toward him. Next to it sat a small mic on a stand. The computer screen already showed a map of Nova City, a blinking light somewhere near Burke Tower. “Is that Seth?”

“Yeah,” Bob said. “Tracker. Figured it’d be best in case something happened. He’s been staying in the one place we thought Owen would come back to.”