Page 26

Joan flicked sparks off her fingertips onto the shiny lobby floor at Super HQ.

Mark did the same with a burst of snow. Either the Supers were too busy to turn on that power-blocking thing, or more unlikely, they thought it was no longer needed.

Once Perry got there, they were supposed to go over some new information the Heroes had gathered.

Her brother shifted his weight, drumming his hands on his thighs. “So Sadie’s parents hugged you when they left last night. What’s the big deal? Aren’t they huggy people?”

“They like, really hugged me. Hugs that said they appreciated me looking out for their daughter. It was nice.”

“I’m glad they warmed up to you.”

“I think they like me.” Joan rolled her eyes. “As long as they never find out I’m Spark.”

“Yeah. Sades said that would be the worst thing imaginable for them. Good thing we’ll get the truck up and running so you have a cover again.”

And therein laid the heart of the problem.

She really did like working at Hot and Cold.

She wanted everything she and Sadie had talked about since their first date.

But she couldn’t ignore this strange pull to do something more.

Something that would drag her back to the world of superpowers and secret identities and lying.

But doing it for better reasons this time.

Only that could mean losing everything she’d built with Sadie.

Kade lumbered in with Darlene, both in their Super suits. Darlene pulled her facemask back so it dangled behind her neck. Kade did the same. He had a couple of short scratches around his eyes and mouth not unlike the one healing beneath Joan’s eye. Gifts from his tussle with Prowl.

“My ears hurt,” he said loudly.

“Squawk?” Joan guessed.

Yanking her blue gloves off, Darlene said, “We need to invest in something to dampen the noise.”

Kade tugged on his right ear. “Where’s Sadie?”

“My sainted girlfriend is at our warehouse dealing with the insurance company for the truck,” Joan said. “And contacting our suppliers to cancel orders.”

She could handle it, and was good at stuff like that, and Joan wanted to show her she trusted her. Sadie was totally right about needing to be cut some slack.

“I’m sorry about your food truck,” Kade all but yelled. “I really liked your sandwiches.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Mark said, glancing at his phone.

“I’m going upstairs to change.” Darlene narrowed her eyes in typical Darlene fashion. “I trust there won’t be any issues leaving you here alone?”

Everything inside Joan wanted to conjure a great big fireball just to spite her. “No problems,” she said instead. “We’re waiting on Perry.”

Mark tapped his sneaker toe against one of the metal suitcases sitting next to an angular armchair. “We brought our outfits so we don’t have to borrow renaissance faire costumes again. Should we put them on?”

Joan held up a hand. “I don’t want to go full Spark unless we have to. It’ll draw too much attention.”

“I will defer that decision to Flight,” Darlene said.

The Super duo walked to the large staircase. Mark started to follow.

“Dude,” Joan muttered.

“Kade might need my help. He’s wounded.”

“Quit trying to make Zee jealous.”

He waved his hand. “Relax. I’m going to pee,” he said, and headed past the stairs.

Joan checked her phone—not to police Sadie, but just in case she’d reached out with any questions. It was so thoughtful of her to handle all the crummy phone calls and emails for a food truck she didn’t even own.

Sadie had said it’d be good training for what she’d be facing at her café. And besides, stopping these assholes from destroying the city kinda took priority over filing a claim that’d be tied up for months.

Footsteps clomped closer until Perry appeared…with Gus. Which wasn’t all that surprising. The former Hero wore a cotton olive-green jacket and loose jeans, her hair in a ponytail.

“You decided to come back?” Joan said.

Gus nodded once. “There’s still work to be done.”

“I’m sure the Supers appreciate your help.” She wasn’t sure whether or not that was true. Judging by Gus’s pursed lips, she wasn’t sure either.

Perry swapped his sunglasses for his regular glasses. “Does Sadie need anything?”

“She has access to everything. She’ll be fine.”

“Are we meeting in the conference room?”

Gus shook her head. “I’m not sitting on my duff waiting for the next attack. We’re going out to gather information.”

Ward came rushing down the stairs with his trusty tablet. He looked like he’d slept in the same clothes at the conference table for days. He probably had. “Oh hello, Ms. Amazing Woman. I just wanted to make sure it was you who accessed the building.”

“It was,” Gus said. “And don’t call me that. Gus is fine.”

“Yes, Ms. Gus. Mr. Flight is waiting for you all upstairs.”

“Tell him to put his cape on and meet us down here.”

Poor Ward. His loyalties were pulling him every which way. “Mr. Flight has some video he wants to show you,” he said. “And he was already on patrol today.”

Gus grumbled to herself. “Show me on that handheld device.”

“Er, well, I’d have to go get Mr. Flight, and he would have to… It really would be easier if you came upstairs.”

“Let’s at least check in with the others,” Joan said, playing peacekeeper.

Gus complained some more, but walked with her upstairs.

As they reached the landing, Joan glanced at the Amazing Woman portrait hanging to the right.

Her blonde hair cascaded down her long-sleeved gold-and-red top.

A faint tear arced over the bottom of the canvas, slicing through the white go-go boots.

“What happened to your portrait?” Joan asked. “Did it get ripped?”

Gus didn’t bother looking. “I did that in a fit of pique before I left.”

“Really?” Joan laughed.

“I always hated that portrait.”

Otis exited the conference room in his Flight getup. “You painted it,” he said.

“That’s not how I wanted it to look.”

“Thank you for coming back.”

Darlene raced toward them from the opposite hallway, zipping up her suit. “I’ve heard stories about your artistic talents. I’ve always admired your portrait.”

“Mine turned out exactly how I envisioned it,” Otis said.

Joan studied the Flight painting. Huh. They were similar in color palette and technique. “You did his, too?”

“My second and last.” Gus shooed Otis out of the way. “Show us whatever you have to so we can get to real work.”

Perry had mentioned Gus was an artist. Clearly a good one. They probably sat around having spirited discussions about which Impressionist had the most revolutionary style. Per had opinions he stated as fact. No doubt Gus did the same.

“We’ll wait for everyone,” Otis said.

“Tell them to hurry up.” Gus moved to a chair. Joan and Perry followed suit.

Ward hastily set a pad of paper and pen in front of Gus. He cast a frazzled look at Otis. “I believe Mr. Lunk is changing, but I’ll go find Mx. Race.”

“Mark’s in the bathroom,” Joan said.

“Just get started,” Perry said, his whole body dripping with irritation.

“Fine.” Otis nodded at Ward, who dragged himself to his laptop. He went to the center console and brought up a series of videos. “We’ve been scouring footage of Quake to find a weakness. We noticed his attacks are very short before he escapes.”

“That checks out,” Joan said. “He’s thirty years older. His powers can’t last like they used to.”

“Exactly. We can use that to our advantage.”

Darlene sat next to Gus, ever the kiss-ass. “Getting them all in one place proved unsuccessful. They’re more dangerous when they’re together.” She didn’t look at Joan, but the weight of blame hung heavy. “We have to take them out one by one by exploiting their weaknesses.”

“And how’s that going for you?” Joan couldn’t hold in.

Gus stared at the TV screen, watching the video loops. “He can’t bend down the way he used to. He could get that whole ground shaking when he set his hands on it. He must have arthritis in his knees.”

“Then it should be easy for Lunk to overpower him,” Otis said.

Joan caught a clip of her and Mark trying to fight Quake at Friendship Park. She looked like some kind of sorceress shooting fire from beneath that hooded cape. It was actually kind of cool.

Then Prowl pushing Lunk backward caught her eye. And Squawk angling away from the other Villains.

“They flank him,” she realized. “See how they protect him? They keep you from getting to him. They didn’t factor Spark and Ice into the equation.”

“Yes, we noticed that as well.” Darlene gave her a smug smirk.

“Take out the sides and you get to the middle.”

Zee zipped into the room, gingerly sitting across from Joan.

“How’s the ribcage?” she asked.

“Been better,” they said.

Perry adjusted his glasses as he peered at the screen. “We only see Quake with the others. The rest of them go out day after day. He needs a break.”

“We do tire more easily with age,” Gus said. “I speak from experience.”

“He’s weak,” Zee said. “That’s good.”

Otis looked at Joan and Perry. “What would you have done to exploit a weak link?”

Joan snorted. “How much time do you have?”

“This is why you were brought in. Take it seriously.”

She laughed harder and backhanded Perry’s bicep. “Per can attest to how little Mark and I take things seriously.”

Her brother chose that moment to join them. “Very little. But you can— Oh hey, Gus. Fancy meeting you here again.”

“Hello, Mark,” Gus said.

He slid into the chair beside Joan’s. “What we did take very seriously was our food truck being crushed into oblivion. We’ll do whatever it takes to bring these douchenozzles down.”

“They’re working together,” Joan said. “We have to work as a team to defeat them. We took down three Villains at once last time. This has to be a group effort.”

Otis gave the twins an aggravated glare not unlike the one Perry usually gave them. “Then put your Villain caps on and tell us what you would do if you were in their shoes.”

“What is their next move?” Darlene said.