Fall of Heroes (17 page)

19
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T
he next morning, breakfast was quiet. Everyone sat around the dining-room table, staring at their plates and bowls. Alex went over the day's plans again in his head, imagining that the others were probably doing the same. Each of them had an important role to play in the coming hours, and everything needed to go off perfectly. There could be no setbacks, no misfires.

Lux and Kirbie led them through a morning meditation session, everyone focusing intently. Alex snuck a peek during all the deep breathing. Even Misty was serious, her lips pressed tightly together. A little later, just before they were supposed to regroup, she cornered Alex in the upstairs hallway.

“Aren't you going to warn me about how dangerous this is and how I need to be extra careful and stuff?” she asked. “Or try and tell me there's another way we can do this without me?”

“I think I stopped doing that, like, the third time you saved our lives,” Alex said. “I don't know if you noticed or not, but no one thinks of you as the youngest person on the team anymore. You're just one of us.”

Misty looked like she'd been ready to argue with him, but instead just threw her arms around his chest and hugged him.

“I'm scared,” she said softly.

“I know,” Alex said. “Everyone is.”

“Nu-uh,” she countered. “You're not. Lone Star's not.”

Alex pushed her away from him and crouched, getting down to her level.

“Don't tell any of the others, but I'm scared, too,” he said. “So is Lone Star. Everyone is. But we just have to keep going and remind ourselves that what we're doing is right.”

“I guess so.”

“If you're having second thoughts . . . ,” Alex started, but Misty's posture changed. She stood tall and stared at him as if he was about to suggest something utterly ridiculous. He smiled. “Yeah, I didn't think that would be the case.”

Lone Star poked his head around the corner.

“We're all ready in here. What about you two? Alex? Misty?”

“My
name
is the—,” she started, but didn't finish. “Of course I'm ready. Let's go.”

Alex followed her into the living room, where everyone had gathered. They certainly looked like a ragtag group, with Kirbie in her Ranger uniform under a hoodie, Mallory wearing her Beta fatigues under her Cloak trench, and the rest of them in strange combinations of clothing they'd been wearing when Justice Tower fell, or had taken from the lake house, or rummaged out of closets in Carla's home. Alex was looking at the gathered force that would decide the fate of the city. There was a chance that they'd never be in the same room together after today if things went terribly wrong.

“Does anybody have any questions?” Lone Star asked. He waited for someone to speak up, but they just stood there, quietly looking at one another.

“We won't go down without a fight,” Amp said. “If we go out, it'll be in a blaze of glory. We fight for the city, and its people.”

“For truth,” Alex said, recalling old posters of the Rangers.

“For peace.” Kirbie nodded.

“For justice,” Lone Star said. His voice was resolute.

“There he is.” Carla smiled.

“All right,” Amp said. “Let's move.”

Carla tossed Lone Star a set of keys.

“My SUV's in the garage,” she said. “Lux, here are the keys to the van. It's parked around back. The rental company is dropping off a car for me but . . . You're sure there's nothing else I can help with?”

“You've got your own work to do,” Lone Star said. “We'll be in contact.”

“Everyone who's coming with me, let's get moving.” Lux turned and headed toward the garage. Everyone but Gage, Misty, Lone Star, and Alex followed.

“Your team's leaving,” Gage said.

“I know,” Alex responded. “I just . . . I guess I just wanted to say good luck.” Then he grinned. “Don't screw up. We're all counting on you.”

“You too,” Gage said, smiling. “We'll see you in a bit.”

“Right,” Alex said. He turned to join the others.

 

Lux dropped them off in pairs at various locations around downtown Sterling City. Kirbie and Alex walked the streets with sharp eyes, careful to avoid any Deputies for the time being. Kirbie kept her hood up. Alex kept his face sunk down into the turned-up lapels of his trench coat. He glanced at his watch every few seconds.

“There's an electronics store a few blocks away,” Kirbie said. “We can watch the broadcast from there.”

“Perfect.”

They walked in silence for a while, and then they were inside the shop, pretending to browse around. Finally, there was static in Alex's communicator.

“We're a go,” Gage's voice crackled.

Alex looked at Kirbie, took a deep breath, and made his way to a huge wall of televisions at the back of the store.

Lone Star's face suddenly appeared on all the TV screens, replacing normal daytime programming. It would be everywhere in the city—electronic billboards, the screens in the backseats of taxis, along with every other television with a cable or satellite connection. He'd be impossible to miss. In the electronics store, Kirbie and Alex joined a huddle of customers all staring at the wall of TVs in confusion. Alex used his powers to gently press the volume buttons on several of the monitors, dialing them up so no one would miss a word of what was about to be said.

Lone Star smiled. It wasn't like the sparse moments of happiness Alex had seen from him in the last few days. This was the full, ear-to-ear grin he used to flash at public events and in glossy magazine photos—the smile the people
expected
to see. When he spoke, his voice was a rich baritone, commanding but gentle.

“People of Sterling City—good afternoon. My name is Lone Star of the Rangers of Justice. Despite what the so-called ‘New Rangers' would have you believe, I am alive and well and look forward to serving you in the future. But I'm not here today to address you. I am speaking directly to the Cloak Society—including those who have tricked you into believing they are heroes. Shade. Volt. Titan.” From around the store, Alex heard people gasping. “You've deceived the good people of this city into trusting you. They believe you fight for them, when in truth you care only about your own petty plans for domination over humanity. But I am here to stop you. I am here to challenge you.”

His face grew serious, his eyes narrowed and chin jutted forward.

“Victory Park in half an hour. A battle to decide the fate of Sterling City. It's time we finish what we started a decade ago.” More gasps from around the store. “If you
don't
show, the people of this city will surely know you all to be cowards. If you truly want them to believe that you're the saviors of this city, you'll be there.”

The screens all went to white noise, then switched back to their regular programming. There was a moment of silence in the store before chaos broke out as everyone inside made a break for the front entrance.

“That's our cue,” Kirbie said with a grin.

They made their way outside, where Kirbie leaped into the air, taking her huge bird form. Alex stretched his arms out at either side as she looped around and grabbed him amid a crowd of gasping onlookers. The time for anonymity and subtlety had passed. This was the endgame.

Kirbie flew them high over the rooftops and toward the park, where they could see their plan in effect. Victory Circle, the street that looped around the park, had been cleared, and all streets leading to and from it were now cut off with police cars and barricades. There were a dozen roads blocked by huge trees that had apparently grown out of the asphalt itself—Kyle had worked quickly.

Alex and Kirbie kept their eyes to the ground. All around, people were heading away from the park. There were only a handful of people running
toward
it, and almost all of them were dressed in the uniform of the New Rangers' Deputies. This was what Alex and Kirbie were looking for—their job in the moments after the broadcast was to assist the police the commissioner had recruited in any way they could. Luckily, it looked as though law enforcement had everything under control. The Deputies seemed to be panicking, and were not used to having their authority challenged by other people. Especially not other people with badges and weapons and riot gear.

Kirbie let out a shriek, and they dove toward the top of a short building near the east end of the park. On the west end, Bug and Mallory would be doing exactly what they were, communicating with the officers and helping wherever they could. Kirbie dropped Alex on the building's roof and landed beside him in her human form as a familiar voice boomed through the air.

“Citizens of Sterling City, this is Lux of the Rangers of Justice.” Her voice echoed off the buildings around the park, her words flowing out of Amp's body at an impossible volume. They were in the park somewhere. Kyle would be beside them, keeping them protected. “Please exit Victory Park and its surrounding blocks in a calm and orderly fashion. Those remaining will be taken into custody by the Sterling City police. We thank you for your cooperation.”

“I hate that we have to be so menacing,” Kirbie said. “It sounds so much like the stuff your mother has been spewing.”

“Whatever gets them out of the line of fire,” Alex said, his eyes sweeping the crowds below. “They'll either thank us after all this is over or we won't be around to hear them complain about it.”

“Wait, look,” Kirbie said, pointing to what appeared to be some sort of scuffle on the street a few blocks away. A team of four police officers was arguing with two Deputies. One of them Alex had never seen before, but the other was impossible to miss: Novo in the form of Del, her waist-length auburn hair twisting in the air all around her as she shouted something at the people trying to arrest her.

“We've got to—,” Alex said, but before he could elaborate, Kirbie had him in her talons again, flying them over and around a handful of buildings until they were on the rooftop above the group.

When they landed, the Deputy they didn't recognize was climbing into the back of a police paddy wagon with little resistance. Novo followed. But just as she was about to step up into the back of the trailer-like vehicle, her hair shot out and twisted around two of the officers' waists, flipping them over her head and into the back of the transport. She shoved another of her captors inside and closed the doors behind them with a flick of her head. In an instant, Novo's hair was around the remaining officer's neck. She slammed him against the outside wall of the building nearby.

“Who ordered this?” Novo asked, her voice deep and monstrous.

The officer shook his head as best he could, but said nothing. Novo's hair formed a spike in the air that smashed into the wall beside the officer's head, embedding itself there. Chunks of mortar and brick dust fell to the ground.

“Start talking, or this is going to get
really
uncomfortable for you.” The hair spike pulled out of the wall and hovered in front of the man's left eye.

“Use your telekinesis on her,” Kirbie said.

“I
can't
, remember?” Alex said. “There's something about her powers that—”

“Then use it on the officer!” Kirbie said in a barely contained shout. Across the street, the policeman's face was starting to turn strange colors.

Alex focused on the man and pulled with one hard thought. Novo wasn't expecting such resistance, and the officer slipped through her tendrils and floated up, onto the rooftop across from Alex and Kirbie, looking terrified as he gasped for air.

Novo licked her lips as her sneer turned into a smile.

“Is that little Alex Knight playing around with the police?” she asked, her eyes darting around. “Come out, come out. Or do I have to come and find you?”

She started forward, only to stop after a few steps, looking annoyed. She raised a hand to her ear, where there must have been some sort of communicator Alex hadn't noticed.

“This is . . .” Novo's face went blank for a second. She'd been so many people lately that Alex wasn't surprised she'd forgotten who she was
supposed
to be at that time. “This is
Del
. I think—”

She stopped, listening to whoever was speaking on the other end of the communicator.

“Yes, but A—” she started once again, more emphatically this time, but was apparently cut off. “Of course, Shade. I'll be right there.”

She lowered her hand from her ear and looked around at the windows and rooftops up above, scowling. Alex and Kirbie slipped back away from the edge, out of sight.

“Don't go anywhere, Knight,” Novo yelled. She sighed loudly, then turned her back on them and sprinted toward the corner. Alex peeked over the roof. As she rounded the building, Novo changed. Gone was her Deputy uniform and Del's appearance, replaced by athletic clothing and her true form—a narrow face, blond hair, and piercing eyes. She sprinted past another unit of officers, who regarded her as a simple civilian out for a run, turned another corner, and disappeared.

“She's headed away from Victory Park,” Kirbie said. “Cloak must be regrouping before they head to fight us.”

“Maybe we should go after her,” Alex suggested. “Take her out now.”

“That's not the plan. Besides, it could be a trap.”

Alex nodded. They didn't have room for improvisation. The others would be counting on them.

Kirbie morphed, and they were in the air again, on the lookout for any more disturbances as the seconds to battle ticked by. But the Deputies were under control. After a few flyovers, they felt sure that all civilians had made their way out of the park. They found Kyle, Lux, and Amp in an expansive lawn that would give them plenty of open terrain to fight on. They wouldn't have to worry about ambushes and could be more mindful of one another and come to aid when necessary. Mallory came out of the trees, and Bug followed her, his eyes bright and metallic as countless insect sentries scoured the area around them, searching for any signs of approaching danger.