Overpowered (Powered Trilogy #2) (5 page)

She follows me around the room, fingering scraps of fabric on a nearby table. “What would he say?”

“He’d tell me not to fret over something so small. He’d say, ‘You are Maci Might. You will embrace your depowered arm. You will turn your weakness into a strength.”

“Why are you holding your hand like that?” Nova asks.

I snap out of my Pepper imitation. Look down at my outstretched hand with fingers curled around an imaginary cup. “It’s my latte,” I tell her with a shrug. “Pepper always had one. If he were here then we’d have one too.”

I spin on my heel, take a sip of my imaginary latte and point to the imaginary me standing in the center podium. I can almost hear Pepper’s voice in my mind. “You never were like everyone else, Maci Might. You don’t need a suit like everyone else, either.” I take a pair of scissors off the table and lay my suit flat on the floor.

With a deep breath and a silent
thank you
to Pepper, I cut off the sleeve at the elbow.

A tiny bark echoes through the room.

“Did you hear that?” Nova asks as if she doesn’t even believe her own ears.

Oh my god. Chewy. I almost trip over the scissors and my chopped suit in my mad dash across the room to Pepper’s private quarters. The door opens without the use of any security measures and a tiny, shaking white
Chihuahua stumbles out of the room. I gasp. “You poor thing.” He crawls into my outstretched arms and licks my elbow. He’s always been a tiny dog but the way his ribcage stretches out his fur makes my stomach hurt.

“We have to get him some food and water,” Nova says.

“I know.” My heart breaks all over again over Pepper’s murder. “Hold him while I get my suit. We’ll take him home and I’ll order dog food from the Retrievers.” I sigh. “From a real retriever. Not these idiotic new ones.”

Nova coos to the frail dog in her arms and I head across the studio to where I left my suit.

A massive boot kicks in the double doors to Pepper’s studio. I’m on the floor in the next instant, diving behind a stack of fabric bolts and scrap material. Nova’s eyes go wide but she’s in the middle of the room with nowhere to hide.

Crap. Crap. Crap
.

Two members of the Retriever
Squad enter, looking both ways before one of them sees Nova standing there with a deer in the headlights look. Wow. I wonder what kind of training these idiots had prior to being given so much authority. A Hero knows how to spot people the moment they enter a room.

The first guy gives Nova a prying look.
“You are not authorized to be in here.”

“She should be questioned.” The second guy sounds a little nervous. Both of their power levels are mild at best. Nova could easily overpower them. I hope she knows that’s not the right move.

She cuddles Chewy to her chest and stands rigid. “I am Hero Maci Might and I should be questioning you if you’re going to speak to me that way.”

“Sorry Ms. Might, I didn’t realize,” one of them begins. I don’t recognize the voices even though I know many of the Retrievers. “You aren’t dressed as a Hero, so--”

“We have every right to question you regardless of your status,” the other one interjects. “Why aren’t you dressed as a Hero? Where’s your BEEPR? What proof do you have that you are Hero Maci Might?”

My sister sighs impatiently. “Uh, look at me. I’m clearly Maci. Computer,” she says aloud. The massive computer screen wall sparks to life, much to my freaking chagrin. “Identify me.”

The computer voice speaks and the familiarity of the sound from back when Pepper was alive stabs into me all over again. “Identifying...Probationary Hero Maci Might, daughter of President Might and Sophia Might. Identifying...Retriever Thomas Mason. Identifying….Retriever in training Thomas Mason Junior.”

I can’t see Nova from my hiding place but I can feel the arrogant smile on her face. “Sorry to burst your authoritative bubble gentlemen, but I am who I say I am and now I’ll thank you to get the hell out of here.”

“You are not authorized to be here. This studio is the property of Central until a new designer is assigned.”

“I just came to get my friend’s dog. I’ll be leaving shortly.”

The younger man speaks up next. “We’ll escort you to the KAPOW.”

I wish Max could see me now. Hiding out like a good girl instead of taking matters into my own hands. It’s no easy task for me, but I’m not stupid enough to rush out and make a mess of things. My fingers cross and I breathe slowly, hoping that Nova doesn’t screw this up.

“Right,” she says with an indignant snort. “Maybe you should hold my hand too and make sure the KAPOW door doesn’t accidently hit me when it closes. I’d hate to have you not waste precious time on a Hero when you could be out there finding villains.”

The Retrievers are silent for a moment. Finally the younger one says, “Come on, Dad. We should go.”

I listen to their footsteps and the door closing. When their power levels dim out in the distance, I emerge from my hiding place. “That was brilliant.”

Nova smiles and scratches behind
Chewy’s ears. “I wonder what they would have done if my hair was still blonde.”

“How did you know how to work the computer?”

She shrugs. “Aurora had the same system back at home.”

“This is your home now,” I say. “Central is your home.”

She looks me straight in the eyes and kisses the top of Chewy’s head. “I know.”

I don’t know what I expected when I brought Nova home. Maybe more than her initial hostility. Some fights for good measure. Maybe even a threat to have her depowered if she didn’t stop trying to fight everyone. But the truth is, she is incredibly easy to get along with and she’s just nice. Nice in every way.

It’s really unsettling.

Nova and I take turns playing with Chewy. He’s in a much better mood after he got a belly full of food and water. Dad has never allowed us to have pets because we’re a Hero family and Heroes don’t have time to give an animal the attention it deserves. I’m making an exception for Pepper’s dog. Even if I have to hire someone to give him attention while I’m away on a Hero mission, I will.

Speaking of Hero missions, I haven’t had a single one.

It’s been several days since my Hero status was awarded and I haven’t been called to duty yet. Crime must be slow lately because Max has only had one mission from earlier in the week.

When he returns, Nova and I are stuffing our faces with pizza. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed at seeing my brother walk in the front door. I’m really missing Evan. Every second that he’s stuck in Central is a second my heart worries about him. Hopefully they aren’t waterboarding him or something.

“Aw, come on now!” Max grumbles to himself as he walks in, arms full of Chinese takeout. “You girls are already eating? I brought food for all of us.”

“I’m sure I can eat more,” Nova says with a sweet smile.

Have I mentioned how much I’m starting to hate her sweet smile?

“What was your mission about?” I ask.

Max answers me through massive bites of food that make his mouth look like a kung pao tornado. And he wonders why he doesn’t have a girlfriend… “A Super went missing a couple days ago. George Goodfellow. Have you heard of him? He’s twenty.”

I shake my head. “What was he studying?”

“Nothing apparently. His mom said he played video games and spent all his time on the internet. So when she came home from work and he wasn’t home, she got worried. Now it’s been two days and no one’s heard anything from him.”

“What do you think happened?” Nova asks.

Max shrugs and shoves half an eggroll in his mouth. “I don’t know. I mean, I take all my missions seriously but if you ask me, a twenty year old doesn’t usually go missing. He probably met a girl online and ran off to be with her or something. I hate to come home without solving it, but I followed every possible lead and talked to hundreds of Supers this week. No one has seen him at all. I sent his computer down to the labs so they can pull any relevant data off of it and I’ll look back into it tomorrow.”

“No offense, Max,” I say as I grab one of his eggrolls. “But isn’t that kind of a...dumb mission? A guy who ran away? I mean shouldn’t you be saving the world from villains while Retrievers find missing Supers?”

“Tell me about it. Nyx hasn’t had a mission since, well since you know. The Aurora thing. Crime has practically stopped lately.” He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s weird. I almost wish there would be an earthquake or hurricane or something to keep me occupied.”

I slink down on a barstool. “This isn’t what I expected for my first week
s of being a Hero, either. I thought it would be more...active.” Even though I’m trying not to stress out about Evan, I go ahead and tell Max about the stuck up Retrievers who took him today. He doesn’t seem to care and that makes me feel a little better. If Max doesn’t see it as something to worry about, then I probably shouldn’t either.

All three of us jump at the sound of my BEEPR emitting a Hero alarm. Such a sweet, sweet sound. I can’t help the goofy grin that spreads across my face. “Guess
it’s show time!” I sing as I rush to my bedroom and slip into my Hero suit, all while trying to read the mission on my BEEPR.

Max lifts an eyebrow when I come back in the living room. “What the hell happened to your sleeve?”

I flash him a wink before I slip out the door. “I fixed it.”

The KAPOW zooms me to Jackson Square, a park in the heart of Louisiana. I ignore the pedestrians’ curious looks as I exit the ramp and run, following the blue blinking dot on my BEEPR two blocks north into the heart of New Orleans on Bourbon Street. Marie
Laveau’s House of Voodoo has quite a crowd in front of it. My mission simply reads:
Human fight club. Dissolve. Issue safety warning.

It’s not defeating villains or anything, but I’ll take it.

No one recognizes me when I approach the intersection where at least a dozen shirtless guys have gathered in the middle of the street. Dozens more onlookers crowd around, cheering and booing each other. I lace my fingers together in front of my chest, crack my knuckles and release a wave of power that pulses through the air, knocking humans to the ground.

All but the two humans in the center of the circle collapse.

Now I have their attention.

The fighters appear to be in their twenties. One is covered in tattoos and blood and the other, just blood. “I am Hero Maci Might and I’ve come to put a stop to this.”

The tattooed guy spits out a mouthful of blood. “This don’t concern you.”

A woman in a tiny miniskirt and tube top tries to scramble up from the asphalt but I hold out a hand and knock her back down with a small burst of power. “Actually it does concern me. Because my job is to protect humans. You can’t just go around beating each other up for the fun of it.”

“That’s all it is,” the bloody guy says. “It’s just fun. We ain’t hurting nobody that don’t want to fight.”

In a weird way, I might actually agree with him. If everyone is a willing participant in this game of beating each other up, why should Heroes care about it? Unfortunately for him, this is my first mission and I’m going to successfully complete it. “Sorry gentlemen, this isn’t allowed. You’re on public property and you’re endangering innocent bystanders.” Ignoring the indignant groans around me, I step into the center of the crowd and appraise everyone. “I’m assuming everyone without a shirt is involved? I need you guys to line up and scan your thumbs.”

Scanning their thumb print on my BEEPR will register them in the system and alert us to any repeat offenders. Supers don’t directly punish humans except for extreme circumstances. We save lives, prevent loss, issue a severe warning and then hand their info over to the human police officers.

Most humans obey the laws after receiving an up close and personal warning from a Hero.

Tattoo guy spits at my feet. Guess he’s stupider than he looks. I hook my depowered hand around his elbow and flip him to the ground. Only he doesn’t fall to the ground. He doesn’t do much of anything.

I falter for a fraction of a second and then go after him with my left hand. This time he shifts on his feet but he doesn’t fall. Power streams out of my fingertips in frustration. Several humans cry out in discomfort from the power but the two men in front of me just smirk. Tightening my grip on his elbow, I swing my foot underneath his in my third attempt to take him to the ground. Instead of watching his kneecap give out, he lets out a snort of laughter and high-fives his friend while remaining firmly on his feet.

What in the hell is going on here? Humans are not this strong. I logged one hundred and eighty hours of droid training to properly prepare for safe handling of humans because their bodies are so fragile. But this bastard just remained standing when I swiped his leg with enough pressure that should have sent him crashing to his knees, crying out in pain and begging for mercy.

“This is a formal request to stop resisting my orders.” I request backup on my BEEPR before holding out my wrist to the still laughing man. “I need your thumbprint.”

He folds his arms across his chest. “Bite me.”

Anger boils up inside of me. Deep and guttural, from a place I try very hard to keep buried. I’ll really regret this if I can’t hold back my rage, but not nearly as much as he will. “This is your last warning.” I peer at the guy’s bloodied friend so he knows I’m talking to him as well. “Severe injury will occur if you refuse. I need your thumbprints and your cooperation immediately.”

“Sure thing, boss lady. But first I need you to kiss my ass because I’m not doing a thing you say.”

Bloody friend nods. “We ain’t scared of you.”

I can’t help it when I burst out laughing. Humans are completely insane. More than enough witnesses are present to back me up when I inevitably get summoned to appear before the Elders for mistreatment of humans. So I draw in a sharp breath and release it in a torrential outburst of power, ready to unleash all of my pent up anger on these two idiots.

If their bones happen to go splintering through their skin, well they can’t say I didn’t warn them.

Tattoo guy dives in front of his friend, his eyes thirsting for a good fight. I tackle him to the ground, shove my knee into his crotch and slam his cheek onto the pavement when he tries to bite me. He yells some kind of code word to his friend but while he’s distracted, I press his thumb to my BEEPR and then slap him across the face with his own hand just for good measure.

A steel-toed boot slams into the back of my skull, sending my vision into shards of blurred lines for a second. When I recover, I’m being pinned to the ground by the dual efforts of the fighters. I can’t believe my own freaking eyes when I have to struggle to pull out of their grasp. How are these humans so inhumanely strong?

The crowd recovers from their stunned silence. Cheers roar out and bets are placed as I fight the men off me, kicking and punching and even digging my nails into a throat before I’m shoved back again. The entire scene on Bourbon Street is exactly the same as when I arrived, only now I’m the target of their little fight club. A bead of sweat breaks out across my forehead as I twist one of the guy’s wrist inward, making him collapse under his own body weight. My right hand is nothing more than a useless limb as it feebly tries to defend against the tattooed man’s jab into my ribcage.

I’m losing.

I’m fighting two humans and I’m losing.

Their bones don’t break as easily as they should. I rip out a handful of messy hair from one of the men attacking me and he cries out in anger instead of pain. I told him he would be sorry, and now he will be. I slip a Retriever hook from my sleeve.
Hopefully this doesn’t kill him but if it does--well, I’ll worry about that later.

The man’s new bald spot reflects a stream of sweat and blood in the neon lights of the French Quarter as his body goes completely rigid. My hook flies with complete accuracy and lands an inch deep in
to his muscular gut.

A few onlookers scream in terror. The crowd shrinks back. My other attacker shoves his hands into his pockets. I’m slightly out of breath now as I approach him, ready to accept his surrender and take his thumb print. My right arm throbs
in pain. I’ve never experienced pain for so long before. A soft crinkle of shattering glass has him smiling. His eyes close and he looks completely blissful for a fraction of a second.

He charges toward me.

A flash of inhuman power fills his eyes.

A soft jolt of another Hero’s power lets me know backup has finally arrived on the KAPOW. They should be here any second. If I duck out of the way then this psycho will crash into the onlookers and I can’t risk harm to any humans
. So I brace myself for impact.

His fist slams into my jaw, breaking the bone. It heals a few seconds later, but holy crap that hurt. I shove my pointy elbow right into his jugular, bearing down with all my weight as I hover on top of him. With each second that passes, his resistance lightens up until, a minute later when I feel the presence of two
incoming backup Heroes, he’s not resisting at all. It’s as if he’s gone back to being a regular human. Tears pour of out his eyes and he writhes in convulsions. His hand reaches up, not in another attempt to swing at me, but as an offering in the form of his thumb.

I press it to my BEEPR and climb off of him. He’s so weakened now, I know he won’t get
back up.

Heroes Ernesto and Katia approach, surveying the scene as the humans huddle together on the opposite side of the street. They’re much older than I am so I’ve never worked with them before. Ernesto’s BEEPR shines a laser beam across the entire crowd, taking high definition images of the witnesses. I should have remembered to do that. Ugh.