The Cloak Society (10 page)

10
Full Color

When Alex opened his eyes again, he was in a small room almost identical to the one in the underground base. The overhead lights burned dimly. He trembled, horrified by what he'd just seen, and hurried over to the electronic screen on the wall, shoving his palm against it. All he wanted to do was get far away from the Gloom. After a flash, the wall before him shifted and a panel slid aside.

He stumbled into the new room. The transporter was hidden in the back of a long closet, where he now stood, flanked on both sides by dark-colored clothing. Alex hurried through, his hands pushing over the hanging shirts and pants and jackets, sending several of them falling to the floor. Then he headed through the master bedroom, furnished only with a bed and dresser, and into the rest of the apartment. He collapsed on a sofa—one of the few objects in the sparsely decorated living area—and tried to calm down. Cloak members of all rank and order traveled the Gloom on a daily basis, he told himself. So what if the Rangers of Justice were slowly rotting away there? They were his enemies. It was okay. Everything would be okay.

Despite these thoughts, Alex couldn't calm down. He needed to be outside, where there was fresh air and open space and the shadows didn't move on their own. The safe house was located in the basement of a building owned by a subsidiary of Cloak, and the building manager and staff were all paid enough to turn a blind eye to the “storage space” secured behind an electronic lock. Alex found another blank screen beside a door in the living room and waved his palm in front of it. With a loud click, the thick metal door moved toward him an inch, and he pulled it open to reveal the dank cement floor of the building's basement. Alex pulled the door shut behind him and made his way up the stairs to his right, which led to the street. There was a wrought-iron gate blocking his way, but with a little concentration, he felt out the innards of the simple locking mechanism, and one metallic click later, he was standing on the sidewalk of downtown Sterling City.

Alex gasped for air, his body feeling light from the relief of being outdoors. He stared up happily at the full moon, surrounded by thick clouds. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. The city at night—at least this part of it—was practically monochromatic, all varying shades of gray brick giving way to sidewalk and asphalt. The office building sat in the middle of a narrow, one-way block, lit only by the streetlamps that dotted the sidewalk infrequently. Alex could see why this location had been chosen. The street was quiet and offered large patches of darkness in which to hide.

He pushed all thoughts of the Gloom out of his mind and stepped into the street, getting his bearings, rehearsing what he might say to Kirbie while he waited for the perfect moment to hit her with the Gasser. In the distance, he could see Justice Tower rising out of the cultural district just north of Victory Park. The opaque dome on its top blazed, piercing the sky with a shaft of light.

He kept his guard up and head down as he walked the few blocks to the park, though he passed no one. The financial district was quiet this time of night, but Alex was ready to slip into an alley at the first sign of trouble. A block from the park, he passed a building facade under construction and fenced in by tall panels of plywood. Pasted up on these boards were oversized posters, each featuring an adult member of the Rangers of Justice, chins held high, gazing triumphantly into the distance. At the bottom of each was a single word, printed in red, white, or blue.
JUSTICE. TRUTH. PEACE.
Alex glanced around, then ripped them all down with a single sharp thought.

Victory Park sat quiet, dark for the most part and closed for the night. He knew that most people thought the park was dangerous after sunset, swarming with ruffians and modern bandits of all sorts, but to Alex it looked inviting—common muggers and thieves had more to fear from him, after all.

Though he'd studied maps and knew the layout fairly well, Alex had never actually set foot in Victory Park before. He'd seen much of Sterling City on his Thursday afternoons or the other rare occasions that his parents took him out, but all requests to spend an afternoon in the park had been denied. The council had no desire to parade the Betas around the site of their greatest defeat. The place was a mess of paths and small roads intertwining throughout five hundred acres, and Alex chose one that seemed to run alongside Victory Circle, the street that bordered the park. The gravel beneath his feet gave a satisfying crunch to his footfalls, and he walked slowly, savoring his time, wondering if he should cause some sort of commotion to signal to Kirbie that he was there. Would she be in her wolf form, stalking through the trees? No, he thought. Tactically she'd do better as a bird, flying overhead with keen eyes.

Alex tilted his head back, staring up at the patchwork pieces of sky visible through the canopy of trees. The moon was positioned perfectly, full and luminous directly above him. Thick gray clouds were rolling across the sky, cutting the night light in and out like a slowly blinking strobe light. Focused on the sky, he didn't notice that the path was curving inward, moving farther away from the street and his only real point of geographical reference. Victory Park had swallowed him completely.

A faint shadow flew over the path ahead of him, breaking the calm moonlight. It was too fast to be a cloud. Too small. Alex looked up but saw nothing.

The path he'd chosen was winding and twisted every few yards. For all Alex knew, he might have been charging straight into Victory Circle with every turn. Eventually he spotted a glowing orb in the distance. Alex walked toward it until he recognized where he was from photographs and maps he'd studied. He was in the dead center of Victory Park, and before him, Centennial Fountain was radiant. A handful of wealthy citizens had donated an absurd amount of money to commission a sculpture for the town's one-hundredth anniversary not too long ago. The result was a bronze sculpture of the legendary Gordian knot, all twisted metal ropes wrapped around a blazing light, water gushing out of the center. Alex found it stunning.

“You came,” a voice said from behind him.

Surprised, Alex sprung around, instinctively taking a defensive position. Kirbie stood in her Rangers uniform. She raised her arms in front of her, ready to fight him if necessary, though her expression was one of concern and not aggression.

“Jeez,” Alex said, relaxing a bit. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“Oh, sorry,” Kirbie said cautiously. “I didn't realize you were so caught up in the fountain. It's really beautiful at night.”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “It is.”

They were both unsure of how to proceed. Alex had his hands at his sides, his thumb grazing the outlines of the Gasser in his back pocket.

“If this is some sort of trap, I know this park like the back of my hand, and I've got a communicator with me,” Kirbie said. “I can call for backup in half a second.”

“Calm down. I just wanted to talk,” Alex lied. “You
did
say that would be okay.”

He shrugged, trying to look as innocent as possible. Kirbie sighed, raising a hand to her head.

“I'm sorry,” she said. “You're right.”

As she spoke, Alex concentrated on the Gasser, willing it to float out of his pocket and into the air, where he kept it hidden behind his back.

“It's just been a really weird week,” Kirbie continued. “First with the bank and then at the mall. I mean, you're supposed to be my enemy, but you keep popping up and helping me out. I don't think I'd be standing here if it weren't for you. I guess what I'm trying to say is . . .”

“Uh-huh?” Alex murmured. Kirbie's focus was on the ground. She was caught up in her words. It was now or never.

“Thank you,” Kirbie said, letting her eyes meet his. “Thank you for saving my life.”

Suddenly several strange things happened at once, none of which Alex fully understood. His head felt light and clear. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and there was a feeling in his chest that he had never experienced before, one that bordered both pride and accomplishment. But most puzzling of all, Alex could
see
Kirbie—not bathed in blue like everything else in his world, but in full color.

Her blond hair gleamed. Her lips were a soft pink. Even in the dim lighting of the fountain, he could make out her hazel eyes. Alex didn't move—didn't breathe—just stood there staring at her, drinking in the colors, feeling happy, for the first time in recent memory. The sight of her was completely disarming.

He blinked, and Kirbie was once more tinted a cobalt blue. Alex's head ached, as if two waves had just crashed against each other in his brain. His focus on the device floating behind him faltered, and the Gasser flew backward, plopping into the fountain. He staggered back a few steps.

“Oh, hey,” Kirbie said, stepping toward him. “Are you okay? You look really pale. Maybe you should sit down.”

“What was that?” he muttered to himself as he made his way to the edge of the fountain and sat.

“What was what?” Kirbie asked. “I was just thanking you, and you act as if you were shot or something.”

“I'm sorry,” he said, “I just . . . I felt dizzy for a second.”

Why—how—had he just seen Kirbie in color? When his powers had first manifested, his mother had assured him that one day, when he was fully in control, he'd be able to see things clearly once again. But that was just speculation, and this had felt like quite the opposite of control.

“Are you sure you're okay?” Kirbie asked. “I can take you to the hospital or something. It's not far away.”

“No, no,” he said quickly. “Don't worry about it. I'm already feeling better.”

Kirbie bit her lip, unsure what else to do.

“What's your name?” she asked.

“Alex.”

“No, I mean your code name,” she said. “Shouldn't it be, like, Dark Thought or something? I think that blond kid called himself ‘Titan' about a million times while we were fighting.”

“Yeah . . . that sounds like him,” Alex said. “He's an idiot.”

“I kind of gathered that.”

Alex chuckled, then, realizing what he was doing, stopped immediately. His mind raced as he fought to remind himself why he was there in the first place. But things hadn't gone as he'd planned. The Gasser was drenched, surely worthless. What was he supposed to do now? If he attacked her and lost, he'd be thrown in jail. Better to continue talking, he thought. Besides, this was perhaps the first real conversation he had ever had with someone outside of the Cloak Society. Despite everything he was raised to think, Alex found himself anxious to hear what else she thought of the Beta Team and Cloak.

“I'm not really into the whole code-name thing,” he said finally. “Plus, my last name is Knight, which is kind of cool enough already.”

“Night. Darkness. Shadows. Sounds about right for someone in Cloak.”

“No, it's Knight with a
K
,” he said. “Like chivalry and King Arthur and all that.”

Chivalry? King Arthur? What was he talking about? He felt more and more like Misty as the words tumbled from his mouth.

“You're Kirbie, right?” he asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Yeah. That's me.”

“Just Kirbie? Aren't the other Junior Rangers called Thorn and Amp? Don't try to tell me those aren't code names too.”

“Just Kirbie,” she said. “My brother keeps calling me ‘Fauna,' but I'm holding out for something better.”

“Animal Girl has a nice ring to it,” he said, grinning in spite of himself.

“I'm going to pretend you didn't say that.”

“So that guy
is
your brother,” Alex said.

“Kyle. Thorn. Yeah, we're twins.”

“And he, what . . . controls plants, right?” Alex asked. He could use this information to help flesh out Cloak's profiles on the Junior Rangers.

“Yeah.” Kirbie nodded. “He can make them grow or shrink and move around at will. He's kind of incredible.”

“The Nature Twins,” Alex said.

“I'm going to have to arrest you,” she said flatly.

Alex tensed up, but Kirbie smiled, and he realized she was kidding.

“So you're really going to defect from Cloak?” she asked.

“Well . . . ,” Alex started, choosing his words carefully, “I want to. But I just don't know that I can. It's complicated.”

“Why did you push me out of the way when Titan threw that hydrant at me?” she asked. “Surely that didn't go over well with everyone else.”

“No. Not at all. I'm in big trouble now, actually. But it didn't seem right, you getting hurt like that,” Alex said, feeling a little relieved to admit this to someone who he knew would agree with him. “I mean, Titan was so gung ho about defeating you that I figured he wasn't pulling any punches, so . . .”

“Of course not,” she said. “He's a criminal. The Cloak Society are supervillains. Killing is kind of what they do, isn't it?”