Page 85 of Supernova

“I don’t remember you drawing any comics.”

“I never showed them to you. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much. And I only made three issues.”

Since Max hadn’t been able to venture out into the world, Adrian had made it a priority as the kid’s big brother to bring the world to him as much as possible. That responsibility included supplying Max with plenty of popular movies, books, and video games, along with Adrian’s personal favorite, comics. Max had pretty much learned to read on Adrian’s comics collection, but Adrian had never felt thatRebel Zwas good enough to be shared with anyone.

“Why did you stop drawing them?”

Adrian picked up a stray soccer ball that had rolled against Ruby’sdresser. “I don’t know. I got to the part where the main character transformed himself into the badass superhero and… just started to lose interest. I hadn’t really thought past that in terms of the storyline, and it started to feel like actual work.” He chucked the ball against the wall, where it bounced back and landed squarely in a clothes hamper.

He and Max were both sitting on the floor of the small bedroom, and it felt weird to be there, knowing this was supposed to be Ruby’s space—and itwasRuby’s space, at least on this side of the room, where there wereSuper Scoutsgraphic novels on the shelf beneath the window, a hand-painted dartboard behind the door, and a poster of sarcastic emoticons beside the bed. The opposite side of the room, with the bunk beds and bins full of action figures, obviously belonged to the twins.

The room was supposed to be Max’s now, too, but he hadn’t brought any belongings with him—no favorite books, no witty artwork, nothing to suggest he was the new resident in the space that smelled of popcorn and Ruby’s strawberry-scented shampoo. He wondered how long it would take for Max to establish a home here and hoped he wouldn’t ever find out. He wanted a permanent home for Max, and as grateful as he was to the Tucker family for welcoming the kid with open arms, he knew that this wasn’t where he really belonged.

“The thing is,” said Adrian, leaning his head against the bed’s quilt, “those comics were the inspiration for the Sentinel. The character pretty muchbecomesthe Sentinel by that third issue, and I modeled my armor off what I drew back then.”

“And you think that’s why Nightmare wanted them? To blackmail you or something?”

“Maybe. Or just to have the evidence to tell the world who I am.”

Max frowned, apparently unconvinced. “But how did she know about them in the first place? How many people did you show that comic to?”

“Not many. I mean, Dad and Pops have seen them, but it’s been so long, I don’t think they remember them all that well. And…” He trailed off, considering. He had no memory of showing the comics to anyone else. “I think that’s it.”

“What about Ruby or the rest of the team?”

“No, I never showed it to them. I hadn’t looked at those comics in years. I have no idea how Nightmare knew about them.”

“You never showed them to Nova?” said Max, lining up a collection of small figurines on the carpet.

“No. I would definitely remember showing them to Nova.”

Max hummed, but Adrian couldn’t interpret the sound.

“What?”

“I don’t know,” said Max, adjusting one of the toys to stand straighter. “You never mentioned them to her?”

Adrian opened his mouth, but hesitated. In fact, his dads had said something aboutRebel Zthat time Nova had joined them for dinner, but… it had been just a random comment, nothing that would lead someone to be interested in the comics, much less suspect they held the identity of the Sentinel within their pages.

Besides…

“Nova’s not Nightmare.”

“I know,” said Max, but his tone said otherwise.

“Max, she’snot.She was in prison when—”

“The Librarian’s granddaughter showed up in the department store, and she had the helmet, yeah, yeah, yeah.” Max flicked one of the figures in the head, sending it toppling onto the carpet, before meeting Adrian’s eye. “But it doesn’t really make sense.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Adrian insisted. “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it, and with all the mirrors and her access to—”

“Not that. It doesn’t make sense why she would helpme.” Max swiped his hand across the toys, knocking them over in one fell swoop, so that he could start all over again. This time arranging them as opposing army lines preparing to face off in battle. Heroes on one side, villains on the other. “I’ve never met the Librarian’s granddaughter. Why would she risk herself to help me like she did?”

Adrian pondered this, watching as the figures were slowly pitted against one another. “Maybe she had a connection to the Roaches. Maybe she knew your biological parents or something.”

Max scoffed. “The parents who tried to kill me? In that case, you’d think she’d be more than willing to finish the job. And also, it doesn’t explain how I ended up with her power. If she really did steal the Vitality Charm, then she was protected from me—fine. But then how did I put that nurse to sleep?”

“Well… again, maybe you had some interaction with her when you were a baby. Her grandfather probably sold arms to the Roaches, so you could have come in contact with her.”

---