Page 107 of Supernova

Adrian crouched and leaped, landing with a hard thump in the squelching mud. He ran the rest of the way toward his dad, skidding beside him as Simon stumbled and fell hard onto one knee. This close, Adrian could see the marks of dozens of stings he’d received on his face, hands, and throat, everywhere his uniform didn’t cover.Swelling splotches marked with raised white welts.

“Are you okay?” Adrian said.

Simon looked up at him, surprised. Seconds later, Hugh dropped down on Simon’s other side, breathing hard from his sprint. His steely eyes glanced at the Sentinel, but darted immediately to his husband, while the ground rumbled and walls cracked around them. “Simon, what happened? What’s wrong?”

“At least one of those hornets must have had Agent N,” said Simon. He seemed almost apologetic as he met Hugh’s gaze. “I’ve been neutralized.”

Hugh set his jaw, and Adrian knew that he’d been expecting this response.

The air left Adrian’s lungs. The Dread Warden—a member of the Council, an original Renegade—now a normal human, just like that.

“We need to get you out of here,” said Hugh, putting an arm around Simon. “Can you stand?”

Simon ignored the question and the offer of help. “Have you seen Adrian?”

Adrian flinched at the worry that passed between his fathers. As Hugh shook his head, Adrian had to bite his tongue to hold in the truth.

“We’ll find him,” said Hugh as he helped Simon to his feet.“He’s strong. He has to be fine.” He said it almost like a threat to the universe.

Adrian grimaced.

Simon nearly crumpled as soon as he put weight on his legs. “I’m okay,” he said, waving a hand at Hugh’s concern. “It’s just… my whole body feels like it’s burning up from the inside out. Whatever venom those wasps have—” He groaned.

“Here, let me take him,” said Adrian.

Hugh frowned.

“You need to stop Ace Anarchy,” Adrian added, knowing that he was lucky to not have drawn the villain’s attention so far. He remembered how Ace had easily taken control of the Sentinel’s armor in the catacombs, and that was without his helmet. If he tried to engage Ace Anarchy now, he would be more a liability than an asset.

Hugh’s expression eased just a fraction. “Thank you.”

“Don’t get killed,” Simon muttered.

Hugh almost smiled. “I’d like to see him try.” Then he was gone.

Only once they were alone did Simon sigh. “I wouldn’t.”

“He’ll be okay. Come on. Put your weight on me.”

Simon leaned into Adrian, and together they started for the nearest exit, a concrete tunnel leading toward the arena’s administration offices. Despite his pain and the distress of losing his powers, Simon kept looking around, squinting through the smoke and dust.

Adrian knew he was searching forhim.

They were halfway to the tunnel when Simon tripped over the outstretched leg of a fallen prisoner—dead or unconscious, Adrian couldn’t tell. Simon grunted in pain as his shoulder bashed into the ground.

Adrian stooped beside him, trying to help him back up, while keeping one eye on the fight at the center of the field. The ground around Ace was littered with debris and fallen bodies. Many Renegades were seeking cover in the stands, but it was futile when Ace could so easily tear those seats apart. Captain Chromium reached his fallen pike.

Simon gripped Adrian’s forearms and pulled himself to his feet again, but they both stood, entranced and hopeful, as Captain Chromium began charging toward Ace Anarchy.

“Come on, Hugh,” Simon whispered.

Hugh picked up speed. Adrian gripped Simon’s elbow as he watched his dad close the distance to his longtime foe.

He was twenty feet away.

Ace’s back was turned. The attacks from the Renegades were less frequent as more and more were trapped beneath piles of rubble and furniture, but they hadn’t given up. Ace had pulled down so much of the arena’s roof that there was a wide hole above them, open to the cold, cloudy night sky. The edges of its domed shape were beginning to cave in without proper support, yet he continued to rip out chunks of sheet metal and I-beams, deflecting a bolt of electricity, blocking a stream of molten lava, sending a group of Renegades scattering for cover as he shot a volley of steel pipes after them.

Captain Chromium was twelve feet away. Ten.Eight—

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