Page 145 of Supernova

“I’m… fine,” came a weak reply. Heart soaring, Adrian stampeded through the debris in the direction of her voice.

He was a few feet away when a bell that had landed upside down rolled off the broken stone wall it had crashed into, striking the floor with a clang.

“Ow,” Nova groaned.

Adrian froze. He stooped to look closer, and there she was. Her body tucked inside the bronze bell, her arms and legs braced against its curved sides.

“Nova,” he whispered, sweeping forward and helping her climb free. He pulled her against his chest, though the embrace wasn’t quite the same now that he was wearing his armor.

“Your suit gave me the idea,” she said, her voice muffled against his breastplate.

“Genius,” he replied. “Are you hurt?” After a moment’s consideration, he amended, “Badly hurt?”

Nova groaned, but followed it with, “Not really. Leroy?”

“He’s alive. We should find a place to put him before the whole place caves in.”

Nova pulled away and shook some of the debris out of her hood, while Adrian scoured the dust from his helmet’s visor. They scanned the wreckage. The collapsing bell tower had torn a hole through this part of the cathedral, demolishing nearly the entire northeastern corner.

Adrian’s body stayed tense, waiting for the next catastrophe tostrike. But there was only the ongoing trickle of dust and clattering debris.

“We can put Leroy inside one of the bells,” suggested Nova. “I think he’ll fit, and it will be as safe a place as any.”

Cyanide did fit inside the bell, though he would probably have a terrible crick in his neck when he came to.

“So,” said Adrian, watching as Nova grabbed a few vials off Cyanide’s bandolier and shoved them into a pouch on her belt. “How do we stop Ace?”

A frown flitted over her face. It took him a second to remember that she couldn’t see his face behind the visor. He pressed a button on the side of his helmet, retracting the face shield. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure Ace can be stopped, not while he has the helmet. Unless we can find a way to neutralize him.”

“Is there any more Agent N?”

She considered this. “Do you still have my pen? I have one blow dart with Agent N in the chamber.”

“Yes, I have it. If we can get you to the roof, do you think you can get close enough to use it?”

“Maybe,” said Nova, “but if he figures out what we’re trying to do… he’ll snap that dart like a twig.”

“If anyone can do this, it’s you.”

She shot him a wry look.

“What about Oscar and Danna?” he asked. “Where are they?”

“They were locked up in the treasury when this all started. Come on.” She led him up a short set of steps and down a curved corridor, through a chapel that was only slightly less dreary than the one he’d been kept in earlier.

Then Nova froze, staring into the room attached to the chapel.It had once had doors of stained glass enclosing it, but the glass had been shattered. The room beyond was barren and tidy compared with the destruction wrought on the rest of the cathedral. And it was empty.

“They were here,” said Nova, her boots crunching over broken glass.

Adrian noticed frayed ropes tossed across the ground. “They must have found a way to escape.”

Nova seemed unconvinced. “Maybe.”

They shared a look, laced with a question.

Find Oscar and Danna… or try to stop Ace Anarchy?

---