Page 39 of Supernova

Adrian didn’t respond. It was as though he kept willfully forgetting the truth.

She’s a villain.

Ruby gasped, startling him. “Danna!”

He and Oscar both turned to see Danna coming down one of the narrow staircases from the catwalk above. She waved at them. Though there were dark circles under her eyes, she still looked worlds better than she had when she’d first retaken her human form. Color had returned to her cheeks and her dreadlocks had been arranged in a loose knot at the nape of her neck. She looked like the old Danna, fierce and confident and ready to get down to business.

“How are you feeling?” said Ruby when she reached them.

Danna stretched her hands gleefully overhead. “Awesome,” she said, without a hint of sarcasm. “You have no idea how good it feels to have fingers again.”

“So there were no serious injuries?” asked Adrian.

“Nope. I was mostly dehydrated, and being in swarm mode for so long made my symptoms wonky, but nothing a good night’s sleep couldn’t fix.”

“I heard Thunderbird saying you might be given some leave,” said Ruby. “They don’t want to force you back into the field before you’re ready.”

Danna snorted. “Yeah, she cornered me this morning to talk about it. Something about unfair labor practices and violations of human rights… I don’t know, I think they’re all in a tizzy over these complaints from Genissa Clark. But there’s no way I’m going to sit back now when we’re so close to finding the rest of the Anarchists. I want to be a part of this.”

“But what if you have to transform again?” said Ruby.

“So?”

“So… are you ready for that? So soon after…”

In a blink, Danna dissolved, her body replaced with hundredsof fluttering wings. They raced in a circle around the training hall, drawing attention from the other waiting patrol units. After a full lap of the space, the butterflies cycloned and Danna re-formed.

“I’m not afraid of my superpower,” she said, arms folded.

Ruby beamed and threw her arms around Danna’s neck. “Good. Because this team isn’t the same without you.” But as soon as she said it, her smile faded and she pulled away, just a bit, casting a nervous glance at Adrian.

He knew she was thinking about Nova. Though she hadn’t been a part of their team for nearly as long as Danna had, it still felt like the team wasn’t the same without her, either.

But there was no use thinking of that. She had never really been a part of the team at all.

“So?” said Danna, casting her attention between them. “Did they find anything at the house?”

Adrian shook his head and told her about the report. The remains from the fire had provided no evidence that could definitively connect Nova and Nightmare, or indicate where the other Anarchists might be hiding. With Ace Anarchy and Nightmare in custody, the Puppeteer neutralized, and the Detonator dead, that left three known Anarchists still at large: Cyanide, Queen Bee, and Phobia. The Renegades had had scouts posted near the cathedral since the day Ace Anarchy had been captured in hopes that one of his minions might make their way back to the site, and they were conducting routine checks of the subway tunnels throughout the city, but so far there had been no trace of the missing villains.

“Is it possible they left town?” said Oscar. “Like, after Ace was captured, maybe they decided enough is enough?”

“It’s too early to determine that,” said Adrian. “And if they didn’tup and leave after being down in those tunnels all these years, I doubt they’d run away now.”

“Unless they finally ran out of options?” said Ruby. “I mean, Queen Bee, Cyanide, and Phobia. None of them are exactly masters of disguise. You would think if they were wandering around the city, someone, somewhere, would have noticed them.”

“There are a lot of abandoned buildings in this city,” said Adrian. “There are a lot of places to hide.”

Danna grunted and gestured at the report on Adrian’s screen. “Which means they could be anywhere, and none of this is going to give us any leads.”

“Yeah, but right now, it’s the best we’ve got.” Adrian’s voice lowered. “Unless Ace Anarchy or Nightmare give us something to work with.”

“All right, patrols,” yelled Blacklight, strolling through the scattered groups in his signature black leather jacket and skintight pants. He was carrying a large plastic crate. “Gather ’round, gather ’round. I know it’s been an eventful twenty-four hours, but we do have important business to tend to before I release you all to further your gossip. As you know, our public reveal of Agent N is in less than four weeks. It’s to take place at the arena, and media from all over the world will be in attendance. We need to be fully prepared for all patrols to be equipped with the serum before then. As the recent attack on headquarters has understandably left a few of us on edge, we are going to be implementing some new precautions to ensure that Agent N cannot be used against our own.”

“Precautions?” said the Wrecking Ball, fisting her hands on her hips. “Like maybe destroying all of the remaining Agent N and never bringing it up again?”

Blacklight cast her a withering look. “Har-har. Nothing so drastic as that. Now, I understand your concerns—we all do, and we were all devastated to lose Frostbite and her team. But this weapon has been an important investment for us, and it remains our best hope at eliminating villains and dangerous prodigies from our city. We were unprepared for an enemy to have access to Agent N, it’s true, but we will not be making the same mistake again.”

“Investment,” scoffed another Renegade, Coyote. “I’m beginning to think Genissa is right—that’s all the Council cares about. Their investments.”

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