Page 56 of Supernova

Adrian chuckled wryly. “Nothing that glamorous.”

“Then what are we doing on the roof?”

“You wanted to avoid being near prodigies as much as possible, right? Well, like you said, on the streets, you never know who you might pass. But up here, the sky is ours.”

Max took a step back, hands held up. “Oooh, no. I realize that you had to carry me like a sack of potatoes when you brought me here, and that’s embarrassing enough. You are not becoming my general mode of transportation. Thanks, but no thanks.”

“You were half dead. There’s nothing embarrassing about that.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see how you feel the next time you almost die andIhave to carry you halfway across town.”

“Sounds relaxing. Look, I’m not carrying you anywhere. You don’t need me to. Here, let me hold Turbo so you can focus.”

“Focus on what?” said Max, even as he handed over the little cage.

“Just watch.” Inspecting the closest structure, a squat office building just across the street, Adrian cradled the cage in his arm and crouched. He felt the spring tattoos activate on the soles of his feet. He leaped.

Air whooshed past his ears, and for the briefest of moments, he felt like he was flying.

He struck the next roof, crouching with one hand on the gritty concrete.

Awake again, the velociraptor scratched unhappily at the bars of his confinement, trying to escape. Adrian ignored him. Brushing his fingers off on his pants, he turned back to Max.

The kid looked mystified. Spreading his arms, he yelled across the chasm, “I didn’t get that much of your power! I can’t do what you do!”

“I know,” said Adrian. “But you can do what Ace Anarchy can do.”

Max’s arms fell. He drew back, confused.

“You have telekinesis,” Adrian reminded him. “I know you can levitate. Which means you canfly.”

Max’s jaw worked mutely for a moment, then he shook his head. “I’ve never done anything more than float a few feet in the air.”

Adrian shrugged. “It’s the same thing.”

“Yeah, except for the twenty-story fall!”

“If you fall, I’ll catch you.”

Max surveyed the street below, his brows knitted together. He started to rub his arms. He wasn’t dressed for the cold weather, much less the intense winds coming off the bay.

“You can do this. You’re the Bandit. You’re a Renegade.”

Shutting his eyes, Max spread his hands, palm up. His feet left the edge of the building, until he was hovering a foot above the rooftop.

A smile stretched across Adrian’s face. Like Ace Anarchy’s ability, Max’s control over telekinesis usually applied only to inanimate objects—not humans or animals. The one exception was to himself. Adrian had known for a while now that Max was capable of levitation, but it was different to see it with his own eyes.

“That’s it,” Adrian muttered to himself, not wanting to distract him.

An alarm rang out from somewhere inside the hospital.

Max gasped and dropped back to the ground.

“Come on! Now or never!” shouted Adrian.

Max seemed immobilized, frozen by indecision.

Then, to Adrian’s horror, he shook his head and started walking back toward the stairwell. Back to the safety of his hospital room. Back to the numbing security of the quarantine.

---