Page 96 of No Capes
Flare.
“Flare, don’t do this.” D.S. electrifies his flight path, leaving sparks in his trail. “If you get rid of me, he’ll go after each of you next.”
“Gotta admit, Static,” Flare says. “You’re not in such a stellar position to be dishing out threats.” But she waits for another of D.S.’s attackers to catch up before flying any closer.
While D.S. argues with Flare, Materio moves his hands from behind his back and presses toward Golden Ace. Materio holds a shiny, metallic ball the size of an apple. It’s the exact color of gold.
Phil watches everything unfold, his creepy smile growing. “Madeline, care to join the fun? It’s getting good.”
Golden Ace backs away. “Don’t,” he warns. “Mat, listen.”
Coughing, I inhale Flare’s smoke, as well as the smoke from the fire D.S. set. Materio can transfigure any object—except animals or people—into anything else. Why hasn’t he transfigured the flaming hedge and put out the fire? Instead, he’s tormenting Golden Ace.
I lift my hands and focus on the flaming hedge. I shoot a long jet of water, hitting the hedge like a bullseye. Smoke hisses off the plant as my water dissipates, but we’re all safer now.
We’ve seen Golden Ace take hits in battle before, that’s why the city obsesses over him: if he can lose, he’s easier to root for. But he’s never been seriously injured, and while Materio may get a few punches in, Golden Ace will be fine—even against pure gold. Right? Unless pure gold is the allergy that D.S. had warned about—Golden Ace’s true weakness. The one that will put out his power.
“I have more,” Materio says. He throws the ball at Golden Ace.
Within a split second, I force myself to turn the translucent watery color I was when I’d knocked out Dark Static. Against the night sky and thanks to my new costume, I’m invisible enough.
I sprint toward Phil. Flare cries out in the sky, shooting long, orange tendrils at Dark Static, who portals inside another tree’s shadow. He returns from behind her with a lengthy bolt of white.
A second golden ball materializes in Materio’s palm, from one of his signature feathers.
“What does this do, anyway?” He launches the metal straight at Capital City’s greatest hero.
Golden Ace tries to dodge the metal, but Phil thwarts him by injecting a force-field wherever Golden Ace turns. As thegold ball flies closer to Golden Ace, his attempts to escape its trajectory grow weaker and weaker, his powers diminishing.
How has Materio not figured out what Phil is doing?
Hello? The man has superpowers.
I can’t explode the gold ball because there isn’t any water near it—raindrops aren’t contained enough to supercharge. Instead, I sprint toward Phil, kick his knees with a triumphant blow, and knock Golden Ace to the side. The gold brushes his shoulder, instead of slamming into his chest. I shoot a frigid blast of water at Materio to buy Golden Ace another minute to get his bearings, though it means sacrificing my invisibility.
Materio shifts toward me, shaking excess water out of his feathers. “You’re new.”
He takes a feather from his costume and tosses it in the air, making a show of whatever he’ll transfigure it into. I concentrate on it, and right before it starts to fall, hit it with a hydro-blast. The exertion makes me stumble backwards. Materio frowns.
I trip over something shiny: one of the mirror pieces, which isn’t large enough to catch Phil’s full reflection, but might get part of it. Would that diminish his powers some? I grab it and aim it at Phil, who smiles.
“What’ve you got there, Madeline?” he asks.
Materio double-takes at Phil’s sneer. As far as anyone besides me, Fox, Arielle, Jamie, Brynn, and Damian knows… Phil is a glorified nice guy. Golden Ace coughs, bringing Materio back in the game.
“Yes,” says the purple Super. “What is that?” He points a feathered finger at me and instantly, the mirror turns into a golden ball the size of an apple. Golden Ace coughs again, and I throw the ball as hard as I can away from us.
I shoot another blast of water at Materio to keep him back. A wave of dizziness hits me, and shooting the water is almost more than I can handle. I need to switch gel packets again, but it’s notsafe here. Above, Dark Static continues to fend off Flare and the others. He looks down at me, then notes Golden Ace’s sprawling body. He flies toward me, taking my hand, and a second later everything is black.
Then we’re on the other side of the mansion. The back porch.
“Run,” says Dark Static. The next second, he’s gone.
I don’t protest. The porch cracks under me as I run onto it, but I’m inside the mansion before Materio or Phil are back on their feet. I’ve assumed the mayor won’t attack his heirloom house, though he could. I need the cover to switch gel packets and check what’s outside without being a target.
Something large crawls on my leg. A hand grasps my ankle. “Madeline,” Arielle hisses. She’s hard to see from underneath a missing floorboard.
“What do you need me to do?” I ask. If Arielle is hiding under the floor of her own house, she must have a plan.
