Page 76 of No Capes
Damian sees me and gives a small, thankful wave. He throws his hands into his pockets like everything is normal. Something bigger has changed for me since I saw him with Zane—not jealousy or disappointment that he’s with anyone besides me, but more of a disappointment that he didn’t turn out to be Dark Static.
“Oh, right.” Fox turns to Damian. “Yeah, you didn’t see these two here, okay, man? Brynn’s planning a surprise party for Mayor Bridges. If you tell anyone, it’s going to get back to him obviously, and that’d suck.”
“How did you get here?” Arielle asks. “Isn’t there a travel ban?”
“I live next door.” Damian explains.
I nod. I know that already. I also know he’s supposed to work atLeague of Comicson Saturday mornings, but today nothing is normal.
“You guys see the news?” Damian asks, taking the seat across from Arielle. Fox comes over to where I am to examine his cereal options.
“Nah,” Fox says, reaching to grab a box from the cupboard. His elbow hits me on the way down, and I move a step away from him, only for him to move a step toward me. Pure glee illuminates his face.
“Good morning, Maddragon. Sleep well?” Fox asks, then calls to Damian, “Anything interesting happen? I mean up to the normal standard of these last few days?”
Arielle’s skin pales, and she looks ten times angrier than when we lose a swim meet. “Other than all the food and water supplies in the city being destroyed? No.”
Fox stills. “All of them?”
“I hope your husband has a great emergency plan,” Damian says to Arielle. “I wrote a paper on the subsidies that Capital City gives farmers. Without food, many people in Capital City are basically going to go bankrupt as inflation rises with few resources left. And there will be no food… We’re all relying on him now.”
I remember that paper from Damian. Mr. Meyers had entered it into a nationwide economics contest. “Did that paper have any solutions for what to do when food supply diminishes?” I ask. “And demand, say, goes way up?”
“Not really. That’s the thing about destroying all the food—we don’t have a back-up. It’d require some sweeping legislation from the mayor to convince the city council to liquidize Capital City’s assets to purchase from additional sources. Or, the Feds could help, but they’re likely waiting to see how the Supers respond. I mean, there are a few other minor options, but if Dark Static keeps wreaking havoc downtown, we will have no choice but to turn to Phil.”
“Unless Golden Ace can somehow fly in warehouses full of vegetables,” mutters Fox.
“Sure,” Damian jokes. “Let’s go call him up real quick and suggest that.”
I toss the apple from one hand to the other as I think—an answer is coming. The pieces D.S. had talked about. “Damian, you’re a genius. That’s his plan,” I say, specifically to Arielle. “That’s Phil’s plan. To impoverish the people of Capital City and use Dark Static to turn everyone against the Supers. Phil’s trying to make it seem like he’s the only hero left.”
Not to mention, the only Super.
“Which he will be,” Arielle finishes for me. “Last week, he mentioned drafting unprecedented legislation that would keep elections from happening during a state of emergency, which could last forever.”
“Um.” Damian looks from me to Arielle. “I thought you were planning a surprise party for your husband?”
Arielle doesn’t acknowledge him. Fox crunches his cereal.
Damian is a genius. Everyone knows that, which is why we’ve inadvertently let him stay for this conversation. Fox, as he’s proven, is smarter than he lets on. Despite having to fill in the blanks between what Arielle and I are talking about, I’m certain the boys can figure out what we mean.
Damian drums his hands on the table. “Stuff just got real.”
The back door pushes open, and Brynn and Jamie come in with bags and bags of groceries. “There’s more in the trunk,” she says to Fox. He salutes her and goes to help. Arielle and I move too, but Fox stops me.
“Host duties,” he says.
“How did you get all this?” Arielle asks when the groceries are put away.
“Believe it or not, that Dark Static guy left some food and water in a kind-of-hidden storage unit,” replies Brynn. “Eitherhe didn’t have the heart to destroy all of it, or he wanted Capital City to turn into a social experiment. They’re rations, but we shouldn’t have to go back for a while. Some of this is for your family too,” she says to Damian.
Brynn then hugs Arielle and me and tells us she’ll fix some food and we can all play a board game to feel better. Fox, Jamie, and Damian turn on the TV to study the news. Playing a board game is thelastthing I want to do right now, so I find my way to the Levines’ basement. I need space to think. I would go on a walk to mull the matter over, but I can’t risk Phil’s spies seeing me. Fox and Damian could be good to bounce ideas off of, but Arielle should fill them in first.
Couches line the basement, and the legendary pool table remains in the middle. There’s one window in the basement that you can see out of, but no one looking in can see you. I sit below it and gaze at the bottom of the Levines’ lawn.
The past 24 hours replay in my mind with slow frames. D.S.’s fingers on my hand, Fox’s fingers in my hair. Orange flames devouring a crumpled house like it was paper. My nerves stand at attention, one signal away from a panic attack.
Footsteps plod down the stairs. “We’re playing Monopoly,” says Fox, “in case you want to join. Although I seem to remember you shedding some tears whenever we played that game.” Fox stops when he reaches the bottom stair and sees my face. “Or…” he says. “Wanna that settle that pool game once and for all?”
