Secret Super (Book 1)

30. Trust-Fall

The billboards had gone dark; the announcer had gone silent.

"What do we do now?" Zadia said, panic creeping into her voice.

They stood side by side, clutching each other's hands, surrounded by tall shadows approaching through the Smog.

"I have an idea," Kara said. "Follow my lead."

She let go of Zadia and pulled on the energy in her chest. She summoned it into a glowing mass above her head and flung out her hands—

A brick of ice hit her stomach. She doubled over, the energy extinguished. Zadia cried out next to her. In the blink of an eye, ice froze over their upper bodies.

Kara kicked and squirmed but the ice kept her arms and chest frozen in place. It burned her skin. Cold water trickled down her shirt.

"Any more genius ideas?" Zadia said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not giving up!" Kara shouted, and pulled on the energy inside her, but it was no use, she'd never tried to summon a force-field without her hands before. Was that even possible?

Out of the ring of superheroes walked Eva, smiling calmly. "Six-three-seven," she said, clicking her tongue. "You realize, I assume, that protecting a supervillain makes you a supervillain as well? Think carefully. Are you willing to give up everything you have for this pointless rebellion?"

Literally frozen solid, it hit Kara for the first time what she was leaving behind. A new cold slithered through her chest, unrelated to the ice anchoring her in place.

Everything she'd worked for, all her dreams, all the hours spent training and longing to be in the spotlight . . .

What would she have if she left? No family, no home; she'd never become a superhero.

Kara strained against the ice. No use.

She looked over at Zadia, who was staring ahead, her lips moving with no noise, silently muttering to herself over and over. Her face was pale and blue-ish— from cold or fear?

Kara looked back at Eva, at the Super Sector rising behind her with glittering lights and flashing signs. She let herself entertain, for a moment, the idea of surrendering.

Then she spat at the floor next to Eva.

Eva's face hardened. She made a motion with her hand.

Out of the Smog stepped two Enforcers, tall, buff superheroes who Kara had only ever seen before from a distance, stalking around the Super Sector in their uniforms.

One of the Enforcers jerked his hand, and ice froze over their legs too.

Kara threw back her head and screamed. She was not about to go to her fate quietly. She screamed until the ice crept up her neck and throat and snapped over her lips in an icy visor's grip.

The Enforcers marched towards them.

Kara tried to look at Zadia but she couldn't turn her head. The cold sank through her bones; her skin was on fire. She tried to scream but just made muffled noises from the back of her throat.

Rough hands grabbed her, ice melting around her arms. She couldn't move any part of her body except her eyes.

Everything after that happened so fast:

Green tendrils shot across the concrete and wrapped around Eva's ankles. Eva's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to scream, but leafy tendrils snaked around her mouth. The Enforcers ran to her, shouting.