“And clean this room up. It’s disgusting.”
The door shut, leaving Alex alone once again. His heart thumped in his chest. She had apologized—a marvel in itself. But more importantly, she had reminded him that the confusion of his morning was completely uncalled-for. He had a destiny. He would rise to be Cloak’s greatest asset. There was no room for thoughts of Kirbie or the fate of the Rangers in his mind.
Turning to his closet, he found himself greeted by his uniform, still folded, floating in front of him. Blue energy crackled around it. But he hadn’t been consciously focused on his uniform, only thinking of it somewhere in the back of his mind. His subconscious must have summoned the clothes—something he didn’t even know was possible.
He plucked them from the air, staring at them in mild concern. Then, with time against him, he hurried to get ready for training.
“The field” was a patch of grassy land a hundred or so yards long, located behind the Big Sky Drive-In. In addition to the thick lines of trees that flanked the old theater, the clearing was made even more private by the gently rolling hills on its other sides. Alex stood with the rest of the Beta Team in the middle of the field as rain poured from the sky. He projected a flat surface of energy above their heads, sending rain cascading in a perfect square around them. Across from the Betas, the High Council was at one edge of the field, as was Misty, who enjoyed watching the weekly occasions when the Betas trained as a group. Everyone on the sideline held large black umbrellas, giving the row of Cloak members a somewhat funerary look, the sound of water pelting nylon filling the air.
Shade and Barrage stepped forward, standing before their young troops.
“If you’re to be successful as a team, you’ll need to work together as one, playing to one another’s strengths,” Shade said, addressing the group.
“To do this, you must know the possibilities of each of your teammates’ powers, but also their weaknesses,” Barrage said. “Today you’ll get a taste of this. You will be split into two teams. Note that there is an umbrella located at each end of the field.”
He motioned to the black umbrellas, rolled up like black spikes, shoved into the soggy ground at either end of the clearing.
“Each team will be responsible for both defending their own umbrella and stealing that of their opponents. The first team to open their opponents’ umbrella wins. The umbrella can only be opened physically, meaning that Alex, you won’t be able to do it using your powers.”
“Capture the flag,” Titan said.
“Exactly,” Shade said. “It is not our intent to have any casualties or serious injuries today. Don’t take it easy on your opponents, but remember that your enemies in this exercise are still your brothers and sisters in Cloak.”
“Misty,” Barrage said, looking over his shoulder. “Front and center.”
Misty, standing beneath Phantom’s umbrella, was dumbfounded. She looked up at her aunt, who nodded to her. Misty smiled, and she presented herself in front of Shade and Barrage.
“Yes?” she asked, eager to be included.
“Your training has progressed well,” Shade said. “The rest of you may not be aware of this, but Misty has recently demonstrated the ability to move not only large objects in her sublimated form, but people as well. In our training session earlier this week, she was able to transport one of our Unibands from one room to another. Soon she will make a valuable addition to the Beta Team.”
Misty could hardly withhold her excitement.
“There are five silver balls about an inch in diameter located on the field,” Shade said to Misty. “Your goal is to collect all of these before either of the teams has won. You are not to interact with the other players, but will need to defend yourself against stray attacks that may be slung your way. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am!” Misty said.
“All right, then. Misty, you’ll start in the center of the field. Alex and Mallory will defend the north umbrella together. Julie and Titan, you’ll take the other one.” She motioned to opposite sides of the clearing.
Alex smiled, and allowed his telekinetic umbrella to shrink, exposing Titan and Julie to pouring rain.
“Seriously?” Julie shouted. Titan didn’t flinch.
“Go now,” Shade said. “To your flags.”
“Defeat them,” Barrage growled in his low, grinding voice. He winked at his children.
“We’ll split up,” Mallory said to Alex as they hurried to their assigned side. “I’ll take Titan. He’s got a low tolerance for temperature changes. Julie should be easier to take care of with your mind anyway.”
“You sure, Mal?” Alex asked. “Titan will probably be playing dirty.”
“Of course he will, but I have a feeling he’ll go easier on me. Just remember, Julie always attacks without thinking. Prey on her weaknesses and we’ll be fine. If you see a hole, make a run for it. I’ll try to lay down as much cover fire as I can.”
“Ready?” Shade yelled when each team was in position. “Begin!”
The two teams sprinted toward each other as rain pelted their faces. Misty looked around at the Betas all racing toward her and began to disintegrate, floating up into the air and out of harm’s way. Titan barreled straight toward Alex, his long legs and enhanced strength sending him hurtling down the field like a cannonball, while Julie ran at his heels, talons out and low to the ground. They were going to try to double-team him, Alex thought. Luckily, Mallory had no intention of letting that happen, and a subzero ball of energy flew through the air, leaving behind a trail of flash-frozen raindrops. It nailed Titan in the right shoulder, knocking him off his course and causing him to slip and fall with a heavy groan.
“Nice!” Alex said, but Mallory was too focused on a follow-up attack to respond.
Julie jumped over her brother without skipping a beat, eyes still focused on Alex. She began weaving, running in a scattered series of directions. She crouched and dug her long claws into the soggy ground every few steps, slinging clumps of mud and gravel at Alex.
“Good!” Barrage yelled. “Take advantage of your environment.”
Alex tried to focus on her directly, but between the rain and her erratic movements and the earth flying at him, he had a hard time getting ahold of the energy around her. As she closed in, she leaped at Alex, and he managed to push enough force her way so that her clear, razor-sharp fingers missed his chest.
She landed in a crouch in front of him as he grabbed at his shirt, searching for cuts. He backed away with wide footsteps, putting some distance between them.
“Nonlethal attacks, Julie,” Shade yelled angrily from the sidelines.
“Are you crazy?” Alex asked. “This is training. You almost gutted me!”
“Stop whining,” she said. “We’re here to win.”
Alex narrowed his eyes and summoned a jet of mud from a nearby puddle that hit Julie in the face, causing her to flail about blindly, shrieking in disgust.
Somewhere behind him he could hear Misty laughing.
Julie slipped around on the swampy ground, her hands returning to flesh as she wiped the mud from her eyes, but Alex knew she’d be pouncing as soon as she had a chance. Before she could regain her footing, he concentrated on making a force field like the one he had made in training the day before, only this time it was around Julie, trapping her inside instead of keeping bullets out. His adrenaline was pumping, and he poured that energy into a shimmering dome around her. She ran toward him, but quickly hit the inside of the invisible bubble, knocking herself back. Julie, realizing that rain was hitting some unseen barrier around her, began dragging her talons across the energy field, shouting something about fairness that Alex couldn’t quite make out.
Keeping Julie trapped took all his concentration, though, and Alex had momentarily forgotten about his sparring teammates. By the time he realized that Mallory was flying straight toward the containment bubble, it was too late for him to stop her, and she smashed through, landing on top of Jul
ie. Alex turned to find Titan running toward him.
“I’ll take over with him,” Alex yelled to Mallory. She nodded, radiating so much heat that rain was turning to steam before it ever hit her shoulders.
Alex turned his attention toward Titan. Mallory had clearly gotten some good shots in. Frost had collected on one of his shoulders. His right thigh and most of his left side were burned, exposing the layer of metal underneath his outer coating of skin. He looked like some sort of android charging at Alex.
“Stop him,” Alex muttered to himself, regretting the switch of opponents. “You can do it.”
He tried creating a series of force fields in front of Titan, expecting them to stop him in his tracks, but the speeding juggernaut smashed through them as if they were made of paper. Frantic, Alex poured all his telekinetic energy into a single miniature bubble and sent it soaring toward Titan’s chest. At the same time, Titan leaped into the air, flying almost horizontally at Alex: a six-foot blond bullet.
Alex’s aim was true, though; the bubble caught Titan’s shoulder, slowing him down. The metal boy landed on one knee a yard in front of Alex, and was on his feet in a split second, smirking.
“We know you’re off the team,” Titan snarled. “You’re pathetic. You always have been. And when this is all over with, you’ll be nothing more than the servant to my High Council.”
Before Alex could reply, Titan rushed forward and head-butted him, sending him straight to the ground, his head fuzzy and ringing. And with that Titan was off, sprinting toward Alex and Mallory’s umbrella. Alex rolled over onto his stomach, watching Titan run. He glanced around the field: Mal and Julie sparred, Misty disappeared and reappeared every few seconds, and on the sidelines, his father’s expression was stern. But it was his mother’s face that got to him. She looked sad. Disappointed. And he knew exactly what he needed to do in order to make her proud.
He returned his gaze to Titan, who was closing in on his prize. Alex clenched his teeth, glaring at his opponent, and allowed his emotions to take control. Rage was fueling him now. In a single motion, he pulled Titan back, hoping to just slow him down. Instead Titan was flung backward at an impossible speed, sailing through the air. His heavy body flew over Alex and landed in the middle of the field, skidding several yards in the mud, creating a long divot in the earth.
Alex was determined not to let Titan get back on his feet again. He rushed to the metal boy’s side, lording over his opponent. Still focusing on Titan’s body, he pushed down on it with his mind. Titan shook his head, trying to figure out what was happening as Alex pressed him down farther into the earth.
Everything else in the world seemed to have stopped moving. Alex took all the feelings of anger and shame and poured them into his powers. He could see Titan’s eyes bulging, his breath labored. And it felt so good to see Titan squirming under his power.
Alex allowed his gaze to drift to the sidelines, where an odd thing was happening. Barrage was trying to make his way onto the field—but Shade had her hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. Her eyes flashed, and the man stopped trying to struggle. On her face was a smile so pure that Alex could hardly believe it. His lips curled back, and he grinned to himself as he stared at Titan, who had by now sunk several more inches into the ground.
“Your eyes . . . ,” Mallory said. She and Julie had come up to his side and were staring at him in bewilderment.
Alex looked back down at Titan and saw his own reflection in the metal showing through Titan’s stomach. His eyes were blazing, energy crackling and shooting from them, like they were balls of lightning. The stronger his powers were getting, the wilder they became—and the more others were noticing them.
“Alex?” A soft, frightened voice came from his right.
It was Misty. Her face was scrunched in fear as she stared at him. She took a step back as he met her eyes, and then disappeared, turning into a colorful haze of dust and floating with exceptional speed away from the field. Five silver balls were left behind, falling to the earth with thick plunks.
Alex realized what he must have looked like. A mighty being, yes. But malicious. Without mercy. He was doing exactly what his mother had talked about earlier. He was proving that he was the most powerful weapon of Cloak. A force to be feared.
He released Titan, who immediately sat up, gasping for air. Julie rushed to his side. Titan tried to stand but fell back into the imprint of his body in the earth. He stared up at Alex, equal parts rage and terror in his eyes.
“Perhaps that’s enough for today,” Shade said, stepping her way onto the field. She held four cylinders under her arm and was passing them out before anyone could react to Alex’s display of power.
“These are blueprints of Justice Tower based on the best information we were able to gather,” she continued. “Study them. Memorize them. Know everything about them.”
After leaning down to hand a cylinder to Titan, Shade stood before Alex and held the final one out to him.
Welcome back to the team, she whispered into his head before turning and walking away. The High Council followed her off the field, leaving Alex alone with his teammates in the pouring rain.
Titan stood up, wobbling at first. He shook off Julie’s attempt to help as he trudged back toward their home. His sister followed him.
“I guess that means we won,” Mallory said tentatively.
“Yeah,” Alex replied, his voice shaky. “I guess we did.”
Shade had been right that morning: He was getting stronger. But at the same time, Alex had the distinct feeling that he was beginning to lose control.
12
Fallen Rangers
Alex threw himself into studying the blueprints for Justice Tower alongside his teammates, memorizing the layout. The structure was located on the edge of Sterling City’s museum and cultural district, a few miles north of Victory Park. It was only fifteen stories high—a far cry from the skyscrapers dotting the southern end of Victory Park—but it rose above the other buildings in the area. It was cylindrical, all light-colored limestone and mirrored glass that reflected the Texas sun. The twelfth story was a single room with a 360-degree view of Sterling City, the walls made up entirely of tempered glass and support beams, where the Rangers could look out over the city. But the iconic part of the structure was the opaque glass dome that capped off the building. At night, it burned brilliantly, as Alex had seen that weekend: a beacon illuminating the skyline, reminding the citizens of Sterling City that they were not alone.
The plans helped Alex make peace with Misty. It had taken an intricately folded bouquet of paper roses to persuade her to even open the door for him after his display of power, but eventually she let him inside her room, where they spread the plans out on the floor and looked them over together. She was quiet at first, but eventually eased back into her usual self, and soon she was jabbering at length about the new capes and sashes for Cloak uniforms that she’d designed. It wasn’t until he was leaving that she brought up anything about his fight with Titan.
“Alex,” she said softly. “Promise me that you won’t ever change. That you’ll always be you.”
He smiled.
“I promise,” he said, though he wasn’t sure what she meant. Who else would he be?
Since Sunday’s training, Titan’s only direct communication with Alex had been in steely glares from across the room. Titan had spent the days after his defeat walking around the compound sulking, until Barrage finally took his son out into the country to smash through one of the abandoned shacks that dotted the Texas countryside. The two of them blew off steam in this way, and Titan seemed to be in somewhat better spirits once they returned, the knuckles on his hands shining silver from the exercise in destruction.
At the beginning of the week, Alex had decided that there was no reason for him to sneak out and travel to Victory Park again. After all, he was back on the strike team, and that had been his motivation in the first place. But as the days progressed, his conversation with Kirbie k
ept running through his mind, no matter how often he tried to push it out of his thoughts. She had spoken as if he had a choice in whether or not his future belonged to the Cloak Society, but she was a Ranger—she didn’t know what she was talking about. Soon he’d be facing her in battle, though Alex’s stomach knotted when he replaced the image of Titan sinking into the earth with that of Kirbie.
As the week wore on, he wanted more and more to talk to Kirbie one last time. He found himself wondering where she was in Justice Tower as he became familiar with its design. He’d liked how light and clearheaded talking with her had made him feel—how nice it was to speak to another superpowered person his age who had experienced the world in ways he hadn’t. And he wanted to know if he would be able to see her in full color once again. Besides, though he wouldn’t admit it to himself, there was something thrilling about sneaking out and gaining knowledge that someone like Titan wouldn’t have.
So after dinner on Saturday night, while the other Betas gathered in the common room to watch a movie, Alex excused himself, claiming to be tired. He went back into his room and began to prepare for another trip through the Gloom. He remembered how hard it had been to navigate Victory Park in the dark the week before and searched around for his map of Sterling City so he could review the layout and paths. Unable to find it, he sighed.
Luckily, Alex knew the Tutor was sure to have something he could use. He could stop in and borrow a map under the guise of research.
Alex walked lightly down the hallway and knocked on the metal door of the library. Immediately after knocking, he could hear the Tutor rummaging about inside, speaking loudly.
“I’ll warn you now that I won’t be foolish enough to accept your Queen’s Gambit again tonight,” he said as the door slid open. Upon seeing Alex, he stopped short. “Oh, Alexander. Good evening. I’m afraid I thought you were Gage. I’m expecting him for chess. Have you come by for a game, by chance?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir. I was wondering if I might be able to borrow some materials from you.”