“Here.” She handed the bundle over to him.
“What is it?”
“You could probably just open it and find out.”
Alex stared at it, turning the package over in his hands. He took a few deep breaths, leaning on the meditation techniques Kirbie had taught him and the others on the lawn of the lake house. The blue tint faded from his vision. Whatever it was, he wanted to see it as clearly as possible. Carefully he tore open the wrapping. Inside was a uniform top. It was dark gray, with the familiar texture of a fabric woven with protective ballistic fibers. He unfurled it, holding it out in front of him with his powers. There was a hood connected to the back collar. On the chest was a small white starburst with a gleaming golden sword on top of it, right over where his heart would be.
“I had our uniform guy make it when we had the coats done,” Kirbie said. “It’s just a prototype. I wanted to see what you thought before we made them for the rest of your team.”
“My team?” Alex asks.
“Your Knights.” She smoothed her blond hair back with one hand. “It’s sort of based on an old Ranger uniform. Misty came up with ‘Knights’ back at the lake house. We can change it if you want. Any of it.” She looked at him hopefully.
Alex took the uniform top in his hands. He stared at it, unsure of what to say.
“What are the Knights supposed to do?”
“Think of them as a special branch of the Rangers. The people who can do stuff behind the scenes while the Rangers of Justice are the public face. Like the kinds of things we were just talking about. Tracking down Legion.”
“This is . . . ,” Alex said, but he didn’t have the words to explain how he was feeling, the drumming in his chest.
“I’ve talked with all the Rangers about it, and they’re on board if you and the others are. Photon would technically oversee everything, but you’d be team leader.”
“He does seem to get along really well with Gage and the others.”
“The Rangers have sworn to protect Sterling City. That leaves a lot of places in need of heroes. Lone Star’s specifically concerned about this Guild of Daggers in New York. What do you say? After we track down Legion, I say we start investigating who they are and what they’re up to.”
“We?” Alex asked. “So you’re a Knight too? I figured you’d all go back to just being Junior Rangers.”
“Are you kidding, Alex? After all this, of course I’m with you. We can operate out of the old Cloak compound, or the new Justice Tower—whatever you prefer,” Kirbie said, getting excited. “Whatever feels right for a home base.”
Home.
“We could do good in this world,” Kirbie said. Her eyes dropped to the ground. “Besides, we make a good team.”
Alex smiled at this. His eyes went down to the ground, too. His face suddenly felt hot.
“So? What do you say?”
Alex rubbed his fingers over the gold sword on the chest of the uniform top. He looked back up at Kirbie, who stared at him in anticipation.
“I say let’s do it. This is perfect.”
She grinned. “We’ve got bright superhero futures ahead of us.”
“I hope so,” Alex said. “But if the rest of this uniform is made up of tights and spandex shorts, I’m changing my mind.”
He flashed her a smile. She laughed.
“You guys!” Misty shouted from halfway down the block. “What are you doing? Come on!”
“Your Knights,” Kirbie said, gesturing toward the others. She jogged to join them.
Alex stood by himself for a moment. The blue tint faded into his vision again, the world crackling around him. In that moment there was such a well of energy in him he was afraid his powers might cause him to explode. He exhaled slowly and smiled, then started down the steps. His teammates were waiting.
BACK AD
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JERAMEY KRAATZ has wanted superpowers ever since he opened his first comic book as a kid. He’s a graduate of Texas Christian University and the MFA writing program at Columbia University, and the author of The Cloak Society and Villains Rising. Jeramey lives in Texas, where he works in the animation industry. You can visit Jeramey online at www.jerameykraatz.com and follow him on Twitter @jerameykraatz.
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BOOKS BY JERAMEY KRAATZ
The Cloak Society
Villains Rising
CREDITS
Cover art © 2014 by Michael Komarck
Logo type by John Dismukes/Mendola Artists
Cover design by Torborg Davern
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COPYRIGHT
The Cloak Society: Fall of Heroes
Copyright © 2014 by Full Fathom Five, LLC
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kraatz, Jeramey.
Fall of heroes / Jeramey Kraatz.
pages cm. — (The Cloak Society ; 3)
Summary: Masquerading as a new group of superheroes, the evil Cloak Society has taken over Sterling City—and ex-villain Alex Knight must bring them to justice once and for all.
ISBN 978-0-06-209553-4 (hardcover)
[1. Superheroes—Fiction. 2. Supervillains—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.K8572Fal 2014 2013047952
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
AC
EPUB Edition JULY 2014 ISBN 9780062095558
14 15 16 17 18 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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Jeramey Kraatz, Fall of Heroes
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