“Call me Temptress one more time,” she said, placing a single finger on his shoulder, “and I’ll find out what your body’s melting point is.”
Beneath her fingertip, Titan’s uniform began to sizzle. He shrugged her off.
“Admit it,” he said, undeterred. “It’s growing on you.”
“Enough.” Shade stepped up beside them. “You have one minute to get me that diamond. Whatever you find after I have the Excelsior is yours.”
Then, turning to Alex, she added, “I guess you’re not ready to be a part of this team after all.”
Her frown lingered, but Alex looked to the floor. Titan disappeared into the depths of the vault with Mallory on his heels. The sound of metal tearing and breaking echoed into the lobby as the two of them tore through the vault’s defenses, Titan yelling raucously with every downed gate and door.
As Julie stepped into the vault, her palms lost their color and began to harden and shine. Her fingers grew to twice their normal length, the tips impossibly pointy. By her third step, her hands were now clear, gemlike talons. Arms spread wide, she ran the length of the hallway, slicing open rows of safe-deposit boxes and screaming like a delighted banshee. The contents of the boxes—jewelry, wads of cash, keys, a whirlwind of documents—spilled out onto the floor. She turned around to survey the damage. Grinning, she picked up a ring that housed an emerald the size of a postage stamp and slid it down the length of a claw before racing into the vault’s back chambers.
Alex kept his eyes on the ground as his mother stepped back into the center of the bank, one hand to her radio-clad ear. He felt sick to his stomach.
“Heads up, birthday boy,” Mallory yelled.
Alex raised his eyes just in time to see an overpacked black bag flying straight for his face. Instinctively, he raised his hands, pushing energy toward the object, causing it to slow and eventually stop, hanging just inches from his nose. He leaned to look past the bag at Mallory.
“Glad to see your reflexes are still working,” she said, as Alex released his focus and the bag dropped to his feet.
“Thanks, Mal.” He tried to smile. “I don’t know what went wrong earlier. I should have looked for another way in. Or—”
“Shh,” she replied curtly. She cocked her head to the side. “Do you hear that?”
A noise rose from outside, gaining in intensity. It was the sound of people shouting with joy. Mallory and Alex looked at each other and then to Shade, ready for orders. Cheering was not a good sign for the Cloak Society.
“We’ve lost contact with Volt,” Shade said, briskly walking back to her son’s side. She pulled a small gun from somewhere inside her coat. Her telepathy was strong, but only served her in combat when she was dealing with weak minds or was within close range of her opponent. She’d become quite handy with firearms as a secondary means of offense.
“What’s the mission status?” Shade asked, turning to Mallory.
The Beta held out her hand. As her fingers unfurled, they revealed a diamond teardrop, running almost the entire length of her palm. Shade’s eyes lit up, and she smiled, taking the diamond from Mallory and inspecting it. But the moment of happiness was soon gone, and, zipping the stone into a coat pocket, Alex’s mother narrowed her eyes.
Form on me, she said in the Beta Team’s minds. Prepare for Phase Two.
2
The Appearance of Heroes
A mass of black crashed through a skylight and hurtled toward the floor of Silver Bank. Purple electricity snaked off it, reflecting in the falling shards of glass and casting kaleidoscopic lights onto the interior walls of the building. Alex recognized the energy signature of his father and reached out telekinetically, trying to hold him in the air. But Volt was falling too quickly. The best Alex could do was slow him down before he bounced off the marble floor with a grunt. Alex started toward his father, but Shade made a sharp movement with her left arm, blocking him. Her pupils flashed metallic for an instant.
Titan ran out from the vault, joining his team members. Five bags were slung over his back, bulging with cash. Julie was right behind him, her body now decorated with bracelets and a tangle of necklaces. Her talons twitched with anticipation. Everyone stared at the new hole in the ceiling.
Floating slowly down through the skylight was a man dressed in clothing similar to theirs, only deep blue instead of black, with white sleeves and white boots. A brilliant gold starburst was emblazoned on the chest, complementing the gold cape that floated behind him as he descended into the bank. He hovered in midair, looking down at everyone over his straight nose and dimpled, square jaw. His hair was full and brassy, swept neatly to one side. The room brightened substantially with his entrance, making Alex squint.
The man’s face fell when he saw Shade, but he did not look surprised. His eyes narrowed in a magisterial gaze. The Betas had been warned this man might appear. In truth, they were hoping he would. What they hadn’t been told was that to see him in person for the first time would be awe inspiring.
Lone Star—the man with the power of a sun. Everyone in the world knew who he was, had seen him on television before, accepting awards and honors or starring in public service announcements. They had seen him on the covers of magazines or in the news, toppling crime syndicates. But the Beta Team was more familiar with the curses the High Council spat along with his name and with the way Alex’s mother bit at the inside of her cheeks and frowned when she spoke of the threat that he and his cohorts represented to Cloak. Lone Star was the leader of the Rangers of Justice. Like Cloak, they possessed extraordinary powers, but the Rangers were the protectors of Sterling City, the guardians who kept watch from their sparkling tower just north of Victory Park—the young men and women that the media referred to as “superheroes.”
People with unusual talents or inhuman abilities were rare in the world. Sometimes they banded together in ragtag teams and tried to emulate the Rangers of Justice, to become symbols of law and peace. But they were hardly ever successful, or even worth reporting upon. As far as the Cloak Society was concerned, the Rangers were the only superpowered people who posed any sort of threat to their goals.
“Lone Star,” Shade said, one eye on the shining man and the other on her husband, who was in the process of slowly getting up. “It’s been too long. What, ten years now?”
Alex smiled as his mother stalled for time while Volt recouped his strength. It was a classic strategy, but Lone Star was falling for it.
“I wondered how long it would take for you monsters to resurface,” Lone Star said, his voice a resonant baritone.
“I’m flattered you made time to come see us,” Shade sneered. “Shouldn’t you be with the rest of the Rangers, shaking hands and hawking sound bites somewhere?”
“Justice never takes a vacation,” he replied. He rested his fists at his hips and raised his head toward the sky.
“Is he serious?” Julie half whispered, half laughed to her teammates.
Lone Star pointed a thick index finger at Shade. The tip blazed with fiery golden light.
“In the name of justice and all that is good, I command you to turn yourself in,” his voice boomed.
“How many times do you think he’s practiced that line?” Alex whispered to Mallory.
“Morning ritual, I’m sure,” she said.
Do not take this lightly. Shade’s voice rang through the heads of the Betas. Phantom will be here to port us out shortly. If for some reason we are separated, regroup at the safe house and travel back to the base using the emergency transport.
“Guys, look,” Titan said, pointing toward the bank entrance. “This is getting good.”
Two figures were walking through the front doors, dressed like Lone Star minus the long sleeves and cape. With Volt taken out, the perimeter had been compromised, and Alex recognized these two from the High Council’s briefings on the Rangers. The first was Amp, who had served as Lone Star’s sidekick for a few years before becoming leader of the Junior Rangers, their version of the Beta Tea
m. He was a tall African American boy two years older than Alex, with close-cropped hair.
The second person was a girl about Alex’s age, with golden-blond hair tied back in a loose ponytail. She walked with assurance, but as she approached Lone Star’s side, her eyes were large and darted around the room, revealing her unease. Her name was Kirbie.
The Betas had been anxious to fight their Ranger counterparts ever since they’d first heard such a team existed. Alex smiled widely. He couldn’t help but tingle with excitement at the thought of taking out his sworn enemies. The mission was looking up.
“Sir,” Amp said. “We’ve cleared the area of civilians. Thorn is keeping watch outside.”
“Good. Now get out of here,” Lone Star said quickly. “Meet me back at Justice Tower. This is too dangerous for you.”
“But—”
“This is no mere heist. This is the Cloak Society,” Lone Star said firmly. “You’re not ready.”
“Beta Team,” Shade said before the Junior Rangers had time to respond. “Show these children who you are.”
“Make us proud, kids,” Volt said. He turned his attention to Lone Star. “Shade and I will handle this guy.”
Lone Star opened his mouth to speak, but Shade was already firing her pistol. Bolts of energy shot through the air, sizzling against his uniform. They left small holes and singe marks, but the man appeared to be unfazed—one of Lone Star’s most annoying powers was a seeming invulnerability to physical harm. A beam of light shot from his hand, narrowly missing Shade as she twisted to one side. From Lone Star’s right, purple electricity sparked against his side, but again, it looked to be little more than a tickle for him. He remained positioned in the air, calm.
Titan twisted his head to one side and popped his neck with a metallic ping. He and Julie had their eyes set on Kirbie, who stood beside Amp, neither of them moving.
“Come on, Blondie,” he said, grinning. “Let’s have some fun.”
Kirbie smiled and leaped into the air. As soon as her feet left the ground, her body began to change. Her fingers stretched, nails thickening and growing to sharp points. Golden hair sprouted from her bare forearms, spreading to her neck and face, where her mouth jutted out, taking on a snoutlike appearance and showing long canine teeth. By the time she reached the peak of her jump, she had fully transformed into a she-wolf.
“Oh crap,” Titan managed to mutter before the girl’s feet caught him at the chest, forcing him to the floor with such power that the marble cracked beneath his back. She stood on him, leaning close to his face. A roar came from deep within her. Coming to his senses, Titan swiped at the girl, but she was too quick for him, and was in the air again before he could land a blow.
On the other side of the bank, Mallory shot heat blasts at Amp. They flew through the air, clear masses of energy discernible only by their distortion of the air, like heat rising from asphalt, and by the faint sizzle they let off. Amp dodged each blast expertly, rolling and jumping effortlessly. The Junior Rangers had been well taught.
Alex, meanwhile, took cover behind a desk and used his power to hurl objects toward Amp. Two chairs sailed by the young hero. A bag of cash narrowly missed his shoulder and burst open when it hit the opposite wall. Finally a potted fern slammed against Amp’s head, causing him to stumble backward, off balance.
“Yes!” Alex yelled. But the junior hero just brushed potting soil off his shoulder and narrowed his eyes at Mallory and Alex.
“You do know how I got my name, right?” he asked.
He spread his arms wide, and as he did, the bank seemed to grow quieter. No, not quieter—it was more like the sound was just focused from a single point, seemingly all channeled through Amp, who looked as though he were vibrating.
“Oh no,” Alex whispered.
“Boom,” Amp said as he thrust his hands forward. A wave of concentrated sound hit Mallory and Alex, who flew backward, smashing up against the wall near the entrance of the bank. Alex’s head rang as he saw Julie sneaking up behind Amp, running with her body low to the ground, talons almost dragging on the floor. She jumped, ready to slice the hero across the back, when something stopped her: A frond from the fern Alex had thrown moments before had grown immense in size and wrapped itself around Julie’s waist, holding her in midair. With a single stroke, she cut through the plant, but before she could continue her attack, two more fronds were wrapped around her wrists, dangling her above the ground. On the marble below her, the fern’s roots broke out of the pot and grew over the bank floor.
“Put me down!” she raged, thrashing her legs about wildly, but the plant refused to comply.
“Go outside,” Mallory said to Alex as they regained their footing. “They said Thorn was watching the perimeter. You get him. I’ll take care of the plant.”
Before Alex could respond, Mallory was shooting more bursts of heat, causing the plant’s branches to wither and die. In seconds Julie was free except for a single wrist. She swung just above the floor.
“Watch it!” Julie yelled at Mallory. “You’re going to singe my hair.”
Toward the back of the bank, Volt and Shade continued their dual assault on Lone Star, who darted back and forth in the air, avoiding most of their attacks. A beam of light shot out of his right hand and caught Volt on the shoulder, causing the man to grunt and stumble backward, his uniform smoking. Alex’s mother now fired her pistol while standing in front of the still-sleeping bystanders on the western wall of the bank, sure that Lone Star would not risk harming any of them by attacking her.
Alex wanted to help his parents, but the Betas had other targets. He ran through the entrance and onto the empty bank steps. Civilians and police had cleared out of the area. Across the street, in the park, a boy dressed like a Junior Ranger stood with his arms out in front of him. He was focused on the fight inside via a large window at Alex’s left, and his face was rumpled with concentration. Blond and thin, he looked strikingly similar to the she-wolf inside—pretransformation. Thorn. The boy’s fingers were moving quickly, and inside the bank, the fern moved accordingly. He was controlling the plant.
Alex was starting down the stairs toward him, when the window to his right shattered. Titan and a ball of blond fur tumbled through, landing together on the bank lawn. Titan’s uniform was ripped in several places. Four long gashes in his chest were deep enough to show the glint of metal beneath his outer skin. The girl, however, showed little more than tousled fur in terms of injuries.
Thorn did not seem to notice that the fight had spilled onto the lawn, and was still waving his hands about like some sort of enchanter, focused on the plant inside. Alex mentally pushed him with all the strength he could muster, and Thorn cried out as he flew through the air. He landed at the entrance to the park, sending birds flapping in every direction.
Kirbie turned, hearing the boy’s cries, and roared. In her moment of distraction, Titan landed a hard blow to her stomach, causing her to sail backward into the door of a car parked along the street. She bounced off and hit the sidewalk with a grunt, changing back into her human shape, struggling to catch her breath. Titan wasted no time. He ripped a fire hydrant from the ground, sending a geyser of water into the air, and with swift movements he pitched the hydrant directly at the girl’s skull. Still unable to breathe, she looked up in fear as the red bullet flew toward her.
But then, just before it hit her, Kirbie was pushed out of the way by an invisible force. The hydrant smashed into the door of the parked car, embedding itself in the metal frame and shaking the vehicle violently. Kirbie stood as quickly as she could, looking around, trying to make sense of what had happened and who had saved her. Her eyes found Alex, who stood on the bank stairs, his right arm stretched out in her direction.
“You?” Kirbie muttered, confused.
Alex stared at Kirbie, slowly lowering his hand. He wasn’t sure what he had just done, only that when he saw the hydrant flying toward Kirbie, he felt he had to do something. It had been a reflex, an instinct
. He had been trained to be brutal in the field—that pulling punches could get you killed. But now that he was faced with an actual mission, he had no desire to see anyone die in front of him.
“What are you doing?” Titan yelled. “Have you lost your mind?”
“I . . . uh . . . ,” Alex stammered.
He started to try to explain it to Titan, but something hit Alex hard in the back of the head, and he tumbled down the rest of the stairs. His ears rang. Hustling down the steps was Amp, followed by Mallory. Behind them, inside the bank, flashes of purple and golden light bounced off the walls and lit up the entrance and windows.
Kirbie leaped from the cement. Once again her body began to change, but this time her legs grew shorter and hardened while her arms grew long and feathered. Her boots dropped to the ground, and the sleeves of her uniform receded up the shoulder. In an instant, she had turned into a giant golden bird—a blond falcon. Her wingspan was at least four feet across, and she let out a shrieking call as she flapped her wings and swooped down, alighting beside Thorn.
“Whoa,” Alex said, watching the magnificent bird as Mallory helped him to his feet.
Just then their right arms began to tingle and turn cold. Alex looked down at his palm, where an inky black pool was starting to seep up from beneath his skin. It glimmered, swirling with dark, oily energy, until it formed the shape of the hooded skull on his shirt. The mark of Cloak. Their exit had arrived. It was time to go home.
“Give up,” Amp said from the middle of the stairs. “We’re obviously better at this than you.”
Alex seethed at the Junior Ranger poised like a statue on the steps of Silver Bank. The smugness of Amp’s expression made the energy inside him boil.
“My name is Alexander Knight,” he said in the most menacing voice he could muster, taking a step forward, concentrating on his enemy. He hoped his mother was watching from inside. “I am a fourth-generation member of the Cloak Society. And you are ruining my birthday.”
He thrust his arms to one side before Amp could react, sending the Ranger flying off the stairs, tumbling head over feet onto the grass.