Super Spy (Book 2)

21. Supervillain Duel

Jace looked around wildly for any sign that anyone else had heard her words. But only her own face, not Kara's stared back at her from the billboards, and there was no reaction from the crowds. It was like no one else had heard.

Then the cocky smile was back. Kara raised her arms and hurled a force-field across the rooftop. The crowd went wild.

Reacting instinctively, Jace leapt to the side. Part of the forcefield hit her side and burned her skin, singing her clothing. Since when had Kara's forcefields burned? 

Kara sent more and more forcefields at her in quick succession, flashes of bright purple through the Smog. Jace dodged each one, sparks hitting her skin and hissing angrily.

On the last hit, she reached out her hand and flared her superpowers, meeting the forcefield dead-on. As a sidekick, she'd always been able to easily dissolve Kara's forcefields with her own superpower, keeping the two of them in balance. But though she flared the full force of her powers, barely a few sparks dissolved. Instead of what she was used to, layers of energy disintegrating under her hands like paper by flame, what she encountered was more akin to the resistance of a brick wall.

Jace had time for a millisecond of shock to register. Then the forcefield slammed into her chest and sent her flying backwards.

Her training kicking in, she hit the ground at a roll to break her fall. Ignoring the pain, she leapt back to her feet and barely avoided another force-field from scorching her skin. 

"Kara!" she shouted desperately. 

The crowd was chanting, but she couldn't tell what.

Kara hurled another force-field. This time, Jace was prepared for it, and leveled the full force of her superpower as she met the force-field. It dissolved and burst into purple sparks so bright they nearly blinded her.

She stumbled back, suddenly dizzied with fatigue from how much energy it took. How could Kara possibly have gotten this much stronger? Blood rushed through her head. She gritted her teeth and began running towards Kara.

Force-fields flashed towards the ground all around her, but she wove between them, none of them hitting her. Her vision was obscured by the brilliant bursts of light. She almost reached Kara, her fingers grabbing towards her clothing—

Then the air around her flattened and sucked her towards the ground. She gasped for breath as a purple force-field enveloped her in its sticky, elastic gasp. Jace found herself entirely surrounded by the force-field that clung to her skin, desperately trying to catch her breath. She pounded on the sides, but though it bent and stretched, it didn't give way. 

Terrified, she frantically flared her superpower to dissolve whatever pieces she could. Enough dissolved that she was able to resurface and catch her breath, but then the force-field closed back over her.

It pressed her down to the ground, her knees buckling. Through watering eyes, she saw Kara staring down impassively at her, barely moving her hands at all as she brought the force-field lower.

Kara, it's me! It's Jace! she wanted to scream out.

Don't scream, save your energy, she reminded herself. But fear paralyzed her. Was this how she'd die? Killed by her former superhero? What had happened to Kara?

She dissolved patches of the force-field, but too slowly. It was pressing in on her chest, suffocating her.

Would Grayson step in if she was about to die? Would the secret agents save her? Surely they wouldn't want the crowds to witness a supervillain winning. Or would they leave her here to struggle for the sake of a show?