Paper Masks

009. Portals Away

The most villainous move I could have made in this chess match was clear: pointing directly at my eldest brother.

The second most villainous move became apparent when I didn't: to sit there, debating whether now was a bad time to shovel down another bite of dessert, doing exactly nothing. Evil by omission, or something.

I had to be honest. It depended on what this magnet-ability-figure wanted.

Shed blood? Not happening, because Mom would kill me. Play with him a little? Whatever, I could let that slide. Battle him? Also not happening; villains were supposed to have some decorum.

Alfie, facing the magnet-ability-figure, name to be determined, lifted his hand like he was taking an oath of office. "Unless you're my paternal grandfather, though, it's not Alfred. Maybe if I get to fifty, I'll be 'Al,' but until then..."

Glaring, Kit elbowed him into shutting his mouth. The Axium players glanced over Kit's shoulders, huddled together. "What do you want?"

The magnet-ability-figure aimed their crackling weapon at Alfie. "For Alfred to keep his hands right where they are. Don't try anything, okay? I know where your activator is."

"As does the rest of the city," Griffin said under his breath.

My mind whirred. I clutched my fork between my fingers and tapped Griffin's side. No reaction. I used the prongs the second time, eliciting a furrowed brow and a cut-it-out hand wave.

"I've got a plan," I whispered.

"I refuse to implicate myself in your villainy."

"Oh, come on. I'll do the evil bits." I kept my tone as soft as I could, but the weapon rounded to us.

Griffin went still. Electricity fizzled in the air, lifting the hair on my neck. Smoke invaded my mouth. For a moment, ash met my nose, and my knuckles paled against the table.

Coil, name patent-pending, grazed their fingers across the gauge. I shivered, mostly out of impressed fear. I needed to learn whatever this technique was. "You two, move." They lifted their mask to gesture beside them. "Now."

Shoving the fork in the waistband of my pants, I stepped out next to Griffin. Pulled him along with me, gun tracking our every breath, until we'd come close enough to be considered hostages.

I tried my best to look scared and not smile like a maniac.

Was it the allure of adrenaline, or was this kind of fun?

I snuck a glance at Alfie and remembered. His hands shook, his stare pleading me to do something. Which I was working on, though not in the way he hoped.

"Don't hurt them," Alfie said, voice surprisingly clear. "Just tell me what you want, and we don't have to fight."

"Fight?" Electromagnetic Field—they clearly weren't about to give a name, so, fine, I could keep doing this—repeated. "Oh, no, I have no intent to battle. You know what I'm really here for."

Alfie exchanged a glance with Kit. Behind them, the Axium players held hands. "The bill?"

"Yes, that!" Even beneath the mask's layers, the voice turned clipped. "You never listen to me."

I poked Griffin, this time forcing the fork into his grip. I wasn't letting him ignore me. Not when my stomach pinched with a sense I couldn't place. Why do I feel like I recognize them?

"Check their radius," I told him in my best this-is-nonnegotiable manner.

"Fine." He lifted the metal prongs, and within seconds, it glued to Fusion's suit.