Secret Super (Book 1)

15. The Power Plant

Colorful lights, upbeat music, and drunken shouting spilled out of the building down the street. Two girls were huddling in the back alley of the street. One of them was hugging herself and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, melting into the shadows. The other was leaning against the wall under the light of a holo advertisement, spinning a dagger in one hand. Light glinted off her red jacket.

"She said 56C, right?" Kara said, stifling a yawn. "Maybe I didn't hear her right."

"I don't know. . . ." Zadia said, scuffing her sneaker against the concrete and shivering. She really should have brought another layer.

"I could do this in my sleep," Kara said. "They gave me these kinds of missions when I was twelve. Although, now they just make me chase around shoplifters. . . ."

Zadia rolled her eyes.

At that moment there was a popping noise in the alley. With a flash of greenish light, Kian appeared in front of them with her bright green hair sticking up all over her head, sharp fingers clutching the arm of a large, slightly translucent man. She let go of him and smoothed over her hair, scowling.

"You're here," she said, raising an eyebrow. Ezra regarded them stonily.

"Yep," Kara said. "And it's half an hour past midnight, by the way. We've been waiting so-"

"Can it," Kian snapped. "We don't have a lot of time." She looked around the alley furtively and lowered her voice. "Here's what we're doing. Ezra can't sneak in by himself; he can't get past the motion sensors without setting them off. You two will take out the two guards out back so I can sneak me and Ezra up close and teleport us past the sensors."

"Take out the guards?" Zadia repeated, trying to keep her voice from getting shrill. "You said we'd just be standing guard."

"Look, hun, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," Kian said, rolling her eyes. "Whatever X sweet-talked you into thinking, there will be danger if you wanna be a part of this. Like it or not. Anyway," she said with a twinge of annoyance, "X wants you two to learn the ropes, so you can do a mission on your own next time."

"I'm a superhero trainee. I've been doing missions my whole life," Kara grumbled.

Kian flashed her a curious look. "Huh. Didn't know we had people planted in the Academy. Xavier's infiltrating the Council, too, now, I guess."

Kara stepped forward and crossed her arms. "I wasn't planted anywhere. And it's not like this is a directly anti-superhero organization!"

"Sure, if that's what Xavier told you." Kian shrugged. Next to her, Ezra chuckled, a deep rumbling laughter that was so unexpected from the silent giant that Zadia's head snapped to him and she stared.

Kara just glared, drawing herself up to be taller.

Oh great. Zadia stepped forward. "So, can't you just teleport us all inside? Save us the trouble?" she said loudly.

Kian muttered under her breath something that sounded like "airheads." "Kid, I can't just teleport into a building I've never been inside of. I'd land us inside a wall or something and we'd all suffocate to death. I need to be right outside the building so I can teleport just past the door."

"How much security is there?" Kara cut in.

Kian shrugged. "Decent amount. It's not as heavily guarded as a nuclear power plant would be, but there've been eco-terrorist groups in the past. However, I don't believe it has any protection against supers." She continued, "Ezra will shut off their cameras and insert malware into their digital security systems. After you two knock out the guards, steal their uniforms."