Secret Super (Book 1)

21. The Outskirts

The Outskirts were much more trouble than they were worth.

Two different skytrains, too much walking through alleyways, and torn pants from crawling through a hole in a barbed wire fence, and it just turned out to be a muddy field.

Kara had never been here before. Robbers didn't tend to make their getaway into the open wastelands. Generally they fled into the grimy dark below, where they could disappear.

There was no way to disappear in the Outskirts, the small pockets of wilderness interspersed amongst the whole planetwide metropolis, closed off by wire and abandoned buildings. 

Kara felt open, too exposed. No buildings towering above her, nowhere to get cover. Just vast empty space surrounding her, mud sucking on the soles of her boots. Already dirt was crusting over her polished knee-high shoes. 

She rubbed her bare arms, looking around.

"What do you think?" Zadia said, pushing windblown hair away from her face. Her freckled face shone anxiously. The sleeves of Kara's jacket hung around her wrists, a little baggy on her frame. 

"I think I'd rather be in the superhero entertainment sector," she said, scowling. She looked around. Sparse yellow grass dotted the fogged-up landscape. A few scraggly plants pushed up out of the mud, branches stretching for the sky and pulled down by everything else, like they were trying to claw their way out of the ground into the sky. "Do I even want to know how you found this . .. dump?" 

"I think it's beautiful," Zadia said defensively.

A bug buzzed around Kara's ear and she slapped it away. "You know I think the forest sims were better," she said, kicking her boot free from a clump of mud. "There's no bugs or mud in VR."

"Yeah but it's virtual," Zadia said, rolling her eyes. "This is real. The ugliness just makes it more beautiful."

Kara snorted. "Pretty sure it's just ugly."

"Yeah, whatever." Zadia turned away and started picking her way through the weeds. She didn't step on a single one.

"Wait, I didn't . . ." Kara grabbed her arm. "I was just kidding."

"I know." Zadia kept walking, arms wrapped around herself.

"It's . . . not bad," she offered awkwardly. "Just don't get my jacket muddy."

Zadia turned back and smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it." She bit her lip, her greenish-gray eyes nearly glowing.  "I used to come here a lot. I hate Smog, but . . ." She trailed off. "Have you ever seen the stars?"

"What? Yeah, on fake ceilings and all. Why?"

"Me neither. I heard the sky used to be so clear you could see the stars sometimes."

"Oh."

Kara stepped closer. Then her boot sunk into the earth and she shrieked, flailing.

Zadia caught her shoulder. Kara tried to yank her foot out, cursing.

At that same moment a branch snapped somewhere near. They looked at each other, one moment suspended in silence, then turned towards the noise.

The figure was shrouded in darkness, but there was something familiar about the way it walked, the cautious gait and silhouette. Then it drew closer and she could make out bright orange curls and the Super Academy logo.

Kara's heart dropped to her stomach. "Jace!?"

What in the skies?

"Hi, Kara." Red splotches crawled up Jace's neck. "Nice— uh, nice weather?"