My contribution for the same Reedsy prompt— read on!
Gwen freezes— or rather, Winter does. She's on mission mode now. The knife's tip is sharp against her back, and she wonders if it has pierced her suit. Is that blood running down her back or just more rain? She is trained for reconnaissance and face to face combat, but this? Where is her team? She can't hear them. She opens her mouth, but a watery shadow appears in front of her. It raises a finger to its lips, then disappears.
Wing yells. The knife in Winter's back retracts, and she swivels around. Wing is tumbling around on the ground with a figure robed in black. Winter freezes the rain around them and makes it a growing block of ice, pressing them into the ground below. She hears a yell, but pushes harder. She won't break Wing— he can stand anything— but she could break their assailant. Then rain comes down harder, drenching her, and she tries to freeze it all, but the rain is coming too fast. It melts. The assailant stands up after Wing does, and suddenly they are both floating.
Winter looks to her left. There is Lunar, her little brother who wasn't supposed to be here but now she is super glad he did. His face is pinched in concentration— he must still be tired from the fall— but he has decreased the gravity beneath their attacker. He floats helplessly while Wing zips around him.
"Who are you? Why did you attack us?"
The person doesn't make any noise. Then a bolt of lightning strikes above. Everything is crystal clear for one amazing millisecond, then plunges back into darkness. Lunar groans as their eyes adjust. "I lost him!"
Illusion morphs into a jaguar and dashes in circles around them, widening her circumference each time. She comes back and changes into herself, breathless. "He's not there."
Quinn frowns. "He's got to be somewhere. Check the trees."
Winter stands there, feeling rather useless, and makes the rain around her freeze into snowflakes so it stops running down her hair and into her clothes. Lunar nudges her shoulder. "Aren't you glad I came along?"
She ruffles his blond hair, trying to make it stand on end, but it just falls down perfectly again. She rolls her eyes.
They regroup in a few minutes, with no sign of anyone nearby. The rain is still pouring, and Winter makes a thin dome over them, supplying it with just enough energy to stay frozen. She looks around at her friends— her teammates. Leo, her brother, also known as Lunar, who can tamper with gravity. Alyssa, or Illusion, who can make people think they are seeing things. Simeon's mission name was Wing, self explanatory: he can fly. Quinn is basically super smart, and everyone is convinced that he can read people's minds, although he doesn't admit it. He speaks first.
"Okay, so Noah and Violet went down with the other end of the plane—"
"Don't you mean Tempest and Rainbow? We're on a mission, remember?"
"Alyssa—"
"Illusion—"
"I don't care. If the enemy wants to know our names, he'll learn them no matter how many aliases we use. Maybe if I'm the only one who doesn't use them, he'll get confused. Either way, let's get on with this."
"I say we need to find the person that attacked us."
"Yes, Simeon, that would be beneficial; one problem. He's long gone. Our mission was to find the lightning villain, but we were attacked by someone who might be him. That means he knew we were heading this way. She will definitely need protection, but Noah and Violet could be in trouble too."
Simeon rolls his eyes. "Are you finished?"
"Yes, now I am waiting for suggestions."
"Well, since you have your mind made up, out with it."
"Okay, here it is. We are strongest together, but we'll need to split up. Our villain could show up here again or he could meet us at the hospital. Who wants to go where?"
Illusion plants her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm not leaving Tempest in the woods."
"All right, who wants to go with Alyssa?"
Winter raises her hand. "Maybe I should go. Tempest and Rainbow have powers, and I'm not much help against our villain by myself, as proven."
Simeon crosses his arms over his chest. "If the director hadn't ordered us not to fight him, I could have brought him down after you and Lunar did your stuff. We could've gotten him."
"That's another thing." Quinn strokes his jaw as if there were already a beard there. "If we don't confront him, it will only mean more danger in the future. I vote that if we come across him again, we try to neutralize him."
"I didn't know you were one to go against orders, Quinn."
"That's enough, Simeon. It's the best logical option now. Now we need to go."
"I'm going with my sister."
"That's fine, Leo, as long as Simeon doesn't plan on going too."
"Naw, I'll come with you. You'll need some muscle to back up that brain."
Winter lets down her shield and the rain instantly soaks them again. Alyssa groans. "I am so looking forward to dry underwear."
Simeon flies away, carrying Quinn, who looks remarkably uncomfortable. Winter freezes the wet ground in a path ahead of them so they can slide. Lunar increases the gravity downhill and lessens it uphill.
The downed half-plane spoils the festive mood that intruded on the young super heroes. They trip on the unforgiving mud where Winter's path ends, but get up. They call for their friends and hear one response. They run to the other side and find no one. They call again. This time the voice is nearer, but it is above their heads.
There, in a tree, is Violet. She is hanging in a tree, her hand stuck to a branch with orange sticky goop. "So, apparently it's waterproof. I not feel immensely sorry for every felon who had to try to get this out of their clothes after I caught them."
Lunar floats up to her, then takes hold of her ankles— her other hand is full with her bow— and increases the gravity beneath them. Her hand tugs free, leaving every bit of the goop where she shot it.
"Well, that's nice. Have you guys seen Noah?"
Illusion shakes her head. "Did you hear him at all?"
"No."
A crash sounds nearby, and they all whirl to face it.
Quinn is trying to look dignified, but Wing is chuckling at the sight of him covered in mud. "Sorry, I didn't actually mean to drop you."
"Sure."
"What are you guys doing back here?"
"She's not in the hospital." Wing is more than happy to explain while Quinn cleans his glasses. "We asked, there's no record of anyone named Carol or Anders in the whole place."
"So this was a setup."
"It's about time you figured it out." The voice is the same one who whispered in Gwen's ear as he held her at knifepoint. "Now the only question is what are you going to do about it?"
Rainbow springs forward, knocking an indigo arrow in her bow. "You took Tempest! Where is he?"
The villain lifts his black shroud. "Actually, he's right here."
They all gasp.
"And here." Another one appears to their right, then disappears. Then same thing happens on their left, then behind them.
"What is going on?" Illusion glares at the one villain who does not fade away like the ghosts. "What are you up to?"
"Actually, I was going to ask you the same question. What are you up to, galavanting around to protect people who discriminate against our power?"
Simeon growls. "I know what you mean, but—"
"Lives are lives, Noah. What got into you?" Everyone can tell that Rainbow's facade is crumbling to Violet.
"I need my own freedom before I can protect others!" Tempest raises his hands to the sky and the air whirls around him. The rain and wind and clouds swirl into a tornado, sucking the other heroes up into its current. Tempest stands in the eye as they swirl around him. "If you help me, we can stay free! But if you'd rather side with the ones who want to lock you up in asylums, be my guest."
Violet reaches for a yellow arrow and knocks it in her bow. The wind knocks her around, but she waits till it flings her near the eye, then shoots. The arrow sticks into the ground at Tempest's feet. He laughs and picks up the arrow.
"Well, let's see. Its not red, so no fire. That's nice. Not indigo, so no poison. Oh, what could it be... Wait! It doesn't matter, because you missed me!" He snaps the shaft in half and throws it away, but it has done its work. Slowly the world fades from his view, and the winds calm.
Everyone else ends up on the ground again. They groan and rub their backsides. Falling from so near the ground, they hadn't had time to catch themselves. Then Gwen points to the sky. "Look, you guys!"
They all watch in amazement as, for the first time in a month, the clouds clear, and the sun comes out. It sparkles on the dripping leaves all around them.
"What are we doing with our villain?" Alyssa walks over to Tempest's sleeping body.
Rainbow joins her. "We can't hurt him."
Simeon cocks his head. "I don't know. I think I'd kinda like to."
"Well, we need to get him back to the director. Leo, you probably couldn't float us back, could you?"
He shakes his head. "Not all of you for that long."
"Then Simeon, take him and—"
"I can't carry him that far either, oh smart one. I could barely carry you to the hospital and back, and that was with a break."
"You didn't let me finish. If you hold on to Leo and Noah, Leo could decrease your gravity and you could direct them back to the director."
Tempest yawns and sits up. Rainbow cocks another arrow, but Illusion stops her, placing a hand on her arm. "Wait a second."
"Well, you guys did great. I think the director will be pleased."
No one relaxes with Noah's comforting words— no one except Quinn, who's eyebrows raise. "This was all a test. They're going to pick us up in a bit."
"Yup. And you guys were absolutely fabulous."
"Wait." Gwen can not believe her ears. "The month of rain, the research about who the lighting struck, the whole thing— it was a test?"
Allyson nods. "Yup! I was his ghost version while you guys weren't looking at me."
"But how are we supposed to trust you now?" Violet asks.
"That's one of the lessons," Noah explains. "One was to check your priorities: to make sure that you cared more for others than yourself. Another was to think quickly in times of crisis. And the one you just pointed out is that you have to be careful who you trust."
A helicopter appeared overhead a few minutes later, and they all got in. The director greeted them.
"Excellent work, all of you. You have proven yourselves worthy of a higher task."
"Which higher task, sir?"
"Simeon, you don't think that this was just a random pop quiz, do you? No. There is something much greater at stake, and we needed to know you were prepared for it."
Leo cheers. "Does this mean I get to com with on this higher task too?"
The director glares at him. "Your grade is still too low, but your powers are incredible. Perhaps I will make accommodations for you to stow away again."
"Yes!" He high-fives his sister, who instantly freezes their hands together.
"Leo, you had better not die, or Mom's going to kill me."
He scoffs. "We're not gonna die. We're awesome!"