Super

Chapter 11

[Noah]

        Fun and games were over.

        I had a great time the night before with Matt. After skating, we went and saw a new horror movie that made him cry, something I was never going to let him forget. Honestly, it wasn't even that scary. It was clearly CGI and all of the jump scares were predictable. But maybe that's just me being cynical. That's what Matt told me. Actually, his exact words were that I was "a heinous, soulless villain." Ironic, seeing as I'm literally the opposite.

        But friendship had to be put on hold, at least until we got this Imperium situation at least a little bit handled. He still had Magnet Man and Red Lightning hostage and Blaze still hadn't come back, and we couldn't rest until we at least knew they were safe. I couldn't shake off the image of their friends and families crying over them, just wondering where they were. Red Lightning was only eighteen...

         I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I entered the meeting room. It seemed I was the last one to arrive, all the seats taken in the circle but one. I rushed over to sit down, aware of the blush covering my face.

        "Now that everyone's here, we can begin," Teleman said. I nodded and waited for him to continue, but instead, an uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Everyone's eyes were trained on me expectantly.

        "What?" I exclaimed, holding my hands up in the air under their intense scrutiny.

        Lux pursed her lips. "We just--I mean, with Magnet Man and Red gone, you're kind of the one in charge, you know?"

        "Since when?" I asked, scooting my chair backward as discreetly as possible.

        The Imitator piped up. "You just have a kind of vibe of being in charge. Like, you seem like you'd be really good at being bossy," she said casually.

        I shot her a look. "You know, I miss the days when you were too shy to say anything at these meetings."

         She shrugged. "Times change, old man."

         "Enough," Teleman interrupted. "Talpa, just tell us your plan so we can get the ball rolling on taking down the League of Villains."

         "What makes you think I have a plan?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms over my chest. It was crazy, how much easier I found being cocky and outgoing when I wasn't Noah. It was kind of liberating.

         "Look, we can all tell you have a shit ton of ideas floating around that pretty little head of yours," Virus said impatiently.

          She wasn't wrong. I had been thinking all night, barely getting any sleep through the whirl of thoughts crowding my mind. I put my hands in my lap and deliberated for a moment. "Well, I guess I have some ideas..."

         "Get on with it!" Virus interjected. She sneezed, clearly agitated.

         "Okay, okay," I said, "I think that first things first, we need to contact Magnet Man. Mindgrip, you have the communication device?"

        The woman nodded from across the circle, her eyes darting around at the other heroes anxiously. I wondered for a moment why she was so nervous but dismissed it as nerves. After all, I would be worried if our only chance rested with me as well.

        She took a deep breath and pressed a button, emitting a small green light to indicate that it was on. "Magnet Man? Magnet Man, are you there?" she muttered into the device, her voice hitching. It was clearly painful for her to say his name, but she put her ear up to the device to listen for a response regardless. If the sharp intake of breath was anything to go by, I guessed that he was speaking back as she held up a finger to quiet us.