The Marvels

Ep. 14 | Hierarchy of Supers

Mask led the way with the graceful movements of a dancer. Vidya would know: she'd tagged along to Amber's recitals for years, wishing she were half as elegant as the girls on stage, half as confident as Mask seemed to be as she ran, rolled, and jumped from one building to another. Vidya stuck to flying.

What am I doing?

Nothing wrong, she hoped. She promised Mom she'd be home before midnight, and it was only ten. No harm done there. Fox might have noticed her absence by now, but there were dozens of other important people to pay attention to. No harm done there, either.

So where was the harm at all? What was the reason for her to feel weird about accepting Mask's invitation? But...maybe that was what bothered her and made her question herself: she didn't feel weird.

She was excited.

Vidya watched as Mask took a fire escape ladder to the ground, and then she floated down herself. It was a small area surrounded by buildings on all sides, two of which were marked off by yellow hazard tape. In the middle sat a short, dome-shaped, greenhouse-esque structure. Beneath the glass panes was a spread of black tarp, obscuring the inside.

Mask slipped a key out of her pocket and stuck it in the lock. Vidya looked around, admiring the place. It was nice and quiet and protected. Perfect for a hideout, if that was what it was.

Mask stepped away from the open door to let Vidya walk in first. The greenhouse looked bigger on the inside. It was a spacious atrium, the arched ceiling covered entirely in tarp as dark as the night sky. A few lights hung from an overhead grid of thin metal support beams, casting a warm glow around the place. The guy who'd taken down the spider was standing at a lab table, holding a lighter to a Bunsen Burner.

"I'm back," Mask announced.

The guy flinched, the lighter flying out of his hand. They all watched as it landed on a rug, which burst into flames quicker than any well-made rug had the right to. Mask ran for the fire extinguisher, but before she even got near it, Vidya held out her hand and smothered the fire with a blanket of snow.

The guy shoved his lab goggles up onto his head. They left red marks on his face that stretched as he smiled. "Thanks."

"Be more careful," Mask snapped.

"Don't scare me," he snapped back, turning off the Bunsen Burner. "Would it kill you to use your inside voice?"

As they went back and forth about her inside voice, which she claimed didn't exist, Vidya turned in a circle. The space was so simple, just one large dome of a room and a few doors that led elsewhere, but she loved it. There were shelves of dusty books, two tables holding scraps of tech and tools, a couch, a small kitchenette, and a mattress in one corner with its covers all messed up.

"Do you live here?" she asked.

"He does." Mask snorted. "I have standards."

He shook his head. "What you have is no taste."

He was less flustered than he had been that night with the spider, now that he was in his own territory. It was Vidya's turn to be flustered. Why am I here? she thought. And now that I am, what do I do?

"I'm David, by the way," he said. "David Yang."

Vidya was surprised by how easily he'd given his last name. Was she the only hero who was always thinking about protecting her identity?

"What's your alias?" she asked.

"I don't have one."

"What's your superpower?"