Archenemies (Renegades #2)(19)



Pull the trigger, Nova.

The next thing she knew, Ingrid’s head had snapped back and she was dead.

The most surprising thing was how easy it was. If that made her a Renegade, fine.

Because she believed it made her an Anarchist too.

The applause died down and Nova collapsed into her seat. Her cheeks were hot. Two aisles ahead, she caught sight of Genissa Clark and her minions: Mack Baxter, Raymond Stern, and Trevor Dunn. Or, as the world knew them, Frostbite, Aftershock, Stingray, and Gargoyle, whom Nova had had the great pleasure of defeating during the Renegade trials. All four of them were sneering at Nova, and Genissa didn’t hide her disgusted eye roll as she turned to face the front.

Danna must have seen it, too, because she made a face at Genissa’s back. “Jealous,” she whispered.

Nova smiled faintly in response. Genissa’s team was one of the Renegades’ most well-known patrol units and also the squad that Nova despised the most. Not only because they were cruel and arrogant, but also because they exemplified the corruption that came with handing a bunch of superheroes too much unrestrained power. So Genissa’s hostility hardly fazed Nova. If anything, she would have been more concerned if Frostbite actually liked her.

Oscar reached around Adrian and knocked his knuckle into Nova’s chin. “I remember when she was just a fledgling Renegade wannabe, getting challenged at the trials. And look at her now.”

Nova pulled away, but she couldn’t quite get her scowl right.

Onstage, Hugh Everhart cleared his throat. “One more order of business before we get to the reason why we requested you here today. As you know, there was a recent theft at Gatlon City Hospital, in which life-saving and expensive medications were taken. We’re doing everything we can to find the perpetrator and retrieve the stolen drugs, but in the meantime”—he gestured at Blacklight—“Evander has had the brilliant idea of including a fund-raiser portion to our annual gala next month, where we will be raising both money and awareness for the growing need for medications, especially as our pharmaceutical industry continues to flounder without proper funding. I know there’s a … a preconception among our civilians that prodigy healers will be enough to aid them should they require medical treatment, but … well, there simply aren’t enough of them to go around, and their abilities can be limited. We need to put more focus on our medical field. As such, we’ll be asking for memorabilia donations for a live auction in the coming weeks. Please mark your calendars if you haven’t already, as I hope to see strong support from our entire community.”

Nova frowned. If prodigy healers weren’t enough to cure the sick and injured patients at the hospital, why didn’t they just say that? Why didn’t they encourage more civilians to study medicine? Why were the Renegades so determined to act as if they really could save everyone, when they knew perfectly well they couldn’t?

“And now,” said the Captain, “it’s time to discuss the main reason we called this meeting today.” He gestured toward the Council. “Kasumi?”

Kasumi Hasegawa, or Tsunami, stepped onto the stage and took the microphone while Hugh disappeared through a nearby door.

Pulling a handful of index cards from the sleeve of her uniform, Kasumi said, “To expand on Captain Chromium’s introduction, the Detonator’s attack was a reminder that we cannot allow villains like Ingrid Thompson to remain in full possession of their abilities, without any regulation or preventative measures being taken to ensure these sorts of attacks don’t continue to happen. When prodigies abuse their powers, it is our duty to address the threat they pose—to innocent people, to us, and to themselves. As the Captain said, our citizens are demanding a response to such threats, and today, we will demonstrate for you precisely what that response is going to be. Please note, what we are revealing here today is confidential and to be kept exclusively among Renegades personnel until further notice.”

Nova perked up with interest. She had been following the media’s recent coverage and growing disillusionment with interest. For a decade, people had believed that superheroes would always come to the rescue when needed. Though Nova had long known this to be false, Ingrid’s stunt seemed to have opened other people’s eyes too. The Renegades wouldn’t always be there.

It was time that society realized they’d given all the power to the Renegades and were receiving only empty promises in return.

“We are assembling a press release that will make this information available to the media as soon as we feel it is safe to do so.” Tsunami turned over a card. Her cheeks had become flushed and it occurred to Nova that Kasumi Hasegawa wasn’t comfortable talking in front of large crowds.

How ironic. A superhero, an original Renegade, who must have faced off against guns and bombs and any number of criminals, to be afraid of something as mundane as public speaking.

“For years now,” Kasumi continued, “our talented team of lab researchers have been working on some exciting developments that will serve to assist us in our responsibility of keeping our city safe from prodigies who refuse to follow the code authority. We have developed a tool that is harmless to our non-prodigy population, and therefore puts no civilians at risk, while offering a safe and efficient way for us to neutralize prodigies who refuse to abide by our laws. We intend for this tool to become our most practical means of dealing with prodigy noncompliance. We call it … Agent N.”

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