From their smiles, though, Nova highly doubted there was much substance to those rumors, and it made her teeth grind.
Why should they have such happiness?
She eased herself into position, calculating the distance and angle as the gun warmed in her hand.
The Dread Warden disappeared again and returned to his own pedestal, leaving the Captain alone, a king before his doting subjects. He was as familiar to Nova as her own reflection. Yellow-blond hair curling against his forehead. Blue shoulder pads jutting out from a broad, muscled chest. A winning smile with teeth so white they gleamed in the sun.
Then, as the crowd’s cheers reached a deafening crescendo, he reached for the display stand at his side. His hand wrapped around a tall metal pike, and he lifted it overhead. One of Blacklight’s fireworks burst then, lighting them all in a hue of coppery gold.
Nova’s stomach dropped.
“Is that…？”
“Don’t dwell on it,” said Phobia.
“Dwell on what?” asked Ingrid.
Nova swallowed around the lump in her throat, unable to respond.
Captain Chromium, beloved superhero and adored Renegade, had Ace Anarchy’s helmet skewered at the top of his pike. It had been driven through the skull, fracturing the bronze-tinted material that had once been dragged from the air by her own father’s fingertips, years before Nova was born.
The Detonator’s voice came through the headset again, an understanding “Oh…” as the parade float entered her view. Nova barely heard her.
She was six years old again. Afraid. Devastated. Staring up into the eyes behind that helmet, throwing herself into his arms.
The Renegades had not come, but he had. Maybe not soon enough to save her family, but still, he had come. He had saved her.
“You’re dwelling,” said Phobia, his voice almost a taunt.
Nova squared her shoulders. “Am not.”
Phobia didn’t respond, but she could feel a haughty response in his silence.
“It’s all right, Nightmare,” said Detonator. “We’re doing this for Ace, aren’t we? Use that anger. Use it to avenge him.”
Nova didn’t respond. The world became still. Serene. Black and white.
She looked through the scope, lining up the sights.
It had to be in the eye. Anywhere else on his body and the tip of the dart would snap on the layer of chrome beneath his skin, and the poison would never make its way into his system.
Her aim had to be perfect.
And it would be.
She’d been preparing for this moment for years.
Use that anger.
It wasn’t just to avenge Ace, though that might have been enough all on its own. It was to avenge her family, too, who the Council could have saved, but hadn’t.
It was to revitalize Ace’s vision. His dream of freedom for all prodigies, not just those who were willing to pander to the self-appointed Council and their autocratic laws.
It was because Nova knew that the Council was failing the people—was failing them even now—but no one was brave enough to say it.
Society would be better off without them.
The street below seemed to fall silent, blanketed by the purpose drumming inside her head. The Captain’s eye came into focus. Shocking blue and bearing faint wrinkles in the corner as he smiled. He wasn’t young anymore, like when he’d first formed the Renegades. The Council were getting older, passing their legacy on to a new generation.
“Pull the trigger,” she whispered to herself. Inhale. The trigger pressed against her finger.
They were getting older, but they still held all the power. All the control. More, perhaps, than they ever had when they’d prowled the streets at night, searching for criminals and villains.
More than when he’d taken that helmet from its rightful owner.
Exhale.
“Pull the trigger, Nova.”
The Renegades will come.
Nova flinched.
“What’s wrong?” asked Detonator.
“Nothing.” Nova licked her lips. Lined up the sights again. The float was turning the corner now. Soon it would pass out of sight. Soon he would turn away from her, his smile and charm greeting the next street of worshipers.
This was the best opportunity they would have to take down the Captain, and soon, the rest of the Council would follow.
While the Renegades scrambled to replace the Council, the Anarchists would rise again. Without the villain gangs interfering this time, they would show the people of this city what anarchy was meant to look like. True freedom. True independence. For everyone.
All she had to do was pull the trigger.