"Of course," I said feeling a bit nonplussed. "I'm the girl that can take getting hit by a bus. It was no biggie, really."
"Ah." Ink frowned and shook her head. "Well, I'm glad to see you're all right. Just checking in."
"Uh, okay." I stood there for a moment, at a loss for what to say next. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."
She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but then she just said, "Goodnight" and left.
The clanging of the challenge alarm woke me up. I fumbled for the alarm clock and groaned when I saw the time: five A.M.
I threw on my usual challenge outfit: stretchy, baggy sweatpants, a long-sleeve XXL T-shirt, and a hoodie. They were extremely tight on me this morning. The run-in with the bus had fattened me up. As I ran downstairs, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail.
No one was in the living room, and the front door was open. I figured I was the last one out, and trotted as fast as I could at my current size to the waiting limo. But Jetman was the only other teammate in there.
We sat in the back waiting for another twenty minutes until Tiff and Drummer Boy came out, with Ink and the mobile crew following behind them. A slippery, sick feeling went through me.
It was still dark when we got to the studio. The guard waved us through the gate, and we were dropped off at makeup. I guess they wanted to get going on the challenge quickly, because there was none of the usual hurry up and wait.
We were hustled to the set. The full challenge-taping crew was there. The bank facade was lit up like the Fourth of July. The director came over to us. "Good morning, Diamonds. Ready for today's challenge?"
"Ready for anything," Drummer Boy said, hitting what sounded like a rim shot off his chest.
The director gestured toward the set. "Here's the story. A bank robbery is underway. Your challenge today is to free the hostages, take care of the henchmen, and defeat the ace that's running the show."
"Who's the ace?" Jetman asked.
"Well, that's part of the challenge. You won't know until you get in there."
That made me nervous. There were lots of aces and some of them had powers that weren't immediately obvious. Mind-control powers were what worried me the most. They could take over and have us at each others' throats if we weren't ready for it—and maybe even if we were.
"Ready on the set," came over the loudspeaker. Immediately there was silence. And then: "Action!"
There was the sound of explosives from inside the bank. Then the ratatat-tat of a machine gun. Even though I knew it was just effects, it got my adrenaline going.
"So what's the plan?" Tiffani asked. She looked up at Drummer Boy as if he had all the answers.
"I think we need to get the hostages out first," I said. Jetman nodded.
"Sounds good to me," Tiff said. "Bubbles, do your stuff."
I let a bowling ball–size bubble loose at the front door, which exploded like a cheap firecracker. Bits of wood and glass flew across the street. "Tiff and I should take point. We're invulnerable to projectile attacks."
"I'm going aloft," Jetman said. "I'll come in from behind." He hit the power button on his jetpack. It sputtered, then the engine caught. It made a putt-putt noise, like an anemic Vespa, but it took him airborne in seconds.
Smoke rolled out of the opening I'd made. Tiff went diamond again, and then we ran into the bank with Drummer Boy behind us. A barrage of paint-balls hit us. They did nothing to me except create more fat. Unfortunately, Tiff was hit in the face and the paint coated her diamond surface, obscuring part of her vision.
I saw a group of people sitting in a circle on the floor. Their hands were tied behind their backs. Standing in front of them were six guys with paint-ball guns. I didn't see anyone who looked like an ace, but with aces, it was hard to tell.
Another round of paint-balls were fired at me and Tiff. "Goddamn it," I heard her say. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that she had run into one of the prop desks. Most of her face was covered in paint. She probably couldn't see a thing.
Drummer Boy ducked behind one of the desks. If he or Jetman were hit by enough paint-balls, they'd be declared dead and out of the challenge.
I fired a barrage of bubbles at three of the henchmen who were grouped together. These were baseball-size bubbles, and I made them extra hard and dense. One guy was hit on his hand and screamed as he dropped his weapon. Another got one in the gut, and he doubled over.
I missed the third, but Jetman didn't. He burst through the front-door transom windows and fired his "jetnet." It whistled past my head and opened in midair, catching the lights and gleaming like a silver spider-web. Then it wrapped around the goons and they fell to the floor.
More paint-bullets spattered me. I laughed and flung another hail of bubbles at the remaining goons. I missed one because he dropped to the floor, but the other two took direct hits to the chest. Their weapons went spinning out of their hands, and then the hostages shrieked with what sounded like real fear.
I glanced at the hostages and saw that one woman had been struck by one of the guns. She had a nasty cut on her forehead, and it looked like she would have a black eye. I knew they were extras and that they knew injuries might happen, but no one should have to bleed for a paycheck.
Jetman was hovering overhead—the ceilings were high in the bank, fifteen feet at least—and firing down at the three goons. A cloud of gas enveloped them, and moments later, they fell down unconscious. Now we could rescue the hostages. I ran to Tiff and gave her my hoodie so she could wipe the paint off her face, then I helped Drummer Boy untie the extras.
Another henchman appeared.
He was a young guy, maybe a few years older than me, maybe Jetman's age. He was maybe six-one, six-two. His blond hair was cut short, almost military style. He was dressed like the other goons, but he was unarmed. I knew I'd seen him somewhere, but I just couldn't place him.
"This sucker is mine!" Drummer Boy yelled, running past me toward the new henchman. DB had a good foot of height on the guy, plus the extra four arms. He cranked back the three arms on his right side and haymakered one at the guy's head.
Blondie didn't even flinch. As DB's fists made contact, a beautiful yellow corona ballooned around the new guy. He reached up, clamped his left hand around Drummer Boy's middle right fist, then grabbed DB's belt. He lifted DB—who weighed at least two hundred and fifty pounds—as if he were a toddler. Then he tossed him through the front window of the bank.
"Oh crap," I heard Jetman say as he flew over to us.
"Who is that?" Tiff asked. Jetman had a look of awe on his face. I glanced down at Tiff and saw she had managed to wipe most of the paint from her face, but it had left her diamond skin less than sparkly.
"That's Golden Boy," Jetman called down. "The Judas Ace. He's a legend. They say he's invulnerable to harm and one of the strongest men in the world."
My heart sank. I looked through the jagged hole where the window had been. DB was still lying in the street. One down. And Tiff would be virtually useless against Golden Boy.
That left Jetman and me.
"What about your sleeping gas?" I asked. "We get him down with that, use your net . . ."
"Oh dear," said Tiff.
Golden Boy was already lunging toward us. Jetman zipped up to the ceiling. Tiff turned and ran to the front door. But I knew if he hit me, he'd only give me more power, so I stood my ground.
He dashed right past me toward Tiffani.
I ran outside in time to see him picking Tiff up and tossing her down the street. She shrieked as she sailed through the air. Then she landed hard and lay as still as Drummer Boy. Her power had protected her from most of the harm of the impact, but landing that hard had knocked her out. I was pissed. I knew she would be all right. But she was my friend and you don't mess with my friends.
I looked around for Jetman and saw him flying out of the hole DB had made. Golden Boy stood between us. I saw Jetman pull his jetgun from its holster. I backpedaled so I wouldn't be in range when the gas went off.