“If the overall mood matches my mood, it sets off a chain reaction.” Aura unbuttoned her thin, red, floral-print jacket that matched her flowing skirt. “It’s been a long time, Gus. You look well.”
“Good to see you, Sherrelle.” For once, Gus really did seem glad to see someone from her past.
Mark rolled his head around. “Ah, dang it. That was weird.”
Aura—well, Sherrelle—looked him up and down. “That’s my thing, Iceman. I’m not going to pretend to feel great about working with the former enemy.”
“To be fair, we never fought with you.”
She wiggled her fingers. “Let’s make things nice and truth-y. I came here to help an old friend and get that damn screamer locked away for good.”
“Thank you,” Otis said.
Sherrelle shot him a look. “You’re not the old friend.”
A small something passed through Joan but didn’t linger. Sherrelle making things nice and truth-y?
“Gus was a mentor of sorts. We women Superheroes have to lift each other up.”
Darlene’s face contorted into so much internalized pain, Joan actually felt bad for her.
“I would have done more if not for how things were left.” Gus directed this at Darlene.
“I really could have used that,” Darlene whispered, then looked mortified. “Why did I say that?”
Sherrelle smiled and wiggled her fingers again. “It’s best to cut through the noise and get to the heart of things.”
Perry slouched into the couch cushions. “I hate everything about this, but I’m here for the people I care about.”
“I’m sorry I never called you back!” Otis declared, throwing his arms back dramatically. “You’re intense. It scares me. I like the rush, but it’s a lot.”
“About damn time,” Sherrelle muttered.
Kade and Mark burst into giggles and high-fived. Joan took a step backward. What sort of crap would come out of her mouth if prompted?
Gus eased out of her seat, waving at her old friend. “You can stop. Things have been civil.”
“Good. I’m out of juice anyway. That only works a little on the superpowered.”
“I thought we aren’t supposed to use our powers on each other,” Kade said.
“We’re not.” Otis crossed his arms, gripping his biceps so hard, you could hear the squeak of his fingers against the red spandex.
Gus tugged at the legs of her Super suit. “Review the plan with Sherrelle while I try to remember how I wore this contraption comfortably.”
Ward bobbed his head and consulted his tablet. He went over Phase One: Misdirection.
Joan caught Perry watching Gus with concern. Too bad he didn’t make his own declaration about what exactly they’d been doing all these years. It didn’t matter if it was truly just a friendship or they boinked like grumpy rabbits, but it would be nice to know.
“Phase Two: The Trap is Set,” Ward said. “Amazing Woman will take position directly in front of headquarters. Catch and Lunk will be on crowd control to keep civilian interaction at a bare minimum.”
He went over Phase Three, where the Villains actually showed up. Greta’s words flitted through Joan’s head.
Did you just hear yourself? You’re trying to get rid of Villains?
She glanced down at her Spark suit. The Supers must’ve had countless meetings about what to do to get rid of Spark. She didn’t really know how to feel about it all other than this felt right.
“Phase Four.” Ward proudly grinned. “And arguably the most important phase: The Signal. I will alert everyone to converge on headquarters. This is when Flight and Race will rush back. Breeze and Aura will come from the right side of the building, which we determined after several minutes of discussion is the right sideinsidethe building, not looking at it from?—”
