The Cloak Society (13 page)

“Alex!” she said, alarmed.

“Kirbie?” Kyle asked, his confusion warranted.

“Kyle?” She noticed her brother for the first time.

“Alex?” Kyle asked, the word beginning as a question but leaning dangerously toward an accusation by the time his mouth closed on the
X
.

“Kirbie,” Alex said, relieved. “I mean, hi. Would you please tell your brother that I'm not doing anything wrong?”

“Wait . . . Kirbie, you know this guy?” Kyle asked.

“Kyle, just . . . just let him down so we can talk,” Kirbie said.

“He did something to the fountain,” Kyle stammered. “I haven't had a chance to check out the rest of this area, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were more of them—”

“No, it's okay,” Kirbie interrupted. “I was just in wolf form, and the two of you were the only scents I picked up. Besides, I know why he's here.”

“What?” the boy asked. “What are you talking about? You're not . . .
consorting
with him or anything. . . .”

“If you'll put him down, I'll—”

“We
just
fought him,” Kyle said, thrusting an angry finger toward the suspended Cloak member.

“Uh,” Alex butted in. “I'm feeling really dizzy.”

“Kyle,” Kirbie said, sternly now. “Put him down.”

Kyle looked back and forth between Alex and his sister. He grimaced, and the coils around Alex's ankles went slack, dropping him to the ground with a thud. The Beta was up on his feet far too quickly for someone who had been upended for several minutes. He suddenly felt light-headed and began to sway. He took a few steps forward, reaching out for a tree to lean on, but instead fell straight back down toward the ground. He would have landed there, too, if it had not been for Kirbie swooping in and catching him.

“Are you okay?” Kirbie asked, her arms wrapped around his chest, helping him to his feet.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Sorry. I just need a minute to recover.” The concern in her voice was so genuine that it caused him to smile. Realizing that he was still half cradled in Kirbie's arms, he jumped back and leaned against a nearby tree.

“Explain,” Kyle said, a finger again pointed at Alex, eyes boring into Kirbie.

“Alex is—”

“Our enemy,” Kyle said, cutting her off.

“He's thinking about defecting from the Cloak Society,” Kirbie continued. “And we're Rangers. It's our duty to help those in need.”

She cast a sympathetic glance toward Alex.

“He's a lot like us,” she said. “He just needs someone to talk to.”

“It's a trap,” Kyle said.

“No,” Kirbie countered quickly. “I believe him.”

“What are you thinking, Kirbs?” her brother asked after a pause.

“Just trust me, Kyle. Okay? Please.”

Kyle looked at Alex with marked disdain, and then back at his sister, staring intently at her. Her face was insistent, but gentle.

“Okay,” Kyle finally relented. “Fine. But I will be
right here
. Ready to do anything.” He turned to Alex. “You got that?”

“Yes.” Alex nodded. “Loud and clear.”

“Thanks, Kyle,” Kirbie said.

Kyle nodded and, after giving Alex one more hard look, stepped deeper into the wooded area of the park. The trees and bushes leaned away from him as he walked, closing up again as he passed through, until he was no longer visible among the plants.

“Hi,” Alex said, picking leaves from his hair.

“Hey,” Kirbie replied. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah. I just needed a second.”

“Good,” she said, turning back toward the fountain. “I'm glad you came. Want to go for a walk?”

Alex followed, trailing behind her as she walked through the clearing and onto one of the trails.

“What did you do to the fountain?” she asked. “I saw the light go out.”

“Nothing permanent,” Alex said. “It was just a little trick with the electricity.”

“Well, it's probably not a good idea to do that. It attracts unwanted attention.”

“I'm sorry,” Alex said. “I didn't realize anyone else would be out watching the park.”

“Kyle wanted to help out tonight, and I couldn't convince him to stay behind,” Kirbie said. “Don't mind him. He's just overprotective of me. He's probably the nicest person I've ever met.”

“I guess I'll take your word for it,” Alex said. “He's good with vines, at least.”

“He's a pretty good fighter in the park where he's in his element,” Kirbie said. “In the city, he's much less of a threat. I'm just thankful the grounds of Justice Tower are practically a garden. I think it makes him feel more comfortable. At home.”

They continued on the path, walking side by side. Alex didn't know where they were going, but he didn't much care. The night was cool and still.

“So,” she said. “Do you own anything that's not black, or is that just how supervillains always dress?”

“Oh,” he said, looking down at his dark clothes. “I'm sure I have something colorful somewhere in my closet. . . .”

“Relax, I was just kidding.”

“You're one to talk,” Alex said. “Is that . . . spandex?”

“No,” she said, pretending to be offended. “Well, sort of. It's an extra-strong material that stretches and contracts when I transform. Trust me, it's a lifesaver.”

“So can you change into any animal?”

“No,” she said. “Not yet. The wolf just comes naturally. I've been doing that for years. The bird is newer. It just . . . happened. Lone Star thinks that one day I might be able to morph into anything, but that's really just a guess.”

“That's incredible,” Alex said. “If I were you, I'd probably never walk around looking like a normal person.”

He imagined how intimidating the Beta Team would be with a hulking she-wolf standing beside them. Kirbie had gotten into the wrong line of work.

“A werewolf running around in Victory Park sounds like something out of a horror movie. Besides, I don't like to turn into that unless I have to. I don't like scaring people.”

They neared a large clearing Alex had never been in before. Squinting, he could make out people silhouetted in the distance. He feared that they were walking into a trap and his muscles tightened, but once they were closer, Alex saw that the figures were lifeless, cast in a shiny silver metal that seemed to glow, despite the dull moonlight. Kirbie had led him to some sort of sculpture garden.

As they entered the clearing, Alex stared up at the men and women standing on granite pedestals, towering over him. They were locked in triumphant poses, arms raised to the sky or hands resting on their hips. They wore capes and tall boots with emblems on their chests. He counted nine of them, spaced throughout the open garden.

“Oh, wow,” Alex said, humbled. “This place is amazing.”

“Yeah, I know. It's packed with tourists during the day. But at night, it's the most peaceful place I know.”

Suddenly it dawned on Alex where they were and who the statues around him represented. An engraved slab of black granite resting in a grassy crater confirmed his suspicions:
IN MEMORY OF THOSE HEROES WHO FELL SO THAT WE MIGHT STAND
.
This was the site of the battle between the Cloak Society and the Rangers of Justice. He was surrounded by the people his parents had banished to the Gloom.

“No wonder the council never brought us to the park,” he muttered to himself.

“What happened here changed everything,” Kirbie said. “Not just for the Rangers. Not even for Sterling City. It changed the world. People across the globe had looked up to the Rangers. They idolized them. Nobody expected that in a matter of moments most of them would be gone. It certainly changed Lone Star, killing all those Cloak members at once. People remember it now as a victory on our part, a triumph for Sterling City. But back then . . . Killing goes against everything the Rangers stand for. Lone Star carries that guilt with him every day.”

Kirbie pointed to two statues on the opposite side of the clearing sharing the same base. A man held a triumphant sword into the sky, while a female held a single palm outstretched in front of her.

“Those are Amp's parents. His father, the Guardian, led the Rangers. It's been tough for him. He's still angry about what happened. You can't really hold that against him, though.”

“No, I guess not,” Alex said quietly. He was beginning to feel the actions of the older generations of Cloak weighing down heavily on his own shoulders, and he was no longer reveling in the idea of his family rushing into battle.

“Can I ask you something?” he said. Kirbie nodded. “Were your parents there too? Is that why you're with the Rangers?”

Kirbie sat down on a park bench, cross-legged. When she spoke, she didn't look at him.

“No. I was never meant to be a Ranger. When my powers kicked in, I was an eight-year-old in a small town in west Texas. I was a normal girl one moment, and the next I was some kind of monster. No one knew what to do. My parents couldn't take me anywhere. Who would they even take me to? Kyle's powers came around the same time, but they were different. They were invisible. They could be ignored. My parents just got rid of all the houseplants and killed our lawn. But they were scared of me. They were fighting all the time over what to do with us, trying to figure out what had caused this and whose fault it was. They never figured out why it was happening. Eventually the way they looked at us—at me—changed.

“And then one day they told us that we were going on vacation. They were taking us to Sterling City. Kyle and I were
so
excited when we packed our bags. We checked into a hotel in the big city and had a fancy room-service dinner. And I didn't turn at all that whole time, because I was trying so hard not to ruin the vacation. Then the next morning we came here. To the park. They asked us if we wanted ice cream, and of course we did. So Kyle and I played while they went to go find some.

“That was the last time we saw them. Kyle and I stayed in the park for days. We didn't know what else to do. Then one night, right here in this garden, Lone Star flew in from the sky and found us sleeping on a bench. He said that everything would be okay. That we were special and he would take care of us.

“That's why we're Rangers,” she said, meeting his eyes. “It's why we're trying to make this city a better place. Because we choose to.”

Alex could see her clearly now, her colors brighter than they had been before. It seemed unreal; he only dreamed in such vivid hues. He stared at her for several moments.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she finally asked.

“I'm sorry,” he said. He didn't know what else to say. “I can see you.”

“Um . . . yeah. I'm sitting right in front of you.”

“No, I mean . . .” He paused for a moment, trying to figure out how best to describe the way he saw things. “After I got my powers, everything I saw—everything I see—is blue. The sun, the ground, people. Everything. All tinted the same color.”

“That's so sad,” Kirbie said. Her face dropped. The color was fading from Alex's vision now, back to cobalt.

“Until I saw you.”

“Huh?” Kirbie asked.

“I can see you in color,” he said. “Not all the time, but sometimes. It happened last weekend, and again just now.”

Kirbie didn't know what to say. Her cheeks flushed.

“Why do you fight? Why are you still a part of Cloak?” Kirbie asked. “I think you'd be a great Ranger.”

“I'm a fourth-generation Cloak member,” Alex started. “I never questioned my loyalty to them. I mean, until now,” he stammered, remembering his cover. “My mother can read minds, so I learned when I was pretty little not to think about anything that might make her mad.”

“The Cloak Society is a group of supervillains.”

“Only because we have to be,” Alex said, beginning the type of speech he'd heard from the High Council so many times. “The world turned its back on my ancestors. It forced us underground when we should have been made kings and queens. And then Lone Star killed our people. My family. What would you do?”

“Revenge is a pretty human motivation for a group that thinks of themselves as superior,” Kirbie said. “Look around you. These people sacrificed themselves defending the city against Cloak. If only you could look at it from the outside, you would see things differently.”

“That's easy for you to say.”

“We all have the ability to decide what we think is right,” Kirbie said. Her voice was full of hope. “Come back with me now. Let me take you to Justice Tower. Lone Star and the others will gladly take you in. We could use someone like you.”