For being Mr. Know-It-All, I can’t believe how completely in the dark he is about literally everything.
“No one here is physically strong enough to face Blue Streak—er, Siege—and his band of anti-hero wannabes,” Bridgette starts, wheels turning. “But there has to be a way to get to him. Something that doesn’t involve weapons or a massive bodily attack. He has to have a weakness.” She turns to me, biting her lip. “Claire? What do you think?”
“Me?” I full-body flinch.
“You know him better than anyone,” she says. “You’re the Blue Streak expert. I know this is a terrible ask, but you have to think of Joy. She needs you—they all do.” I shake my head, burying my face in my hands. “What are his weak spots, Claire? How can we get to him?”
I did not sign up for this. To play an active role in bringing down my hero, my savior. I wanted to change the world for the better, not see my existing world fall apart. It’s not right; it’s not fair—I shouldn’t have to bear this burden. Tears continue to build as I try, and fail, to recall all the terrible events of the past few weeks, but they all smudge together in one messy nightmare. Blue Streak saved my life, changing my trajectory forever, and now I have to be the one to destroy him? It’s too much, too much, but Bridgette is right: The heroes need us. Need me.
The last remaining shreds of my heart begin to unravel as I pull out my grail diary, trembling hands flipping to the Blue Streak section. Glittery blue ink taunts me with its happy, swirling letters, as I start from the beginning:
Blue Streak
Powers: super strength, flight, bulletproof
Weaknesses: his fans
“That’s it,” I breathe, my voice so broken I barely recognize it. “He’s always had a soft spot for his fans. Real, innocent people, the kind of people he was sworn to protect.”
Eyes wet, Bridgette nods with acceptance before Teddy interjects. “Except that he’s been terrorizing them all summer.”
“But not really,” I say, reading through my meticulous notes. “During every episode where a civilian got hurt, Siege wasn’t there. His Anti-Heroes did most of the damage.” I turn to Bridgette. “Remember at our kidnapping? He ordered the other villains not to hurt you. Because he knows you, he cares about you.” He cares about you.…The thought squeezes the air from my lungs, but I push on. “Blue Streak has never liked the spotlight; we can’t draw him out with a spectacle. It has to be quiet, real. If we want to lure him out, we’ll have to be the bait. Ourselves.”
“I’m sorry, who are you baiting?” Out of nowhere, Millie stands in the doorway, eyes hard behind her glasses. She has no right to question us, considering what she’s done, yet she stands defiant, a bull ready to charge.
“Millie, it’s over,” Teddy says in a condescending tone.
“What are you talking about?” she snorts.
“We all know Blue Streak is Siege.”
Her eyebrows shoot to the sky, yet she admits nothing. I trusted you, I think, the years of watching her conferences and reading her recaps cascading down on me. You were a voice of reason. Roy approaches her, mouth bent in disgust. “How could you do this?”
“Me? It’s not my fault Charles couldn’t handle his own retirement.”
Roy shakes his head, ashamed. “We all saw the tape. You betrayed me; you betrayed this organization. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Millie’s glance flits between us, a mouse caught in a trap. Yet she doesn’t flee, pointing her chin up to give her extra height before the firing squad. “I didn’t expect this to happen; how could I have?”
“Charles threatened the Warriors!” Bridgette yelps. “He did it to your face!”
“I thought he would go after you, Roy,” Millie admits defiantly. Roy’s jaw drops, placing a hand over his shocked heart. “Do you know what it’s like, being so perfect for a position only to have an underqualified man take it from you? Rules be damned, I thought this organization would recognize my years of service and appoint me as chapter president, but no, they deemed it more important to have a Warrior in charge, rather than a competent professional. I’ve spent years cleaning up after you, Roy, and I hoped a citywide disaster would finally prove your incompetence, forcing you out of office.”
Bridgette grits her teeth in anger. “This was about a job title?”
I wait to see Millie’s response, but she doesn’t even flinch; a