Marcus had his eyes closed and his lips puckered, ready to receive Kara’s kiss.
She leaned away. “You have superpowers?”
Marcus opened his eyes and grinned at her. “Pretty cool, right?” He squinted at Kara and snapped his fingers. “Wait a minute, I know you! Carka!”
Kara didn’t bother to correct him. “When did you get superpowers? How did you get them?”
Police sirens wailed nearby, and Marcus cringed.
“Listen, I’m new to this superhero thing, but I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to be here when the cops show up. Gotta bolt.” Marcus started to run, but Kara chased after him.
“Wait!” she said, grabbing his arm.
Marcus spun around, all smiles. “OK, if it means that much to you.” Before Kara could react, he grabbed her waist and pulled her close, smashing his lips against hers.
He tasted like coffee and cluelessness.
She pushed away from him, and he dashed off with a wink.
“Don’t expect to see me at Noonan’s anymore. I’m a hero now!” he cried, bending his knees and leaping forward awkwardly. “Nope, can’t fly yet.”
Kara snickered and watched him go. Then a passing fire truck reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing in the first place.
“Shoot! Jacqueline Reyes!”
Kara supersprinted the rest of the way to Eighth and Palmer, where a crowd had formed outside the building’s smoldering remains. A crowd that included several news vans.
She definitely wasn’t getting the first interview with this woman.
Kara pushed her way through the throng of people toward the news reporters and camera operators. At least a dozen microphones were pointed at the face of a pretty Latina woman wearing a dress and heels. She flashed each camera a gleaming smile as she spoke to the press, all poise and confidence.
“I couldn’t very well wait for the weather to change. We’re not expecting rain until the weekend.” Jacqueline Reyes winked at the crowd. “I should know.”
Everyone except Kara laughed.
“So I decided to put the fire out myself,” concluded Jacqueline. “It’s a handy little gift, controlling the weather.” She held out one hand, palm up, and wriggled the fingers of her other hand above it. A tiny dark cloud formed in the space between her hands, and soon a flurry of small white flakes fell from it.
The crowd erupted in applause and excited chatter, and the reporters shouted more questions.
“Is this why your weather reports are always so accurate?”
“Do you have other powers?”
“Are you working with Supergirl?”
Kara’s eyebrows went up at the first question, and she half listened to the answers as she pulled up a web browser on her phone. A search for “Jacqueline Reyes meteorologist” revealed a publicity photo of the woman standing in front of her.
Jacqueline Reyes reported the weather and could control it, Kara thought, which might have meant a person’s job determined their power—if it weren’t for Marcus. He was superstrong, but that had nothing to do with taking coffee orders.
“I expect Supergirl and I will team up soon,” Jaqueline responded.
Kara shook her head. Jacqueline was drawing way too much attention to herself. Hinting that she might know Supergirl could endanger her life, especially if these powers weren’t permanent.
It was time to clear the crowd.
“You’re pretty confident for someone who just got her superpower today!” shouted Kara.
Jacqueline’s confident smile faltered. Half the reporters turned toward Kara, and the other half kept their microphones trained on the meteorologist.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” said Jacqueline. She blinked rapidly and brought back her smile. “I’ve always had this power.”
“Really? Because there are supercitizens popping up all over the city today,” said Kara.
Now all the microphones and cameras were on her.
“There are?” someone asked.
“Where?” another reporter chimed in.
“The police are after a guy with poison darts for fingernails, there’s an old lady with claws in the warehouse district, and an employee at Noonan’s has superstrength,” Kara told them.
She left out the fact that Marcus wouldn’t be there anymore.
The reporters spoke or motioned to their camera crews, and soon most of the media were on the road, leaving Kara to confront a glowering Jacqueline.
“Who do you think you are?” asked Jacqueline, glaring at Kara.
“Someone who doesn’t want to see you get killed,” said Kara. “We need to talk.”
Alex hated charades.
When she and her friends played on game nights, nobody could understand what she was acting out, and Kara would eventually have to use her X-ray vison to read the answer on the card.
But charades was all Alex could think to do as she and Prisoner 52 stared at each other through the side of the tank at the DEO.
“Why are you here?” Alex shrugged her shoulders, pointed to Prisoner 52, then pointed to the ground. She hoped body language was universal. For all she knew, she’d just told the creature that his mother was a sea horse.
In response to her gestures, Prisoner 52 screeched and squawked.
Alex sighed. “Yeah, you and me both, buddy.”
The cell door slid open, and J’onn and Winn joined her.
“How’s Bubbles?” asked Winn.
“Bubbles?” Alex repeated with a smirk.
“Prisoner 52,” J’onn said, frowning at Winn.
“See, to me, that feels a little impersonal,” said Winn. “All the other inmates have names.” He stopped and corrected himself. “Except the one who uses a symbol. Like Prince.”
“Well, Bubbles is doing fine,” said Alex, smiling at the way the name made J’onn’s forehead crinkle. “But I still can’t tell you a thing about him or why he’s here.”
Winn held up a finger. “I thought you might say that. I came up with something that should help.”
He reached into a bag he’d brought and pulled out what looked like a cycling helmet with several wires running off it. Each wire ended with an electrode disk, except for one that had a 3.5 mm connector.
“You’re going to try an EEG?” asked Alex.
An electroencephalograph was good for monitoring electrical activity in the brain, but Alex didn’t think Bubbles had any problems with his mental faculties.
“It’s sort of an EEG,” said Winn, turning the helmet over in one hand. “Except this device won’t just chart Bubbles’s brain activity. It’ll let us see what he’s thinking. I call it the camera cogitari.”
Alex glanced at Bubbles, who was watching their conversation with rapt attention. “And how are you planning to get him to wear it?”
“He doesn’t have to,” said J’onn, taking the helmet from Winn. “I’ll read his mind—”
“And what was his name again?” interrupted Winn, blinking innocently.
J’onn grunted. “I’ll read the creature’s mind and make his thoughts my own.” He put on the helmet. “Because, trust me, you don’t want to see what I’m thinking right now.”
Alex hid a smile while Winn attached the electrodes to J’onn’s scalp. Then Winn took the tablet computer from its wall holster and plugged in the helmet’s connecting wire. He tapped the tablet screen a few times and nodded to J’onn.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Winn said.
He and J’onn approached Bubbles’s tank, and J’onn closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Alex watched over Winn’s shoulder as images from J’onn’s mind—or, rather, Bubbles’s mind—appeared on the screen.
“Wow,” whispered Alex.
It would be wrong to call what she saw an ordinary city. This was a haunting masterpiece. Around a central tower stood stone buildings trimmed in gold and supported by pillars with even more gold-inlaid images and writing. Scattered about the city were statues of unfamiliar figures and bridges that joined crumbling roadways. Every structure held a greenish hue and fluttered with the activity of tropical fish darting about.
Because the entire city was underwater.
Suddenly, the image of the city was replaced by two scuba divers in black wet suits. They were swimming from the city toward the surface with a length of netting between them, something nestled in its midst.
Another image replaced that one: a man slipping into the tank at the National City Aquarium’s deep-sea exhibit . . . while wearing a black wet suit.
“That’s why Bubbles attacked the aquarium employee,” said Alex, pointing at the screen.
Winn nodded. “He thought it was one of the guys who took something from his city.”
The image on the screen turned black as J’onn opened his eyes and removed the helmet.
“Any idea where this city is?” he asked.
Winn shrugged. “There are all kinds of sunken places in the world: Port Royal in Jamaica, Cleopatra’s palace in Egypt . . .” He cleared his throat, and in a softer voice added, “Atlantis.”
“Atlantis?” Alex said skeptically, crossing her arms. “The mythical city of demigods that nobody’s ever been able to find?”
Winn mirrored her stance. “We work for a department that monitors aliens, your sister can fly, and we know a speedster from an alternate Earth. Not to mention we’ve got a giant sea monkey in a tank.” He gestured to Bubbles. “But Atlantis seems unbelievable?”
“He has a point,” said J’onn before Alex could argue. “Winn, did you save those images when you extracted them from my mind?”
“Of course,” said Winn. “And I thought I’d do a reverse photo lookup for matches.”
J’onn nodded approvingly. “Get on it.”
As Winn was putting the helmet and tablet away, Alex’s phone rang with a call from Kara.
“Hey, you! How’s the interview going?” she asked, putting her sister on speaker.
“It’s not, actually,” said Kara. “I just got done scolding Jacqueline Reyes about showing off her powers. What have you learned about her? All I know is she’s a meteorologist.”
Winn bit his lip. “I was working on a project for J’onn. But I can look her up now.”
He grabbed his bag and hurried from Bubbles’s holding cell, with Alex and J’onn following.
“While we’re at it, what did you find out about the robbers from the museum?” Kara asked as Winn, Alex, and J’onn entered the control room.
“Is that Kara on the phone?” Mon-El asked, swiveling in Winn’s chair. “Tell her I took care of the mess at the museum, but Supergirl’s going to have to make an appearance at their annual fundraiser.”
“Thanks, babe!” said Kara.
“Move, babe.” Winn shooed Mon-El away and took his place, feet dangling above the floor. “Holy crap, you’re tall.” He adjusted the chair and clacked away on his keyboard. “I got some results when I cross-referenced museum surveillance images through our facial recognition software. Looks like Bee Breather’s real name is Wendell Geary. He works at an auto shop and—get this—keeps bees on the roof of his apartment as a hobby.”
“Interesting,” said Kara. “And Lady Levitation?”
“That’s Samantha Coen,” said Alex. “She works at the auto shop with Wendell, and she’s an amateur bodybuilder on the side.”
Mon-El’s eyes widened. “She builds bodies? Out of what, car parts? No wonder she’s an amateur.”
“She builds up her own body,” explained J’onn, making a muscle. “Strength training.”
“Oh.” Mon-El relaxed and laughed. “You mean she lifts weights.” He rubbed his chin. “I wonder if that’s why her superpower is levitation.”
“It would make sense,” said J’onn. “She’s interested in lifting things, Bee Breather was interested in bees, and the meteorologist is obviously interested in the weather.”
“You guys might be right,” said Kara. “But it still doesn’t explain why the counter guy at Noonan’s has superstrength.”
“Wait, what?” Alex gave her phone a perplexed look. “The one who was flirting with you this morning?”
“Flirting with who now?” Mon-El stepped closer to the phone.
Alex shushed him with a look. “He has superstrength?”
“He saved me from getting hit by a truck, Alex,” said Kara. “But I couldn’t get him to tell me how he got his powers. He just kissed me and ran off.”
“He”—Mon-El grabbed the phone from Alex—“he kissed you? Like, on the face?”
Kara chuckled. “It was my fault. When Marcus saved me, I thought it was you at first, so I went to kiss him. I backed away when I realized it wasn’t.”
“Aw.” Mon-El ducked his head and grinned. “You thought it was me?” His expression sobered. “Wait. After you backed away, he still kissed you?” Mon-El thrust the phone at Alex and walked over to Winn’s chair. “What’s this Marcus guy’s last name and where does he live?”
“Mon-El . . .” Kara’s tone of warning carried through the phone.
“According to the Noonan’s employee database, his last name is Gaius, and he lives in Shady Oaks apartments,” said Winn. Then he frowned, his eyes caught by something else on his screen. “Hold up. So does Jacqueline Reyes.”
Winn transfered the data to the video wall.
“Could their powers have literally come from the same place?” Alex asked J’onn.
“It’s possible. Winn, where do Wendell Geary and Samantha Coen live?” asked J’onn.
With a few more mouse clicks, Winn said, “Wendell Geary’s also at Shady Oaks, but not Samantha Coen.” He tapped a few keys. “And that guy Digits lives there too!”
“Four out of five is too big to be a coincidence,” said Alex.
“Lady and gentlemen, we’ve got an origin point!” Kara cheered through the phone. “I wish I could check it out right now, but I have to get yelled at by Snapper.”
J’onn and Alex exchanged a look.
“Someone should stay with Bubbles,” said Alex.
Mon-El raised a hand. “You can both stay, and I can check out the apartment complex.”
J’onn frowned. “You shouldn’t go alone. If whatever happened affected everyone in the building, they could all have superpowers.”
Mon-El nodded and glanced at Winn. “Text James. We may need Guardian.”