Layla escorted me to the headquarters of Team Flame. The core team consisted of the four Strongholds (Steve, Josie, Will, and Layla), Warren, Magenta, and Zac. All of them I recognized from my years at Sky High. Of course, being Red Moon's "girlfriend," I was immediately made part of the core team.
"Ethan will be coming in a couple days," Will called to Layla as we walked into the house.
"What's keeping him?" she asked as they pulled apart from their embrace.
"He says a friend of his might have some information about this 'Black Widow.'"
I stared at the young man, trying to appear eager.
"Did he say what he knew?" I asked excitedly.
Will glanced at me. "I'm sorry; I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you."
"Angela, Angela Demona," I introduced, shaking his hand and pasting a fake smile on my face.
"Pleasure to meet you, Angela," Will acknowledged. "I'm afraid Ethan didn't tell me what he'd found out."
"Hopefully it's something useful," I said with a smile.
"Will, any word from the police about the two girls I fought today?" Warren asked, stalking into the room. He settled into one of the armchairs in the Stronghold living room.
"Nothing concrete yet," Will said, setting himself across from Warren. "All we've got is a confirmation that they have been linked to the Empress."
"Well, that's not much to go on." Warren fell silent as two other members of the team, Magenta and Zac, joined the room. Introductions were made and we all sat down.
"Since you'll be joining us on missions and other ventures," Will began, "perhaps you could explain to us your powers."
"I think Mr. Peace has some idea as to my powers," I said flatly. I couldn't resist sending the little barb at him. He winced. Obviously he remembered exactly what I was talking about.
"A lot changes in the—what?—ten years since power placement," Layla said a little too quickly. "I know Will had absolutely no powers for the first month of our freshman year."
I gave her a "shy" smile. At least, that was what I'd hoped they'd interpret it as.
"I can, uh, ingest anything without feeling ill," I said, looking down at the ground. That was still true. It was what allowed me to take in other powers, thereby negating their use by the original owner, because they no longer possessed that power. My only issue was that I could not draw in multiples of the same power, nor could I take in powers that clashed. In some ways that was a good thing when it came to this group. For instance, I would not be tempted to steal the powers of Will, Steve, or Josie, because I already possessed those same powers. I already had a number of tiny shape-shifting powers and so had no need of Magenta's power. Zach's was useless to me as I'd absorbed the ability to see in the dark. But as for Layla and Warren, their powers contrasted with powers I already had. Earth is the opposite of Air and Fire is the opposite of Water. Due to those natural laws I could not take the powers Warren and Layla possessed. This was a constant source of frustration to me. The bonus: at least no one could poison me and I never was sick.
"Is that all?" Will asked before Layla hit him.
"No," I said slowly, beginning to tell my lie, "I can enhance the nutritional properties of the things I eat. For example, spinach. Like in Pop-Eye the Sailor Man I become incredibly strong when I eat it. The length of time the power lasts is in direct proportion to how much I eat."
"Oh." They just sat looking at me.
"What foods are you used to using and what powers can you obtain this way?" Warren asked finally.
"Anything with high amounts of sugar, fat, or carbohydrates gives me an energy boost. With sugar I mainly get faster, with carbs, I gain stamina. Fats are odd, with them I can either use the energy or I can become a giant. Spinach is something I know to make me stronger and carrots to give me super sight, even laser vision," I told them.
They looked at each other for a moment and then nodded.
"Okay, we're good then," Warren said, standing up. I gathered by his commanding tone that he seemed to have been put in charge of the group.
"Angela, you're with me. Layla, Will, you guys know what to do. Magenta, Zac, head back to the crime scene. I want you to see if you can pickup anything the crime labs didn't," Warren ordered. The others cleared out, leaving the two of us alone.
"Are you any good at patterns?" Warren asked once the others had left. I looked at him in mild surprise.
"I'm pretty decent," I told him, telling my first complete truth since I'd joined up with the team. "Why?"
"I have a series of locations I want you to look at on the map. They're places the Black Widow has left her victims, I think it means something," he said, leading me down into their communications and planning center.
He scanned his hand and eyes for identification to log on to a computer and quickly brought up a flat map of the world. Dozens of little black dots were arranged at what appeared to be random places, each numbered in the order of occurrence.
"See if you see something I missed," he told me as he turned to look at a pile of reports sitting on his desk.
I stared blankly at the map for a long moment, and then I grinned as I realized something. When I'd told my minions to find a new hero dumping ground for me, I'd told them to be creative. I remembered distinctively something one of my street recruits had said. "Soon the Black Widow will sprawl across the world." She'd said that as we were looking at a map, exactly like this one, only with far fewer dots. She'd traced her finger from point to point in the order of occurrence and body location.
"Can I print this out?" I asked quickly.
Warren shrugged and pointed to a printer to one side of the room. I got the image printed out with all the dots and settled down at the table with a black marker. I began to play connect the dots.
My companion watched me with interest as a design began to take shape. Then I reached the last dot and sat back in my chair. Drawn on the map in front of me was a large Black Widow spider. Only one point was missing to complete the spider's final leg before the drawing could be finished. I hid a smile. The girls already knew where to go when I needed them. They'd mapped everything out for me, to let me know I could count on them.
"According to this pattern, that's where Black Widow's next victim will appear," Warren said finally, getting up to stand behind me. His finger rested lightly in the map. His finger was resting in the center of the state of Montana. He pulled out a few instruments and began to measure and sketch out on my map exactly where the Black Widow would appear next. He finished drawing the lines and took a closer look at where the point had been placed. It was directly over Billings, MT.
"That's our next stop."
I looked at him blankly.
"Shouldn't we wait until she's actually captured someone?" I asked, looking slightly confused. "If we show up now, won't she be scared off?"
Warren looked at me for a long moment. His intense scrutiny unnerved me.
"I'm just saying, showing up too soon could jeopardize our chances of ever catching her," I explained.
"You're right," he replied slowly. He sank back down in the chair. His dark eyes seemed to pierce right through me. I played with a strand of my dark hair. This guy really unnerved me. I'd spent most of my high school years avoiding him like the plague and now I was trapped in a team with him. Even though I'd planned things out, I was still uneasy.
My cat, Mr. Kitty (I had not named him, the shelter I rescued him from had given him that name), jumped up into my lap and began purring madly. I ran my fingers through his soft fur. He curled up against my stomach, vibrating with every purr. Warren gave the cat a surprised look, as if he'd forgotten that I'd brought my cat.
"Anything interesting?" I thought at my cat. I'd sent him to see what secrets Team Flame had while I was with the other humans. By now my cat was an accomplished spy. He is far more intelligent than most people give him credit for. He'd mastered the art of playing stupid around other animals and Animal Speech heroes.
"Actually, yes," he thought back, happy that he didn't have to yowl to make himself heard now, "Layla's mother, the Animal Speaker is also working with the team. They have a huge network of heroes working with them that you aren't aware of. You met the core team, but there are at least six smaller teams working closely with them on the other continents to find you."
I scratched my cat behind his right ear, his favorite spot, as a reward for his good work. His purring rose in volume.
"What's your cat's name?" Warren asked, awkwardly trying to make conversation.
"Mr. Kitty," I answered, smiling fondly at my darling.
"Mr. Kitty?" he asked, giving me a bizarre look.
"I didn't name him, that was the name the animal shelter had given him," I defended.
Warren nodded in understanding. We sat in silence for a long moment as my companion sat deep in thought.
"I'm hungry," Mr. Kitty complained, yowling for Warren's benefit. The yowl startled the pyro.
"What's wrong with him?" he wanted to know.
"I think he's hungry," I answered, concealing the fact that I knew exactly what the cat wanted. "I'm going to take him home and get him fed. Is that all right?"
Warren nodded and directed me to come back the following morning ready to run through patrols. I promised I would and left quickly. I could barely contain my excitement.
A few blocks away from the team's headquarters I used a stolen power to transport myself to my own headquarters. Once there I activated another stolen power and created a clone of myself. The nice thing about clones, they have all of the same powers that I do. Even better, they knew exactly how I would think because they were me. There was no risk of them turning against me because I could simply gather them in if I even sensed betrayal. Any changes made to a clone did not come back to reflect on me, so their appearance could change at will and I could still draw them in.
"I need you to change yourself into a homely, very plain lab assistant," I told, well, myself.
In an instant, a completely different girl was standing before me. She was shorter than I normally am, with stick-straight, dull brown hair, pea-soup colored eyes, glasses, and weighed probably fifty pounds more than I did. She wore scuffed Doc Martin's, a brown skirt that ended mid-calf, a long-sleeved white button-up shirt, and an argyle vest.
"What would you like me to do?" she asked me.
"Make your way to the lab of Ethan Brown and intercept the messenger who supposedly holds information about Black Widow," I ordered. "Use whatever measures you deem necessary to complete your mission. Report back to me as soon as you find the information. If necessary, eliminate the messenger before he can give anyone else the information."
My clone nodded and vanished to begin her mission. I smiled with pleasure.
"Now to get you fed," I murmured to my cat, heading off to the kitchen. Even super villainesses need to eat.