“Working on your new…project?” Nadia said coyly.
“Yes,” Priya said. “And it’s not going very well and I was kind of in the middle of something.…Could we do this later, maybe?”
Nadia was disappointed, but she understood. Things with Priya were clearly patch-up-able, if not at this exact moment. Still, she didn’t even know where Shay and Ying were right now, and she certainly couldn’t bring Margaret back to meet Tai or Bobbi or Janet.…She sighed. Seemed like inducting Margaret into G.I.R.L. would have to wait.
“Well, it was nice to meet you,” Margaret said with a smile. She slid a business card across the counter to Priya. “Really excited to be working with G.I.R.L.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you later.” Priya dismissed them. She set the plant back on the counter as Nadia headed for the door.
Which shattered, glass exploding across the store in a shower of razor-sharp glitter.
“Nadia!” Margaret threw herself at her new friend, covering her with her body to protect her from the flying glass. On the way down, Margaret slammed her head against the front counter. She slumped to the floor, trapping Nadia’s legs under her body.
“Margaret!” Nadia slid out from under Margaret, taking care not to jostle her too much for fear of injury. Margaret groaned and turned over, rubbing the front of her head.
“That’ll leave a mark,” she grumbled.
“Wait here,” Nadia said. She saw Priya already zooming to the front of the store, her potted plant in hand. “I’m going to see what happened.”
“VERA, call nine-one-one,” Margaret said into the miniature gold rectangle affixed to her wrist by a silicone band. “Nadia, wait—” Margaret reached out to stop her, but Nadia was already out the front door.
Both Nadia and Priya stopped short. Times Square was wild—more wild than usual. Tourists were breaking windows in every storefront, throwing chairs through windows, devastating storefronts. Overhead, the massive billboard screens—all of them—flashed bright yellow.
“They’re not stealing anything,” Priya noted, spinning in a circle as she took in the chaos around her. “They’re not. They’re not even going into the stores. They’re just…breaking stuff.”
“World’s worst flash mob,” Nadia agreed. But they’d been too loud—a couple of the closest chaos-makers turned slowly to face the two girls.
“I don’t have my suit on,” Nadia said quickly. “Priya, get back in—”
But it was too late. The two tourists—and they couldn’t be anything but tourists with their dad sneakers and fleece pullovers—ran toward Nadia and Priya. The woman held her massive tote bag in the air like a weapon. The man did the same with his DSLR camera.
“Get down,” Nadia said, shoving Priya behind her hastily. No suit meant no shrinking, but Nadia was still trained in hand-to-hand combat. Still, these weren’t A.I.M. agents—they were Midwesterners. She would have to be careful.
Even without her Wasp powers, Nadia was still faster than the average Manhattan fast-walker. She ran forward and feinted around the woman, getting behind her quickly enough to grab hold of the tote bag over her head. Nadia yanked the bag away and quickly threw the handle around the woman’s neck, pulling it tight under her jawline, careful not to constrict her windpipe. The woman struggled, grasping at the strap, but Nadia was strong. It only took moments before the tourist dropped, unconscious—though it wouldn’t last long.
The man had continued his rush at Priya while Nadia had dealt with the woman. Nadia sped back toward her friend as the man tried to bring the camera down on Priya, but his form was slow and messy—Priya was able to dodge with ease. As Nadia got close, she dropped into a slide, kicking her legs out in front of her. “Sorry!” she yelled, literally sweeping the man off his feet. He hit the ground on his tailbone with a crack—he’d put out a hand to break his fall and it sounded as though he’d shattered his wrist. The man curled up around his broken arm. He wouldn’t
be getting up again. “Sorry! Sorry. Agh.”
“Thanks,” Priya nodded gratefully.
Nadia knew she didn’t have much time before things got really out of control in the Square. She grabbed the charm on her phone—her suit. “No problem. I just need a second.”
Something they never talk about when people talk about Super Heroes is how Super Heroes get into their suits. It’s completely impractical to have your suit on under your clothes all the time. Even if that were possible because you really enjoyed marinating in your own sweat (gross), how would you pee? It was like rompers, only a thousand times worse. And how would you manage to be fashionable? Nadia loved crop tops. But crop tops with a Wasp suit underneath? Instant Super Hero secret-identity giveaway. It was a no-go.
Nadia hit the button on the Pym Particles hidden in her miniaturized suit. It sprang up to full size. Nadia tucked herself into a corner and began quickly tugging off her jeans. It wasn’t decent, but it was what she had to do sometimes, and evil didn’t wait for decency. Nadia had the suit pulled halfway on when she noticed Priya hadn’t followed her around the corner.
Nadia peeked out from her half-concealed hiding spot next to the tchotchke shop. The property destruction was still in full swing—but Priya wasn’t a part of it. Instead, Priya was sitting on the ground, cross-legged, holding her plant with both hands. For a moment, Nadia was confused. Priya just looked like a girl who really, really loved her plant.
Nadia yanked on one of her sleeves in a rush as something changed in the air around Priya. Nadia could see it become almost…heavier. And suddenly, the plant in her friend’s hands began to grow.
And grow.
And grow.
From Priya’s small pot, vines extended in every direction. Down to Priya’s feet, across the sidewalk, over the feet of every inexplicably violent tourist. And then up, up, up their legs and around their arms and tight against their waists until every person in the square was entangled. The place looked like the floor of a jungle, green and lush and covered in new growth. And at its center…
Priya opened her eyes and smiled. Nadia stared in shock. No wonder Priya had been away from the lab so much lately. She’d clearly been busy.