Autumn's POV

I couldn't believe it: my mask torn away from my face, my identity unveiled, and my own twin brother revealed himself as a criminal.

     Worse than that. Not just a criminal, but a dangerous supervillain. And now that I knew, there was almost no doubt in my mind that he'd cut me and everyone else in this room down. Just to keep his secret.

     The villain I called my brother grinned diabolically at me, and I shuddered uncontrollably.

     "It's a family reunion!" He proclaimed with a glee that seemed to border insanity. "Want to go see Mom and Dad? They're just downstairs."

     My head throbbed with pain. My heart beat frantically in my chest.

    No, no, no, I thought as my headache intensified. I couldn't focus enough to use my pyrokinesis. This can't be happening!

   Dylan grabbed me, clamping his fingers tightly over my wrist. It hurt like hell, but I didn't want to say so. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

     He dragged me down to what I presumed was a prison. I could tell what it was because of my astonishing detective skills, and also because there were miserable-looking people behind bars.

I felt a jolt of icy pain as soon as I entered, but the headache subsided. Instinctively I tried to set myself on fire, but I couldn't get my skin to ignite. I was freezing cold without the heat of my internal furnace, and I shivered for two reasons.

     "Power nullification devices," Dylan said, half-apologetically. "Even my powers are canceled out in here, but don't worry. If you leave, you'll get your powers back."

That's a pretty big if, I thought dejectedly.

     "And if you look straight ahead, you'll see two former superheroes!" Dylan said cheerfully. "Say hello to Mom and Dad, Autumn."

     I didn't want to look up, but I felt compelled to. I slowly lifted my head and gasped without meaning to.

     That was Dad, all right, but with a lot more gray blighting his red hair. Mom stood in the next cell over, with a significantly thinner frame than I remembered.

Dad rushed forward and grabbed the bars, his jaw dropped. He uttered five words, directed at Dylan in a rough voice.

     "Let her go, you monster."

     Dylan slid his mask over his head and addressed our father. "You know what, old man? I'll cut you a deal. You and Mom can leave in good faith. Autumn too. In exchange, you keep your heroic noses out of my business. Sound good?"

Dad appeared to consider it. After a few seconds of horrible, deafening silence, he nodded. Didn't say a word. Just nodded.

"Excellent!" Pariah exclaimed. He walked to the other side of the prison and flicked two switches. The bars disappeared down slots.

     My dad stepped out of the cell cautiously, then helped Mom out of hers.

My parents staggered over to me, and Dad whispered in my ear. His words startled me.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

I swallowed a sob. I had been Golden Ember for almost two years now. And I never told my parents, even though they were locally famous superheroes themselves.

     "I didn't know how you would react," I muttered lamely.

     Mom wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I led my parents out of the prison, feeling a flood of comforting heat as my powers returned. My body temperature immediately heightened, and I felt like burning down this entire building. My fists clenched with pure rage.

My mother's voice spoke in my mind, quiet and raspy.

"Wait. We need to evacuate."

Despite my impulses, I knew she was right. My allies were still on the third floor, wounded.

"Hold on," I told my parents. They both tightened their grips on me, and I took flight. A high-velocity moment later, we were on the third level, and Static Steele was arguing with Crystal Shark.

"CS, Pariah just wiped the floor with us. What chance does this Biohazard person have?" Static Steele asked.

"She's one of the strongest supers on the West Coast. Even Lazuli in Greenstone Harbor wouldn't be able to take her," Crystal Shark replied confidently. He looked towards the window.

"And here she is now. With a friend."

A cloud of condensed shadow appeared in the corner of the room, then dissipated, revealing two girls. One was ghostly pale and had pitch-black clothing, with a cloak that matched her mask and raven hair. The other was brunette, clad in green, gray, and yellow. An aura of bright green energy surrounded her.

"Okay," the glowing girl said shakily. "Vantablack, remind me never to ask you to teleport me anywhere ever again!"

Vantablack, the girl with shadow-jumping powers, smiled and gave her friend a thumbs-up.

The glowing girl turned to look at Crystal Shark. "Noah, good to see you again. Who needs to die?"

     Crystal Shark turned and faced the rest of us. "Guys, this is Vantablack and Biohazard. They'll take Pariah down."

     "And what do we do?" Static Steele asked, seeming more than a little annoyed.

     Crystal Shark grinned like his animal namesake.

     "We sit back and enjoy the show."

     Biohazard and Vantablack wasted no time hunting down Pariah. In fact, he showed himself quickly, no doubt thinking he could take them down in half a second.

     He was wrong. Dead wrong.

Vantablack fashioned a sword from condensed darkness and slashed at Pariah. He tried to parry with his wooden staff, but his weapon passed through Vantablack's like air. That said, the shadow blade cut my twin brother's clothing and skin like the real deal.

    Pariah clenched his jaw and counterattacked, striking out with his staff.

    Vantablack doubled over in pain, clutching at her face as the staff connected with the side of her jaw. She teleported to the back of the room.

    Biohazard's eyes widened. Then she ripped off her gloves, one after the other. Her bright green aura was fierce, especially around her hands. She gestured for the rest of us to stand back.

Me, Crystal Shark, Static Steele, and my parents all retreated to the far side of the room and joined Vantablack.

"Alright, you bastard," she hissed. "You so much as step near my partner again, and I'll show you first-hand why they call me the Living Nuke!"

Pariah, to his credit, did try. He hurled one of his throwing knives at Biohazard's, but it disintegrated before it could touch her. He used his psychic powers to send waves of terror at her, but nothing happened.

"Oh, please," Biohazard scoffed. "I'm a human atom bomb. Your mind games don't affect me."

She turned to look at the rest of us. "What are you all looking at? Don't you have things to do, damsels to rescue, hero stuff like that?"

I looked at Static Steele. "Call me if something happens. I have to go."

I barely gave him time to nod before I grabbed my parents and shot out of the window, making for my house in the nicer part of town, conveniently located relatively close to Pariah's concealed-in-plain-sight lair.

    As I came in for the landing, I noticed someone with a baseball bat heading towards my house. A crooked-toothed, not very tall someone.

     "Charles!" I shouted.

     His head jerked to look at me, his eyes wide.

     "Autumn! You're a super?" He exclaimed.

     "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and setting my parents on the sidewalk.

      He broke into a sweat. "Um, uh..."

     My mother spoke aloud for the first time since her rescue, startling all of us. "He's trying to rob us!"

    Charles disappeared from sight, but I could sense the heat his body gave off. I grabbed his arm, and he turned suddenly visible again.

    "Autumn, please don't..."

     My dad strode over to us, drew back his arm, and curled his fingers into a fist, setting his hand on fire. Then he punched the wannabe burglar right in the jaw, shutting him up with a knockout blow.

"Oh, that felt good," Dad said. "I wonder if my old suit still fits. I've lost a lot of weight."

We headed into the house, leaving Charles on the sidewalk for somebody else to deal with.

Mom downed a glass of water and cleared her throat several times. Dad went into the master bedroom to change, and I sat down on the couch, my head spinning with revelations. I had my parents back.

    After more than a full year, I had my parents back.