Ivy studied the photo she'd taken from her home at Cladis point. She hadn't looked at it much, but today could be the day she finally found him. Her brother.

He bore a pretty strong resemblance to her, from the shade of his hair to the shape of his face. The top half of the photo had been destroyed, but Ivy could just make out the ends of their mother's hair, a similar shade of auburn. There was a jagged line at her parents' shoulders, cutting off everything above it.

A lot of stuff at Cladis had been destroyed in a similar fashion. Some buildings nothing more than rubble, others in perfect condition except for shattered windows. Some of the walls in her own home were fine, while others had peeling, tattered wallpaper or were covered in cracks. It was a bit bizarre.

Ivy returned the photo to her pocket and pulled her hair back in a ponytail as she stepped out on the deck. The air was filled with the voices of other Supers as they trained. She made her way to where the jetchoppers were kept, doing a quick check as she did. The cell phone Dr. Newman had given her was in her jacket, along with a small pocket knife.

Spencer was already there, fueling the chopper they'd be taking. Claire and Ace were waiting next to him. When Spencer saw Ivy's expression, he asked, "Can Ace come?"

Spencer occasionally brought Ace along, but this was technically Ivy's mission. She hesitated. Ace was fairly well-trained, but he still wasn't very experienced. Dogs weren't exactly capable of following detailed instructions. And this mission was immensely important.

At least, it was to Ivy.

What would Summer say?

Ivy pushed the thought aside. Summer wasn't here. Spencer stared at her, his expression hopeful. "Yeah, he can come," she finally said. Spencer grinned and climbed into chopper.

Claire nodded at Ivy. "Thanks," she said. "He and Ace have been pretty much inseparable since..." Claire trailed off, but Ivy knew she was talking about the battle in D.C.

Ivy followed her into the chopper and they took off. It was a quick flight to Houston. Spencer parked in a woodsy area a few miles from the city to avoid drawing attention.

"Where should we start?" he asked as they exited the chopper.

"The last kid went missing from southwest side of the city," Ivy said. "It's close to the bay, and there's some campgrounds in the area. I figured we'd start there. Claire, if you can sense any minds that could be Supers, let me know."

Claire nodded, and they set off into the trees.

They walked for about five minutes in silence. Ivy paused, and the others followed suit. In the distance she could just make out the sound of...

"Voices," Ivy said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "You guys hear that?"

A rustling came from their right. Around twenty teens poured out from the trees and surrounded them. Before Ivy could get in a word, the kids swarmed. Ivy's hands burst into flames and she lunged at one of their attackers.

The attacker backed off at the sight of the fire, like Ivy thought he would, but another kid grabbed her arm. He pulled her to the ground and her fire went out as she crashed into the dirt. Someone pulled her hands behind her back and tied them together.

"Bring them back to camp," a girl said.

Ivy spat some dirt out of her mouth. "Let us go," she said. "We just want to talk."

The kids ignored her, and she and the others were dragged through the trees for a good five minutes before they reached a clearing. A dying bonfire sat at the center, and a couple of kids tended to it. Ten tents were pitched in the trees around the fire.

"Put them with the other prisoner," someone said.

Ivy and the others were led to the other side of the fire. Ivy's eyes widened when she saw Ash, hands bound, standing in front of the flames.

Ace barked wildly. Someone had put him on a rope leash and was fighting to keep him restrained. 

"Hey," Spencer snapped. "Be nice to him."

A boy who looked about nineteen emerged from the crowd. He was easily six feet tall, muscular, with piercing brown eyes and skin even darker than Spencer's. He glared at Ivy and the others as he approached. "Well, look what we have here," he said.

Ivy narrowed her eyes. "Are you in charge?"

"Yes," the boy said. "I'm Max."

"I'm—"

"Ivy," Max cut her off, his tone bitter. "I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are."

"Geez, what's your problem?" Spencer asked.

Max shot him a dirty look. "Someone bring me my laptop." One of the other kids hurried over, laptop in hand, and handed it to Max. With a huff, Max opened the laptop and tapped a key. A video began playing.

It was blurry, but it was clearly Ivy standing on a street in D.C., the White House visible in the background. Everyone watched as she held out her hand and launched a fireball at a soldier, knocking it to the ground. The video showed shaky footage of other Supers using their powers too.

The screen switched to a clip of the president. "It has been confirmed that there were powered people in Washington during the attack," President Holmes said. "I saw them up close. However, not much is known about them at this time—"

Max shut the laptop. "Well?" he demanded.

"I'm confused," Ivy said. "Are you trying to make some kind of point?"

"Before Washington, no one knew we existed," Max said. "No one batted an eye at us. Now people are suspicious. It's harder for us to hide."

"Well, sorry for saving the country," Ivy said. "And the world. If you want to blame someone, blame him." She nodded at Ash. "He works for the bad guys."

Ash scowled but didn't say anything.

"I blame all of you," Max said. "All we wanted to do was stay safe. Remain neutral."

"Well, you and your band of 'Neutrals' need to wake up," Ivy snapped. "An organization called Scorpion is trying to gain power and we're the only ones who can stop them."

"I know what Scorpion is," Max said.

"Then you know that you have to let us go," Ivy said. She could get out of her ropes in a few seconds, but they were outnumbered. She needed a distraction, something to let her and the others get away.

"I don't have to do anything," Max said. "It's not just Washington. There are videos all over the internet of you guys running around Texas and California. There's a website devoted to 'Super Sightings.' I can't travel anywhere with my group—what'd you call us? Neutrals? Whatever you want to call us, we can't go anywhere without being questioned."

Ivy couldn't aim or attack with her hands behind her back, but she could control the fire behind Max. The flames were going out, but there were enough for her to work with. Ivy felt a burning sensation creep into her chest as she concentrated on the campfire.

"Have you been paying attention at all to what's happening in the world?" Max continued. "People figured out that we're survivors of the Cladis Point accident. They're furious with the government for lying, and they want action taken. Sure, some think we're heroes. But the rest want us locked up. Or killed. Other countries are worried about what the U.S. government might do with us. Or use us for."

The flames exploded and jumped out of the fire pit. They spread into a wall that cut the rest of the Neutrals off from Ivy and the other Supers. Ivy's hands caught fire and quickly burned away the rope tying them together. She glanced at the others. Claire was untying her rope telekinetically. Ivy turned to Spencer.

"Hold still," she ordered as she pulled out her pocket knife. She sliced through Spencer's ropes and glanced at the wall of fire she'd created. It was already beginning to die. They needed to get out fast.

Spencer pulled his hands free. Ivy moved to put the knife back in her pocket, but something hit her in the hand, forcing her to drop it.

The tendril of water dropped to the ground. A river of water an inch deep crashed into the knife and washed it over to where Ash was standing. In just seconds he scooped it up, freed himself, and ran off. Ivy cursed. She'd wanted to bring him with them as a prisoner, but getting away was more important.

Disappointment coursed through her as she looked around. There'd been no sign of her brother in the crowd.

"Come on," she said to the others.

They started running away from the camp, but Max and a few other Neutrals cut them off. Ivy lunged at Max and threw a punch, but he disappeared into thin air. Great. He was a teleporter, like Hestia from Scorpion.

Another group of kids moved toward Ivy and the others, but a bark from Ace knocked them off their feet. A few others came from the right and circled Ivy. Her gaze darted between them, waiting for someone to make a move.

Two jumped on her at once. Ivy lunged at one of them, a tall boy, and hit him in the gut. The boy cried out and staggered backwards. Another grabbed Ivy. She turned to fight them but never got the chance. A surge of water crashed into Ivy's attackers, pushing them to the ground.

Ivy looked up and saw Ash at the edge of the clearing, fighting off a swarm of the Neutrals. He pulled in another wave of water—from the nearby bay, Ivy assumed—and knocked them down.

He looked over and briefly met Ivy's gaze before turning and disappearing into the woods.

"Ivy," Claire shouted. Ivy turned to see that they had a clear path to escape. She ran over to the others.

"Let's go," she said.

Behind her, someone shouted her name. Ivy stopped and glanced behind her, confused.

"Ivy!"

There was a boy running toward her. Reddish-brown hair the same shade as hers. He called her name again.

Ivy's eyes widened. "Ben?" She stared at her brother as he approached. He had almost reached her when Max reappeared.

"Ben," Max called. "What are you doing?"

Ben paused. Ivy's heart hammered in her chest as she watched.

It's him. It's really him.

A gasp came from somewhere behind her.

"Ivy," Claire exclaimed.

Ivy turned around to see the others staring at her. Claire and Spencer's mouths hung open in shock, and Ace's head was tipped to the side.

"What's wrong?" Ivy asked. Then she heard it. A crackling sound. The hair on Ivy's arms rose as she held up her hands.

Electricity ran up and down her arms.