RENATA WAS SURE that if she hadn't had superhuman strength, her arm would have been dislocated by the speed at which Energy pulled her upwards.
At a couple of hundred metres, Energy slowed her flight, and settled into a hover. "Any sign of him?"
"No!" Renata called, very much aware that the only thing preventing her from falling was her grip on Energy's hand. Directly below, she could see the devastation caused by Terrain's rampage. "Do you have, like, some superhero way of finding him?"
"Unfortunately nothing reliable. When he's using his powers I can sometimes sense the energy patterns, but not always. I don't suppose you have enhanced vision?"
"Not that I've noticed. I've--"
"Hold on..." Energy used her free hand to activate the small radio transmitter that was clipped to her ear. "Go ahead, Roz... Cleveland, directly over Public Square. I've got someone here, a young girl, definitely superhuman. She's--" Energy paused. "Got it." To Renata, she said, "Terrain's just been spotted moving south-east on Ontario Street. Are you local? Know your way around?"
"Sort of," Renata said, peering down at the city. "Everything looks different from up here... There!" She pointed.
Far below, a man was running along the street: ahead of him, the ground seemed to be trembling, knocking the other pedestrians off their feet.
Renata felt a sickening lurch in her stomach as Energy suddenly began to drop down, aiming for Terrain.
"Physically he's too strong for me," Energy said, "but together we should be able to slow him down. How tough are you when you're in your glass form?"
"Nothing can harm me. Well, so far. But I can't move when I'm like that. I can only--" Renata stopped. "Oh no..."
"What is it?"
"He's heading towards Jacobs Field! That's the baseball park! And Terrain can use his powers to control the ground..."
Even as she spoke, she could see the grass of the baseball park rippling and shuddering, then suddenly thousands of tonnes of dirt rose into the air, racing towards them, fragmenting into a thick, almost impenetrable cloud.
The cloud struck, the particles swarming around them, wrapping them in a thick shell that was hardening by the second. Protected by the motorcycle helmet, Renata could still see and breathe, but the other woman wasn't so lucky: Energy had her eyes forced closed, and was covering her mouth and nose with her free hand.
"Let go!" Renata shouted. "He might just concentrate on me, and I can turn solid!"
Renata half-expected an argument, but there was none: Energy simply loosened her grip, and Renata found herself plummeting through the air.
Oh God oh God...! Turn solid! Now!
Renata switched into her crystalline form, and prayed that she didn't land on an innocent person.
She dropped out through the bottom of the murky cloud, and crashed into the street, narrowly missing an old man with a stick who was getting out of his car to see what was going on.
She toppled over onto her side, then turned herself back to human, and got to her feet, brushing the dirt from her clothes and hands.
The old man stared at her. "What the...? You could have killed me!"
"Sorry," Renata muttered absently, looking around.
Above, the thick cloud of soil particles was shrinking, darkening as it closed in on Energy. A bolt of lightning flashed from the centre of the cloud, then another, but they didn't seem to have any effect.
Then Renata spotted Terrain thirty metres ahead. The madman was staring upwards, concentrating on Energy.
Hasn't seen me yet, Renata thought. But if I run towards him, he'll have more than enough time to open the ground right under me.
"You blasted lunatics ought to be locked up!" the old man spat at Renata. He swung his stick, hitting her in the shoulder.
"Stop that." Renata pulled the stick out of the man's hands, then handed it back to him. She smiled. "I need to borrow your car."