Arch Rivals (Super Hero Academy Book 2)

by Simon Archer

  See, one thing Dad always hated was the inequity in the world, so when he made his own nation, he cut that out immediately. Everyone in the Brand got free education, room, board, clothing, everyone got a baseline in material possessions. Of course, the downside was that it was… basic. Only those with sufficient merit, judged by my father, of course, got anything beyond the same black-and-red clothes and basic meals. You wouldn’t find anything like Alfredo’s Pizza in Phoenix, that was for sure.

  And looming over it all was the Volcano Palace, Dad’s primary fortress and, well, my old house. Now, there wasn’t originally a volcano here at all, Dad wanted Phoenix to last after all, but at the same time, he really, really wanted a secret volcano lair. Claimed all the world dominating overlords had them, so he had to have one too… and so he built one. The Volcano Palace was just that, an artificial volcano created by Dad’s science and fire powers, with an immense and incredibly fancy palace and bunker carved into it. There were at least a thousand rooms that I knew of, with everything from formal dining halls to greeting halls for dignitaries to an entire robotics factory. Everything the new ruler of the world would need to show his power and privilege.

  As I glared at the immense sculpture of Dad’s face that was carved in the upper parts of the palace, the fear that had been eating at me was replaced by frustration and anger. Before I could clench my fists, Andie and Kara slipped their hands into mine and squeezed.

  “It’ll be okay,” Andie whispered in one ear as Aylin put a hand on my shoulder supportively from behind.

  “Yeah,” I murmured back, then set my jaw. “Yeah, it will be once I talk to Dad.” There was no more putting it off, no more stuffing letters into a box to rot. I couldn’t be afraid of him, and I couldn’t hate him, even if he wound up killing me through his short-sighted acts of revenge on Matt and Kristen.

  “And we’ll be right there with you,” Kara added. “You can always count on us.”

  I squeezed those hands back as I smiled over my shoulder at Aylin. “I know. Are you ready to see my home town?”

  Aylin nodded firmly, her eyes glowing with the prospect of seeing more of Terra. “Indeed, Starlight! I would love to.”

  “Then let’s see if we can slip out of here,” I said as I dropped my voice down to a whisper. “It’s better than being holed up in the Fire Peaks Hotel like prisoners.”

  It wasn’t a smart idea, actually, not for ninety-nine percent of the people in the free world. Walking around Phoenix, an enemy capital, with no back-up or plan was crazy… except for me. The truth was, I was the hometown hero both in Alexandria and here, and there wasn’t any harm in flexing those privileges for once.

  Especially when I planned to end it with a sit-down with my father.

  The only problem was that a certain wolf-eared someone had to butt his nose in. Matt growled as he shifted away from his sister to sidle up to us as I looked for a hole in the security detail to take us through.

  “Nick, now is not the time to go maverick.” At least Matt was kind enough to try to keep himself to a whisper as well. “Don’t go dragging the girls off to run into trouble here of all places.”

  Kara stepped in between us, not that it was necessary, but old instincts died hard. “Matt, this isn’t just some joyride or anything. You remember what Inferno’s robot did to you… did to Nick. He may not have tried to make a big deal of it, but Nick was as messed up by it as you were.”

  “He died, remember?” Andie added pointedly. “Let us go help him find Inferno, and they can talk this out. Trust us, we won’t cause an international incident or anything.”

  “I’m not worried about that,” Matt shot back as he bristled and gnashed his fangs. “I’m worried about you guys getting in trouble because somebody wants to get in good with Nick’s old man. We’re still heroes, enemies from another place, and ceasefire or not, some real bad guys live here.”

  “Matt,” I said pointedly before I caught myself. “Look, man, I understand, but you want to win this thing, right?” I pointed out towards the Volcano Palace. “To do that, we all need to be one-hundred percent… and I just won’t be until I settle this with him. Not just for what he did to me, but what he did to you and Kristen.”

  Matt’s brow furrowed as a growl tickled the back of his throat. He folded his arms as he mulled that over, and I tried to will him to see my point, to understand my need. Kara and Andie gathered around him as well, forming a tight little circle.

  “I…” Matt let out a rumbling sigh. “Fuck it. Whatever, Nick. We’ll try to cover for you, but you know Efraim’s going to be spitting nails when you guys come up missing.”

  “We won’t be missing,” I assured him. “You can tell Judgment right where we’ll...” Aylin started tapping on my shoulder suddenly, but I ignored her to try to finish my point. “... be. Safe and sound with my dad. It probably won’t even take that long--”

  “Starlight!” Aylin hissed in my ear loudly, something I couldn’t ignore any longer. I turned to look at her only to see her staring off to one side, so I kept turning to follow her gaze… right to where Dad was standing and rubbing the back of his helmeted head in what I could only guess was sheepishness.

  “Junior, if you wanted to talk, all you had to do was ask, right?” he said, unintentionally booming through his suit’s speakers.

  It was like standing right next to jet engines with how loud it was. Most of us were startled by the sudden loud noise, Matt practically whined with his enhanced hearing, Kristen winced in sympathy, and our teachers plus the press corps swiveled as one to look at the scene.

  “Oh, sorry, was addressing a rally of my amazing and loyal citizens earlier,” Inferno called out as he waved at everyone. “Just doing, uh, head-of-state-slash-parental things over here. Carry on.” He actually made a cheesy double point at Triton, Gemma, and Judgment. “Oh, and hey! Welcome to Phoenix, Valcav Academy! My old alma mater, folks. Give ‘em a big hand.”

  The press half-heartedly did exactly that, possibly because there was quite a few Brand military security scattered around them, ‘for their protection,’ of course. Both Douglas and Gemma’s gazes flicked to me, and I gave them a discreet nod to let them know we were okay.

  “So, uh,” Dad began a bit haltingly as he modulated his speakers down to a normal speaking volume, “you still game for that big settle-rino thing?” When we all sort of blinked at him, he started to talk faster. “You know because I have a nice conference room reserved for me at all times in the Spaceport center. You wouldn’t have to get too far behind your group or anything. Trust me, I know how much Dougie and the Gemmster worry, a bunch of nervous Nancies, I tell ya.” He waved his hands dismissively like he was talking about a pair of old friends instead of his most dangerous rivals.

  “Nick, man, I’m starting to think this is a bad--” Matt began, but Inferno snapped his fingers, an amazing trick with his gauntlets on, and a white-hot spark of flame blasted off them to cut Matt off.

  “Hey, wolfman, your betters are talking,” Dad growled. “Let those of us without fleas and traitorous fathers hash this out, huh?”

  Matt was already tensing to shift fully while the air hummed from magnetic force as Kristen stalked to his side, but I stepped in front of them and spread my arms to both sides.

  “It’s okay, guys,” I called behind me before focusing on my father. “Dad, cut it out. This whole ‘Matt’s a bully’ thing? That’s done, and I don’t care about whatever you think their dad did to you.” I set my jaw. “You back down, or we’re not talking.”

  Not surprisingly, Kara, Andie, and Aylin all joined my little barricade. “He’s right, Mr. Gateon,” Kara added. “Stop and think about it. Is being angry at them worth alienating your son?”

  For a long moment, all we got to see was the featureless red visor of Lord Inferno looming down on us, death incarnate if he wanted to be… then it suddenly snapped open to reveal my father’s grimacing face.

  “Fine, we’ll drop it for now,” he acquiesced
before he focused on Kara. “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle! It’s little Kara Johnson, you little cutey! All grown-up… you know, Junior here had a really big crush on you when he was a kid. No surprise you two are, you know, an item.” He glanced at me. “That’s what you kids say these days, right? An item? Or is it a package? Whatever.”

  “I don’t like this, Nick,” Kristen grumbled from behind me, “but if you’ve gotta do this…”

  “You’ve gotta do it,” Matt finished in perfect synch.

  “Okay, Dad,” I said as I nodded to them. “Let’s do this.” I stepped forward. “Come on, ladies, we’ll--”

  “Oh, no, sorry, kiddo.” Dad shrugged. “Look, I’m proud of you for scoring, well, some really smoking hot girlfriends. You ladies are dynamite, let me tell you…” Aylin blinked curiously at that, Kara blushed furiously, and Andie facepalmed at the bad ‘dad patter.’ “... but this is a family thing, right? We’ve got to work this out, mano-y-mano.”

  “Then let me come with you, at least,” Kara pleaded. “Maybe you’ve had problems with the Barburs, but you always said I was the daughter you never had, Mr. Gateon.” She looked at me for a long moment before snapping back up at Dad. “I’m family, too, aren’t I?”

  Dad tried to resist for a moment, but how could he? Kara was devastatingly cute when she was being stubborn. “Okay, okay, fine. You and Kara.” He let a bit of that villainous side out as he cast a glare at the rest of my team. “Don’t get any ideas about following or anything. My son is safe with me, got it?”

  While no one was one-hundred-percent pleased by that proclamation, no one offered an objection as Kara and I stepped away to follow behind Inferno as he led the way toward the Spaceport’s main building. Unlike most of the city’s architecture that kept with the recurring themes of black, red, and stone, this was a shining needle-like building that reached up for the stars. It was almost aspirational until you caught the ubiquitous flaming fist icon along the sides, my father’s symbol.

  It was no surprise that everyone, from out-of-town visitors for the World’s Finest to off-duty flight attendants to security guard, all stopped whatever they were doing and stared as Dad led the way through the front lobby. Other than that, it was strangely normal, like any other hoverport lobby I had seen in my life. As with the building itself, the black-and-red was toned down here, with mirror finishes and shining chrome everywhere save for the red-veined black marble flooring. Even that was polished to a shine, which made it less oppressive than it would normally be.

  Kara kept close by my side, not frightened but definitely wary. I couldn’t blame her, I was too. While I was confident my father wasn’t lying and certainly meant that we’d be safe with him, I wasn’t about to let my guard down now. It was only a few minutes, including a somewhat tense elevator ride, before we were sitting around a mundane oak conference table in the upper floors of the building. It was almost funny how Dad had to maneuver his big, imposing spiked power armor to sit in a normal chair, but he managed it.

  I was to his immediate right, and Kara right beside me. There was an anxious silence for a moment before Dad popped off his helmet and set it on the table. He looked… distraught.

  “Junior… Nick…” he began in measured tones before letting out a sigh. “I really screwed the pooch this time, didn’t I?”

  It felt surprisingly good for him to say that. So often, Dad took the approach that nothing was really his fault, that it was always accident and happenstance that led to the haywire killer robots or the bomb meant to take out my middle school bully took out half the gym instead. This was at least something approaching taking the blame.

  “Look, Dad…” I sucked in a deep breath as I laid my hands flat on the table. “Yes. You really did.” I closed my eyes to gather my thoughts, and as I did, I felt Kara’s warm hand on mine. As I opened my eyes again, I decided that tough love was the proper tact to take. “You killed me. I was literally dead for, like, thirty seconds or something.”

  Inferno’s face, so much like mine but older, grew pale as he looked down at the table’s surface and the black-and-red helmet sitting there. “I… Yeah. Dougie told me. For as much of a self-righteous prick as he is, he’s… a pretty okay guy.” He looked up at that. “It’s why I’m glad he’s mentoring you. You’ll be a great hero, son, that much I’m sure of.”

  “That’s not the point, Dad!” I snapped back as my emotions ran hot. He actually flinched a little at that, while Kara started rubbing my back in slow, soothing circles. “And that’s got nothing to do with anything.” My voice was somewhat collected again. “I know… I know you didn’t mean it, that things go out of hand, and maybe this is the worst it’s ever gotten… but this isn’t the first time, or the third, or even the tenth.”

  “I know I get a little… overprotective,” Dad tried to argue as he let out a weak laugh. “You know I’ve got a predisposition for going for, well, the biggest solution to a problem. It’s something I’ve been working on, but… hey, you can’t take over the world without going big, am I right?” He tried to put on a cheesy smile for my benefit, but it had a snowball’s chance in Hell of influencing me.

  “Mr. Gateon,” Kara edged into the conversation carefully, “I know you’re very smart. Smarter than me, and that’s saying something.” She blushed a bit at her own compliment to herself. “So, you have to know how hard this all has been on Nick, on all of us.”

  “Kara, you’re such a sweetheart.” Inferno’s smile was more honest now. “Didn’t I always tell you that, Junior?” He sighed a bit. “Of course I know, sweetie, but I’m in a tough spot, yanno? Someone’s got to save the world… and then that someone’s got to know he’s going to leave it in good hands when he passes.” There was an utter honesty in Dad’s voice I hadn’t heard in some time. “I know being my son is hard. God, I only wish it wasn’t. Everything I do, though, I do it so that it will wind up making your life better… but I’m only human. I fuck up sometimes.”

  “Then maybe we can muddle through it together,” I said hesitantly. “Look, I started this year really, well, hating your… no, not you… your legacy’s guts, but I thought I came to terms with that.” I took Kara’s hand in mine and squeezed. “Kara, Andie, Eric, Aylin… even Triton… they all reminded me of the good in you--”

  “Aww, wow,” Dad interrupted as he leaned back in his chair. The groan of metal strain it let forth was terrifying. “Thanks, Kara, I knew I liked you for a reason, all your friends too, Nick. And Dougie? See, always a new surprise with that guy.” He grimaced. “Lot better than that blood bending surprise, let me tell you.”

  “Dad, you didn’t let me finish.”

  He blinked and coughed. “Oh. Sorry, Junior. Go on, lay it out for your old man.”

  I glanced sidelong at Kara as I began to hesitate. I wanted to talk to him about Matt and Kristen, but with the progress we were already making, I didn’t want to set him off, as any mention of Ice Bringer or his family did, but… if I didn’t…

  Kara gazed into my eyes as if she could read my mind, smiled softly, and nodded. “You’ve got to, Nick.”

  “Got to what?” Dad laughed nervously. “Hopefully, it’s something better than a poke in the eye and a kick in the ass.”

  Confidence renewed, I turned to look back at my father. “Everyone reminded me of the good in you… and then you pulled that stunt after the final exam.” I tried to stay calm, but I couldn’t hide all my anger and fear. “Just when I made peace with the people who had been on my case all semester, figured out that it wasn’t even entirely their fault, you had to come in and ‘deal with my bullies.’ For fuck’s sake, Dad, I’m twenty-two, and I can throw a car into orbit. I don’t need you murdering people for me, okay?”

  Inferno’s jaw set as his expression grew cold, hard, and calculated. “Junior, it wasn’t just about what those Barburs did to you. I mean, yes, partly it was that, but more so. I was trying to save you from them, from the time when they betray you.” He raised a single finger. �
�Mark my words, son, they will. Maybe not right now, but when you need them most, they will turn their backs on you, fight you tooth-and-nail, try to ruin everything you have strived to work for.” There was a growl in the back of his throat, and I knew I wasn’t imagining the fact that the room’s temperature had spiked a few degrees. “It’s what Barburs do.”

  That was the last straw. I rose up out of my seat, palms pressing hard into the oak table as I tried not to yell at him.

  “You killed his wife!” Yeah, I failed to not yell at him. “What did you think he was going to do? Embrace you with open arms? Of course, he hates you, and his kids do too.”

  Dad rose out of his chair as well, the chair tumbling back as he clenched his fists. “Damnit, Junior, that was different!”

  Before he could add more, Kara was up as well, her voice firm but still below a yell. “How can that be different? You murdered her, Mr. Gateon, someone kind and nice and sweet. Lyla Barbur was almost a saint.”

  “I…” Inferno broke his gaze away from our stares, and he began to pace. My dad wasn’t much of a pacer, only when he was truly stumped with a problem did he do so. “You don’t understand, kids. You’re still… not young. No. You’re untempered. You haven’t been thrust into the bullshit of the world out there yet to see the things I have.”

  “I lost Mom too, you know,” I snapped back as I thumped the table. “And living in your shadow has been tempering enough.”

  Kara put a hand on my shoulder, but her tone was no less strident even as she tried to keep me calm. “But Lyla’s death… it’s not even the point here. It’s the fact that you’re attaching the… crimes isn’t even the right word… you’re expecting Matt and Kristen to be like their father, and in the crossfire, you’re hurting Nick, me, and everyone else he cares about.”