by R. J. Ross
“But you—you attacked that guy,” the girl says, motioning in the direction that the guy had run off in.
“No I didn’t,” Doris says. “He grabbed me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable, so I changed into something more comfortable.”
“I saw it!” someone yells. “She’s telling the truth!”
“You could have just, I don’t know, told someone that he did that?” the girl says, but she’s hesitating now. Working on the beach like this has shown her how rude some people could be.
“Listen, kid, I’m a super—not only am I a super, I’m a super villain,” Doris says, trying to keep her calm. “I shouldn’t have to yell for some big strong man to save me when another big, strong,” and here she snorts, “man thinks he has the right to touch my body simply because I’m showing some skin. You hear that, people? No one comes to the beach just to get groped—“ she stops as a little girl races for her, wrapping her arms around her waist.
“Jersey, you’re my favorite!” the little girl says, grinning up at her with a missing tooth.
“Well… some types of grabbing are okay,” Doris says reluctantly, patting the little girl a bit awkwardly on the head. “Why don’t you go back to your mom, okay, kid?”
“Liza, get over here!” a woman hisses urgently, looking pale. The girl reluctantly heads towards her, leaving Doris with a longing look.
“Hey, Jersey!” a familiar voice yells. Doris looks over, sighing at the sight of Rochester waving to her. He’s wearing a black suit. It covers his tattoos, but it doesn’t hide all the piercings. “I’ve been sent t’ oversee this… publicity stunt.”
“I’m surprised they sent you, and not someone else,” Doris says, relaxing.
“Where are the other two?” Rochester asks, making his way through the crowd. “Sorry ‘bout this, everyone, I’m from South Branch. Once in a while a villain decides t’ do a good deed an’ contacts us. Since we’re hoping t’ convert them over to the good side, we do our best t’ give them a hand.”
“How is this a ‘good deed’?” a guy yells at him.
“It’s a lesson in respectin’ women,” Rochester says with an easy smile. “Can I get… half a dozen hotdogs an’ another half dozen waters?” he asks, since no one’s ordering.
“Um, sure, okay,” the girl says, turning to start putting the food together.
“Who are you, mister? Can you take her down if she gets mad?” a woman asks.
“Not a chance,” Rochester says cheerfully, handing three of the hotdogs to Doris. “But I AM one o’ their favorite guys, right, Jersey?”
“Skystep likes you,” Doris says simply, shifting back to her human form. She takes the mask he hands her and slaps it on, even though it’s a bit late. Then she heads for the condiment counter, motioning for him to follow. “Why the black suit, though?”
“They aren’t giving me a name or a uniform,” Rochester explains as he starts fixing up the other hotdogs. “I’m more of a… specialist, sort of thing. So they stick me in this suit and send me out here to make sure you don’t kill anyone. Century would have come, but—well, he’s busy with paperwork, and it’s the weekend, so I don’t have to work until this eve’nin.” He tugs at his tie, ripping through the cloth and then cursing.
“You wore a suit to a beach,” she says, only to stop as she hears something. People are yelling—and cheering. She decides to ignore it, even though there’s a very good chance that—
“Found the others,” Rochester says, stripping off his suit coat and revealing a sleeveless dress shirt.
“Did that come with the sleeves removed?” she asks.
“They tore before the tie did,” he says, grinning as he starts jogging towards the noise. There’s a large crowd of people watching two people surf. “Oh… huh…” Rochester says, looking a bit befuddled.
“What are they doing now?” Doris asks as she catches up to him. She stares at the two women surfing on the biggest wave since the last tsunami. “I saw nothing.” She turns and starts to walk away. Before she can get too far, though, he grabs her wrist.
“If that hits the beach, every norm in the area and several buildings will be taken out,” he points out.
“But they’re having a lot of fun,” Doris points out. “Okay, fine, I’ll get them to stop, but you OWE me.”
“Century owes you!” he says. “I don’t pay debts just ‘cause I’m workin’ for the guy!” Doris shifts and shoves off of the sand, launching into the air. As soon as they see her, Skye and Ariel start waving happily.
“This is AWESOME!” Skye yells excitedly. “Did you come to surf with us?”
“No! Rochester says the wave is too big!” Doris yells back.
“No it’s not! I wanted to make it bigger!” Skye says.
“We left a really shallow spot behind us, and the fishies might not be happy about it,” Ariel says, “but it’s LOTS of fun! Here, you can ride behind me!”
“Ariel, bring the wave down,” Doris says, sighing. “There are kids on the beach.”
“But—“ Skye says.
“Umm…” Ariel says.
“It’s too much fun to stop!” Skye says.
“But you’re going to drown everyone on the beach!” Doris says. “So stop the wave already, Ariel!”
“It’s a little… too late?” Ariel says. Doris blinks as the wave starts to crash to the ground.
“PULL BACK AS MUCH AS YOU CAN! SKYE, ROCHESTER! GRAB THE NORMS!” Doris bellows before racing to the ground and grabbing as many norms as she can. Suddenly the world stops.
“What were you thinking?” Century demands. Skye, Ariel, and Doris look around a bit blankly, and then up at the wave that’s frozen right before it hits the ground.
“We were surfing!” Skye says. “It was a lot of fun until Doris started yelling at us.”
“Ariel, I’m going to start time on the water in sections from the back, I want you to start calming it down, got it?” Century says, deciding not to respond to that comment.
“Okay, okay, I can do that,” Ariel says, flying to the back of the wave.
“And you! I sent you to calm these three down!” Century says, pointing at Rochester. “The girls deserve a fun time at the beach, but in moderation!”
“In my defense, Doris was ‘bout t’behead a guy for gropin’ her in the hotdog line,” Rochester says. “She’d gone full-on Jersey, an’ everythin’.”
“I… well, yes, I can see how that would be a problem, but Doris, darlin’,” Century says, turning to her, “you can do that without shifting!” He sighs, running a hand over his face.
“Ready for the next section, Century!” Ariel calls. He holds out his hand and they quickly reduce the wave to a mild six footer. “There we go! Now let’s start time again and have a bonfire!”
“Masks on, first!” Century orders. They reluctantly take the masks Rochester hands out, pouting slightly.
Time snaps back into place and all of the screaming norms still on the beach get slapped with ocean water, which calmly flows back into the sea. “No more ‘better’ waves, girls, got it?” Century says, striking a pose over the ocean.
“We got itttt, go away!” Skye says, pouting.
“I apologize for this, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy your vacations.” He flies away leaving the villains still sitting there, being stared at.
“Bonfire!” Ariel says, jumping to her feet. “Bonfire, bonfire, bonfire!”
“Bonfire!” Doris and Skye shout, jumping up as well. “Rochester! You provide the music!” Skye says, pointing at him.
“But I got work tonight—“ Rochester says, only to give in as they all stare at him. “Fine, I’ll call the boys,” he mutters, pulling out his phone.
“We need to do one of those super cheesy dances from those old surfer movies!” Skye says, excitedly.
“Hey!” Doris says, as all of the norms that had been screaming and running start coming back. “Weren’t you all running for your lives?”
“
Well… yeah, but this looks like fun,” one of the guys that had his surfboard stolen says.
She stares at him for a moment before shrugging. “Then dig us a firepit, would you? Skye! Think we can kidnap Fire Hazard for this?”
“I’ll call Nightstep!” Skye says happily. “There should be enough shadow for him to get here, now, right? He can bring Emily, Aubrey, Zoe, and Sunny, too! Am I missing someone?”
“Bonfire!!” Ariel says, dancing like a loon.
“So,” the blond surfer guy from before says, moving to Ariel’s side. “You wanna dance?”
She looks at him, blankly. “Do I know you? Hey, Skye! Have him kidnap the pretty boy singer while he’s at it!” she says, running over to her friend. “We’ll have a REAL party! Oh! And bring Malina!”
“Ooh, good idea!”
***
As the sun sets over the ocean, Rochester and Justin play in the background while everyone dances in the sand. Ariel stops dancing as the latest song ends, and says, “I’m just going to talk to Mom for a bit, okay?”
“Tell her hi for us, too, okay?” Skye says.
“Ariel, I don’t think that—“ Doris starts out.
“It’s the mother I’ve chosen,” Ariel says, her eyes clear and focused. “I know it isn’t true—if it was, I wouldn’t have a human form whenever I lose my powers, but it’s the back story I prefer to… to what really happened.”
“What did happen?” Doris asks softly.
“They gave me to them,” Ariel whispers. “My human parents, I don’t even remember what they look like… but I remember that they were scared of me. They handed me over to the military to get fixed, but all the military did was lock me up until Mimic let me go.”
The two look at each other before wrapping their arms around her. “Well… then go say Happy Mother’s Day to your mother, Ariel,” Skye says, pulling away and motioning to the ocean.
Ariel steps forward, pauses, and then runs back to the bag of beach stuff they brought, digging out a sloppy, handmade card. “Happy Mother’s Day! I made you a card—I’m not very good at writing yet, but hey, I bet you’re not very good at reading, either,” Ariel says. “But I can read it for you, okay?”
“She didn’t need fixed,” Skye says quietly as Doris moves to her side. They’re watching their fellow criminal speak happily to the ocean. “She just needed loved.”
“She also needed Nico’s bracelet,” Doris points out. “But… at least now she’s a little bit happy, right?”
Ariel turns to them, smiling beautifully. “I’m extremely happy,” she says. “Also, Mom wants us to do some cleaning for her this weekend, okay? So we’re gonna need a LOT of trash bags.”
“I’ll get them!” Skye says.
“I’ll get those spiky stick things,” Doris says.
“And we need to kidnap a healer to fix the coral—that wave wasn’t very nice to it.”
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, huh?” Skye says.
“Yep.”
“That wave was still TOTALLY worth it.”
“Yep.”
Child o’ Mine
“I’d like to thank you for coming all this way, Doris,” Mastermental says as he leads her to the cage. She’s been here before, but there was nothing she could do about the boy then, and there’s still nothing she can do, now. A part of her just wants to turn and walk away.
“There’s nothing I can do, you know.”
“I realize that you think that,” Mastermental says, “but of all of the stimuli we bring in, you’re the one he reacts to the most strongly.”
“Because he sees me as a threat,” Doris says.
“It’s better than not seeing you at all,” he says. They stop in front of the cage where the boy—Tank, he calls himself, is perched in a tree, sleeping. She feels a little sick to her stomach, seeing him. He can’t change back to human form, he only has the mind of a predator, as well. He’s no longer human.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Mastermental says quietly as she sits on the ground outside the cage. For a long moment after he’s gone, she doesn’t say anything. Tank wakes up, turning and looking at her. He drops down from the tree and heads for the laser wall, crouching in front of it and staring at her.
“Good to see you’ve learned not to shock yourself,” Doris says. “I know you’re in there, kid. It shouldn’t have fried everything… at least I don’t think it should have.”
He flexes his wings, trying to look bigger than her. Doris sighs and then shrugs her shirt off, revealing her uniform. She shifts, and says, “Okay, okay, you’re still bigger than me, but size isn’t everything, kid.”
The boy in the cage smirks at her, clearly believing otherwise. “Talk, Tank, focus your mind and speak to me,” she whispers, not daring to hope. She asks this, every time she comes. It never works.
He lets out a scream, instead, and she groans. “Not that sort of talk. Speak to me, kid. There’s got to be something left of your old mind… right?” If there isn’t, that… she doesn’t know what it means for her. This kid wasn’t the nicest of guys, she’d heard the whole story, but he doesn’t deserve to be locked away like an animal, either.
He looks at Doris for a long moment before turning and heading back to his tree. “Maaaan,” she mutters, lowering her head for a moment. “Not gonna work, huh?”
“We need to be patient,” Mastermental says. She looks over as he walks towards them. “He showed more signs of humanity just now than he has since he was changed. It means we’re making progress.”
“I just hate seeing him like this,” she says softly. “I mean, I didn’t even know him, before, but… he’s the closest to a blood relative that I’ve got, right? They used my DNA on him.”
“You didn’t choose that,” Mastermental says. “You have no obligation to help him.”
“Of course I do,” Doris says. “Skye helped me get out of my cage. The least I can do is try and help him. I’m sorry, Mastermental. I wish I could be more help.” She stands, shifting back to her human form. “I’ll come back when I have another free day. It’s sort of hard sneaking out without the girls finding out, though.”
“Have you thought of telling them?”
“If I did, what do you think Skye would do?” she asks, a hint of amusement on her face. “She’d be out to adopt the kid, you know? She’s far too enthusiastic about family. I can’t just let this guy run through a national forest, not like he is. And her breaking him out would cause problems, too.”
“I see, that does seem likely,” Mastermental admits.
“But… can I go inside, just for a moment?” she asks, looking at the cage. “He might be a little bigger than I am, but I doubt he’s stronger.”
“Are you sure?” Mastermental asks.
“I’m sure,” she says, heading for the door to the side of the cage. Mastermental follows, placing his hand on the panel next to it. The door swings open and Doris walks in. “Tank,” she says. She expects him to race forward, possibly attack, but he does neither. He just stays where he is in the tree, watching her. She walks up to the tree, looking up at him. “Hey, kiddo, not going to attack?”
“Mmmaa,” the boy says. She goes still with shock. In reality, Tank has only Kunnins left as family, and Kunnins had actually adopted him. He has no blood relatives left, either. But here, he’s calling her—“Maa,” he says, his hand reaching out. She takes it, pressing it to her cheek.
“Yeah,” she says, tears threatening to fall. “I’m here.”
Slowly he pulls his hand away, closes his eyes, and goes back to sleep.
Big Brother
“So… if I recall correctly, you once told me that you were positive that people were watching you all the time,” Doris says as Skye reaches up and adjusts one of the various cameras that are scattered throughout the base.
“Mmhmm,” she says, moving so she’s right next to the camera in order to see where it’s pointed. “Oh, this should be a good view of us, right? This way we ca
n record our deep conversations when we hang out on the couch!”
“Focus, Skye,” Doris says. “We’re trying to have a ‘deep conversation’ right now.”
“Oh, I forgot to check the one in the kitchen!” Skye says, racing through the wall. Doris groans, running a hand over her face and looking at the camera for a moment before following.
“Skye! Don’t you think it’s a little weird that you’re just letting him record everything we do, when you used to be so paranoid about being watched all the time?” she demands as she catches up with her “fearless leader.”
“Now we can do a cooking show!” Skye declares happily.
“Skye! Your brother hasn’t even HIDDEN all the cameras watching you!” Doris says. “Ariel, back me up, here, don’t you think it’s weird that she’s so happy about it?”
“It’s her brother, though. He doesn’t really care what we do, except maybe to laugh at it,” Ariel says from where she’s munching on kelp chips on the couch. “And she’s perfectly happy with her brother watching her, right, Skye?”
“Yep! Also, also, they have this really awesome little feature,” Skye says, moving to the front room and placing her hands on her hips. “Nico-bots! Run privacy scan two-one-one!”
Doris jerks as every camera in the building starts to scan the place with a green light. The light goes over her, over the walls, over the furniture, not leaving even an inch of space unlit.
The wall in front of them lights up when the scan is done, and a report comes up. “There is a non-Nico-bot recording device near the lake,” Nico’s voice reports. “No signs of humanoid life forms.”
“Destroy it!” Skye orders cheerfully.
“Destroying,” Nico’s voice says. “Recording device has been destroyed.”
“YAY!” Skye cheers. “Now! The camera in the pool room!” she says, racing off.
“Her brother is just as paranoid as she is,” Doris says, finally, looking stunned. “Skye, it was probably someone watching for wildlife! You shouldn’t do that unless it’s actually IN our base!”