Steampunk Time: Cape High Book Seven (Cape High Series 7)

by R. J. Ross

  “I really don’t know if we should reveal you just yet, Ditto,” Jeanie says after a moment of thought (just long enough for Ditto to squeeze in on the other side of Trent). “I mean, then we’d have to tell everyone your powers--we can’t exactly let people think Trent is dating twins when we’re doing work with a Christian company, you know.”

  “It’s better to have your abilities under wrap until your debut,” Trent says, patting Ditto on the head. “You can wear this to the first movie after your debut, okay?” he offers. She nods and disappears. I feel a bit depressed when she comes back--simply because she was.

  “It was a really cute outfit,” I complain.

  “I know, I know.” This time I’m the one being patted on the head. I roll my eyes and reach up to take his hand off of my head.

  “She’ll wear something like that for our debut, too, right?” I ask Liz.

  “Sure, I don’t see why not,” Liz says.

  The car pulls to a stop and the door swings open. Trent slides out after his parents, leaning down and offering me his hand. Someone calls for him from behind, “Kid Liberty!”

  I take the hand, sliding out and looking at Trent. He’s looking blankly at a tall, beautiful blonde teenage girl heading straight for him with a huge smile. “I’m so glad I could come today--I didn’t think I’d make it with my schedule!” she says, grabbing his left arm.

  “Um… who are you?” Trent asks her blankly.

  “I’m Layla Sanders--I’m going to be playing your love interest in the movie! I thought tonight would be a perfect time to show up--” she stops, as if only just now realizing I’m standing here--down here. Like half a foot shorter and a lot less curvy than she is. “Oh. You brought your little sister?” she asks.

  I’m going to kill her.

  “Emily?” Trent says silently, “calm.”

  “I am NOT his little sister!” I say, grabbing his right arm tightly. It’s just about then that I hear a photo being snapped and the lights threaten to blind me for a second.

  I glance over as soon as I can see again and see the blonde trying to pull Trent away from me as hard as she can without seeming to be noticed. It’s not working. Trent looks hesitant, and I can almost see him trying to figure out what to do--until Liz hooks arms with me.

  “Come on, kiddo, let’s introduce you to the press,” she says, completely ignoring how Layla’s eyes go huge at the sight of her. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to--Aubrey, come here, sweetie, you’re up, too,” she says, holding out a hand to my foster sister. Aubrey lets go of Jack and rushes forward, grabbing Liz’s other arm. “My foster daughters, Divine Justice and Life Light,” she says proudly.

  “Divine Justice? Which one is Divine Justice? Is she one of the Liberty--”

  Jeanie steps forward, smiling brilliantly as she places a hand on my shoulder. “Divine will be Kid Liberty’s partner when she graduates from Cape High,” she says, as Trent comes forward. He must have wriggled free of the blonde somehow. Jeanie steps aside so he can stand next to me, his hand resting on my waist.

  “She doesn’t look very divine,” I hear someone mutter in the back.

  “My name,” I say boldly, stepping forward, “is in remembrance of my family. I’m the last of the Divine Line from the South Branch. They passed away trying to save people’s lives not very long ago.”

  The tone of the audience changes, sympathy practically oozing over their curiosity. They try to ask more questions, but Liz just takes over without a thought. “I’m quite proud of my girls, who are growing into amazing capes. I suggest you keep a close eye out for Divine’s debut, especially.”

  “What about Life Light?” someone asks, turning the attention to Aubrey. She flushes slightly. “What powers do you have?” they ask her.

  “I’m a--”

  “That, my friends, is a trade secret,” Liz says. “Now, we’re going to miss my colleague’s movie if we keep chatting, so we’d better get going.” Then she hauls us inside, leaving the cameras--and Trent--behind. “That bleach blonde,” she say, snorting, “any chance to get a cape in a photo op.”

  “You left him out there with her, you know,” I have to point out.

  “Oh, that doesn’t matter. We just totally stole her spotlight, regardless of what she does now,” Liz says cheerfully. “You two want nachos? How about a coke?”

  “Firefly,” a familiar deep voice says from behind her. “Did you just steal the girls from their dates?” We all turn to see Taurus in formal uniform, looking a bit amused even with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “I haven’t gotten to take my girls to the movies for weeks, you know,” Liz says. I look at Aubrey, who grins back, and we both hug Liz tightly around the waist, trying our very best to haul her over to the big black man. She moves with us, out of habit more than having to.

  “Taurus, we REALLY want to sit with our boyfriends,” Aubrey says.

  “And keep them away from scheming blondes,” I add silently. “So can you take this from us for the night?”

  “This?” Liz demands. “She just called me a ‘this’!”

  “We love you, Liz,” I say, standing on tiptoe to kiss her on the cheek. I hear a photo snapped, but I don’t care. I let go as soon as I’ve kissed her and race back to the door--just in time to see the blonde hanging off of Trent’s arm as he stares up at Max and Zoe.

  “I thought they brought a car,” Aubrey says blankly.

  I head outside, moving to Trent’s side--in front of the blonde. “Norms need to get out of the way,” I tell her coldly.

  “I really don’t know who decided you would be his partner, but there’s no possible way it was Kid Liberty! You don’t have a chance with a guy--”

  Okay, that’s IT, I think. Ditto pops into existence beside me. Trent groans. “Really, D.J.?” he asks me. “You had to bring out Ditto?”

  “This blonde is going down!” Ditto snarls, only to get grabbed by Trent before she can attack. The sound of Max laughing his head off is the only thing that keeps me from taking advantage of Trent having his arms full.

  “Trust it to Kid Liberty to have a duplicator girlfriend!” he says as he lands, letting Zoe drop to her feet.

  “Why--where--” the blonde says, looking from me to Ditto and back again. “How are there TWO of you?”

  “You’re supposed to listen to the super villain exposition,” Max says as he walks over, dropping a hand on my head. “That’s how you get the plot, understand? And who might you be, duplicator girl?” he asks me as I whack his arm away.

  “I’m Divine Justice!” I announce boldly.

  “D.J.” Trent adds. “Ditto, would you calm down?”

  “No norm talks down to me,” she growls. “And you CAN’T be his love interest in the movie!” she taunts the blonde. “Because now everyone knows Kid Liberty’s dating a redhead duplicator! They’ll have to get twins,” she says, calming down and looking quite smug.

  It’s just about this time the car pulls to a screeching halt in front of the red carpet, making us all turn and watch.

  “My car!” Max yelps as the door swings open and Ace steps out, tossing the keys in the air and letting them disappear. An entire carload of kids in masks come tumbling out behind him as a guy in a valet suit steps up.

  “The keys?” he asks.

  “Ask Maximum,” Ace says cheerfully. “I made my own.”

  “You stole my car!” Maximum bellows.

  “Excuse me, who might you be--” the news lady from before asks Ace. Ace’s face twists, his entire head turning into that of a dragon as he turns to her, showing off his teeth. “Dragon!” she says excitedly.

  “He totally took our limelight,” Jack says, stepping up next to Max.

  “Are you surprised? He stole my car!” Max says.

  “I’ll fix any damage he caused, don’t worry,” Zoe says, patting Max on the shoulder. Ace heads straight for him, his eyes gleaming unnaturally.

  “That’s for the ‘Dragon
Fanclub’ website with the seventy dollar membership. Don’t think I don’t know who’s picking up the cash,” Ace tells him before looking at Jack. “Next I’m getting even for the massive makeup kit.”

  “But you’re already wearing the eyeliner!” Jack says shamelessly. The cameras are almost blinding with all three of them together, especially when Trent’s just standing there in full uniform, watching them with a dark expression. That is totally a fake dark expression, you know. Trent’s good at acting. Oh wait! This is my chance to deal with the blonde!

  “No you don’t!” Aubrey and Zoe both say, grabbing me and Ditto before we can do anything. “We’re in public--on television, Em,” Zoe whispers in my ear. “Behave yourself.”

  “Even you have to agree that she looks nothing like a Liberty girl should!” the blonde says, only to blink as Trent turns and looks at her, forgetting entirely about his “three biggest enemies” gossiping mere feet away.

  “Excuse me,” he says mildly, walking towards her. “If a hero was judged merely on looks this entire world would have been destroyed years ago. And regardless of what you think, the one that chose Divine Justice as my partner was me. Now, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to come out and see a movie about a hero I consider family, and hope that you enjoy it. But as far as being a love interest in the movie, I’m afraid that won’t be working out. D.J., Ditto, come on, Mega would be heartbroken if we were late to his movie.”

  We grab his arms and head inside, right past the bad boy trio as if they weren’t even there. I love my boyfriend SO much right now.

  SUNNY

  When everyone was loading into their various modes of transportation, I was sitting on the edge of the road, waiting for my ride to pick me up. Yes, I still can’t drive. I’m almost sixteen, but that’s not old enough. Besides, even if I’m going with my girlfriend’s family to the movie, her family still consists of one of the biggest names in super villains. So that sort of makes it cool, right?

  Er, not that Panther approves of me fully just yet. I think he’s just waiting for me to either get taller or to turn into a super villain or something. Oh well--I’ve grown a bit, at least! I hit five seven the other day! Mom says I’m going to just shoot up overnight sometime soon and be as tall as Dad, but she might just be saying that because it’s such a sore point for me.

  The black car that Zoe and Dad made pulls to a halt in front of me and I head for the driver’s window. “Thanks for this, Mr. Panther,” I say with a wide smile before slipping into the seat behind him. I blink, though, at the sight of Adanna sitting in the middle and her little brother, Cubby, strapped into a high tech booster seat next to her.

  “You’re um… bringing your son to a theater filled with super heroes and villains?” I ask after a second of trying to figure it out.

  “Cubby’s old enough to sit through a movie,” Amara--Adanna’s super beautiful mom says, looking back at me with a smile. “He’s secretly a Mega fan.”

  “You’re kidding me,” I say, looking over Adanna and staring blankly at the little boy who has a Mega toy in his hand. “Not someone like Firefly? How about Taurus? Taurus is awesome!”

  “How about a proper super villain, instead?” Pan says dryly.

  “Now you know he has plenty of Panther posters on his wall, too,” Amara says. “But it’s good for him to enjoy both sides with how he’ll be expected to work in the future.”

  “Regardless,” Pan says, “Sunny’s right--there are much better heroes to choose from. Has he even looked at the Falconess toy I got him?” he asks his wife. The image of Pan going into a toy store and picking out a Falconess toy--”Or how about the Banshee blanket I got him? I would be perfectly happy if he liked one of those.”

  “You know he never sees Banshee on the television except for the old videos you show him,” Adanna says, rolling her eyes before reaching over and straightening my tie. “You look nice,” she says.

  Oh, wait--I should have done that first, shouldn’t I? I look at her--then stare. “Adanna?” I ask her after a second.

  “Yes?”

  “Well… um, aren’t you supposed to wear a skirt for this? I mean--you look great, obviously, you ALWAYS look great, but--” I say, trying and failing to sound smooth. But she’s wearing a pants suit! After seeing even Emily in a skirt I’d been positive she would go all out and everyone would see my girlfriend and realize just how amazing she is--not just looks, of course, but her looks DEFINITELY deserve showing off!

  “It’s in case we get a bit of resistance going in,” Pan says. “She says she wants to make it look good.” He sounds as disappointed as I am, I’m happy to note.

  “I don’t look good in skirts,” Adanna says, pouting as she looks away from me. Okay, what, exactly, do I say to that? I don’t know what’s going through her mind half the time, okay? And obviously I can’t just tell her that she’s the prettiest girl in the entire world, much less the school, or something. I’m way too conscious of the fact that her parents are right in front of us.

  “Um…” I start out, instead, digging out a small plastic box from my pocket instead. “Here,” I say, holding it out to her. She looks at it blankly, taking it from me and opening it. A tiny bud sits on a bed of vines connected to a simple lace cuff. “Here, let me put it on--Mom said I should give you this,” I say as she lets me slide it over her hand.

  “What is it?” she asks. “It’s kind of… weird,” she adds.

  “That’s because I have to do this,” I say, touching the tiny bud. It blossoms, turning into a large, delicate white flower. The vines sprout out, gently wrapping around her wrist. “Mom chose this because your mom said you’d be wearing black and white,” I tell her. “It’s a White Cymbidium Orchid and a bit of other stuff. She also said to give you this, Ms. Amara,” I add, pulling out another small box and handing it up to her, “for your hair.”

  She pulls out a hairpin with another small bud on it and slips it into her hair. “These are so beautiful, Sunny, thank you,” she says as I reach forward and touch her pin to make it grow. I look at Adanna, wondering what she’s thinking. She’s staring at her flower, gently touching the petals.

  “It’s pretty,” she says, smiling slightly. “I don’t know if it suits me--”

  “It does,” I say. “I picked it out, myself.”

  I see Pan looking at me in the rearview mirror. “Well played, Sunny,” he says. “Now I need to ask you a few questions before we get there.”

  “About what?” I ask, digging in my pocket for the random seed. I pull it out, holding it where Cubby can see, and let it grow. Mom’s training has helped a lot, I think as a tiny tree grows out of the seed. He stares in wonder, clapping happily as it gets taller.

  “The super villains in your school.”

  “What?” I ask, accidentally dropping the tree. Adanna catches it, wrapping the roots in a napkin.

  “Your father’s asked me for a favor--he wants me to take the boys in for a few weeks this summer, sort of like a Summer Camp course. Do you just have the three?”

  “Max, Jack and Ace? Yeah,” I say. “Unless one of the zoo kids plans on doing it, but they never talk with us, so I couldn’t tell you.”

  “Interesting,” he says. “For now we’ll assume it’s just the three. Would you like to come, as well?” he asks.

  “And learn to be a super villain?” I ask, thinking about it.

  “Papa plans on teaching them the art of survival and hiding,” Adanna says. “It’ll be harder for Jack, but considering what you want to be, I think it would suit you.”

  “Are you coming?” I ask her.

  “Of course not,” she says. “This is stuff I learned when I was Cubby’s age.” Ego hit. Ouch. She’s good at that. I know she didn’t do it on purpose, though. I mean, she’s telling the truth. “Cubby will probably be joining you!” she says to prove that fact.

  “How do the three get along?” Pan asks me. “They seem to work well together.”

  “Oh, they figh
t all the time,” I say. “Ace doesn’t get in on it that often, but I heard they’re starting to irritate him as much as they irritate each other--Jack used to have a thing for Zoe, so Max had that against him. Now that he’s dating Aubrey it’s more of a… giving each other a hard time. But they don’t try and kill each other or anything, and I heard that Jack went with Ace to the hospital a few times.”

  “And how do you get along with them?” Pan asks.

  I grin at him in the mirror. “I like to think I’m friends with Max and Jack--I haven’t talked with Ace that much, but what he does is awesome. I think I wouldn’t mind going,” I decide. “I like Cubby!” Cubby gives me a huge grin. “And learning survival would be smart--will we be camping?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well, you know, other than the plants trying to get in my bed, that is,” I add honestly. “It’s getting Max and the others to camp out that might be a problem. Max is a rich kid, far as I can tell. I doubt he’s ever been camping in his life.”

  We pull to a stop and I blink as Adanna pulls out a tiny mask and puts it on Cubby before pulling on her own. “Mask, Sunny,” she orders.

  “Oh, right,” I say, digging through my pockets and pulling out a green, leafy mask. “Mom insisted,” I explain as I slip it on. I get out of the car and reach in, offering to help Adanna get out. She stares at the hand blankly for a moment before taking it and sliding out. I give her a grin. “Thanks,” I say as I bend my arm so she can slip hers through it. Her dad’s already helping her mom out of the car, who lets go of his arm and gets Cubby out as Pan steps forward into the flashing lights.

  Adanna watches for a moment as we walk around the car. “Is it safe letting people know about Cubby?” I ask.

  “It’s fine,” she says. “Your father put in a new security system at our place, remember?”

  “Oh, right,” I say with a hint of amusement.

  “And of all of us, he’s the only one that actually wants to see the movie,” she goes on as we walk down the red carpet. Neither of us are debuted heroes, so there’s one or two shots taken before all the attention goes back to the three super villains--who Panther is heading straight for. I can practically feel the anticipation in the crowd as Pan joins the group. He drops one hand on Ace’s shoulder and another on Max’s, making them all look up.