by R. J. Ross
"Your friends were protesting inside, is that correct?" the news reporter demands. "Is there any reason it couldn't have been done outside?"
"We have the right to say what needs to be said to the people that need to hear it!" a second protester yells from behind the first. "We have more right to be in the school than they do! We're tax-paying citizens!"
"Weren’t your friends taken away by the police, though? Schools are treated as private property for the safety of the students--YOU were the ones that were uninvited, correct?” the reporter points out. "Can you tell us the reason why you protest supers being invited to talk at schools?"
"It's our right to protect our children! Supers should be nowhere near the schools! It's too dangerous!" The irony of that statement seems to be lost on the woman saying it, but it isn’t for the reporter--I can see it on her face.
The screen changes to the news station, showing an attractive black woman with a piece of paper in her hands and a slight frown on her face. "You know, my daughter would LOVE to have Divine Justice come speak at her school," she says quietly, looking over at someone next to her. She jerks, suddenly, turning to the camera with a plastered on professional smile. "In other news, a cow was born with a strange growth—"
Falconess turns off the television. "This is just going to get more difficult," she says quietly, looking at us. "Do you think it's smart to do what you’re thinking?"
"We're super heroes," Emily says, "when has 'smart' ever had to do with it? All we need is her name and address."
"Can Nico get those things?" I ask.
"Why should he? This is OUR mission."
***
Super drama is so much the norm in our society that it's not enough to close down school. That's why there are still clubs and sports practice going on as we approach Princeton’s soccer field. We're not in uniform this time—we're wearing something much, MUCH worse. "She was right," Emily says, making a face and reaching up to touch her brown wig, "this thing is really itchy."
"Where did you get that from, anyway?" I ask. Emily as a brunette is a bit disconcerting. She looks so… normal. She even put on a pair of fake glasses, some jeans, and a t-shirt that has absolutely nothing on it.
"Mom wore it on the plane trip up to Grandma's," she says, scratching again. "Are you making fun of my disguise?" She looks at me pointedly, and I look down at my favorite ugly shirt and khaki shorts with a hint of self-consciousness. "At least you didn't bring the pocket protector," she mutters.
"I'm trying to fit in," I protest, shoving at my own dorky glasses.
"We need to at LEAST get him some glasses that don't look like Buddy Holly," Malina says. It's terrible, but we dressed her up like a grade schooler. If anyone asks, she's Emily's little sister. But at least she seems really happy with her My Little Pony backpack, right? In fact she twists so she can see it and smiles even as I think that. "Carla is going to LOVE this," she says happily. "I just wish I wore the same size shoes as her—she'd really love these," she adds, holding one foot up to show off her Rainbow Dash slip-ons.
"I'm sorry," I mutter, guiltily.
"Huh? What for?" she asks, looking at me.
"We dressed you like a little kid—"
"No, I am dressed like a hard-core brony—er pegasister, I think they call them," she tells me, holding up a finger as she launches into an explanation. "Either way, there's a difference! That the average person doesn't understand doesn't mean I care—check this out, these shoes ONLY come in my size, millions of fan boys and girls over the world are raging with jealousy over that fact. I'm only feeling guilty about Carla."
"Who is SUPER picky about her shoes, and as much as she'd like those, she'd never wear them," Freddy says. He's wearing a tank top, a pair of sunglasses, and a beanie with Ace's symbol on the front. "Ever since she got those shoes down south she's sworn off brand names completely. If anything, she'll talk Kim into making her shoes with Rainbow Dash on the side—then we'll probably have a huge war with Hasbro—"
"She can get rainbows on them," I say, "and leave the pony off." As we talk, we casually join the massive group of teenagers on the sports field. They're scattered all over in small groups, doing everything from running to chatting on the bleachers. There aren't that many teachers out here, thankfully. I see all of two, and both are working with the students on the field. We head for one of the groups hanging out on the bleachers.
"Can you believe that THE Justin actually came to our school?" I hear one girl ask excitedly.
"Are we sure it was him?"
"Of course it was him! You saw the video of his last concert, right? Divine Justice fought off Maximum while he sang—and she's the one that came and talked, right? Plus, he sounded EXACTLY like him. I almost got a lock of his hair."
"I'm surprised that stupid fan club of his didn't kidnap him," another girl says, watching the field with a bored expression. "That Kirsten girl is like, super obsessed with him, right?"
"Did you hear that she actually claimed to be a super once?" the first girl says, hooting with laughter. "Yeah, right, like a fat chick could have any other power than speed-eating."
"There are NO fat super heroes," the second one agrees, turning to grin at her. "Can you imagine Firefly chunky? It's disturbing."
"Exactly!"
"Excuse me," I say, walking closer. "Can you tell me where I can find this Kirsten girl?" I ask.
They both look at me, their faces showing a hint of disgust. "Who DRESSED you, your mother?" the first one demands.
"Kirsten," I repeat, "where is she?"
"Who knows? Who cares?" the ask, shrugging. "She's probably at home on her computer blogging about Justin falling in love with her at first sight or something."
"Did you know she and her friends do actual FANFICTION about crap like that?" the other asked, laughing. "I looked them up once—they share an account."
"Justinloversforever?" the other asks. "I saw that! It's so pathetic!"
"It's almost as pathetic as their little club meetings."
"We should crash one, and pretend we're as pathetic as they are."
"Excuse me," Emily says, moving closer. "Do you know where those meetings take place?"
"Who ARE you?" they finally demand, looking at her closely. "You don't go here, do you? I mean, one of you we could ignore, but an entire group of losers?"
"We would definitely notice something like that."
I step next to Emily, pulling my glasses down and looking them straight in the eye. "See, this is why we really wanted to finish that talk earlier today," I say, staring them each in the eye for a moment.
"Ju—Ju—" one stammers.
"Now where does the Justin Lovers meeting take place?" I ask.
"In—in the park down the street," the second says, pointing a bit limply.
"Next time you think someone looks like a loser, or like they're dressed by their mother, maybe you should find out more before looking down on them," Malina says, pulling up her sunglasses (they're shaped like hearts) and looking the girls in the eyes.
"Wait, aren't you the one that does the water dance?"
Malina gives them her trademark impish grin before we turn and walk away.
The sky goes dark and we can't help but glance up as a low hanging cloud slowly floats over us. "Think it'll rain?" Emily asks as we walk.
"No… it shouldn't," Malina says, staring at it for a long moment. She chews on her bottom lip, fidgeting for a second before saying, "Ignore it, it'll go away soon."
We head to the park.
***
"You're invading my territory," Max says as he looks up. The glint of sun off of a familiar surfboard tells him exactly who it is. "Don't you have a debut planned for today?"
"Yeah, I got a guy down in South. I just wanted to talk to you, first," Jack says, dropping down from his surfboard and onto the building Max is sitting on. He'd flown over a few states for this, but neither of them seem to care about that. "Are you watching your next debut?" h
e asks.
"Yeah, Pinky over there snuck out of school and came here," Max says, motioning to the park below. "I'm not sure why, but it's interesting enough. Where's your team?"
"Prepping for the debut. Mom has them running around making sure everyone is set up for any destruction that happens. We've got a problem." The abrupt change of conversation makes Max look over blankly. "Shadowman is back."
"That's pretty typical for our line of work—"
"No, there's more to it than that," Jack says under his breath, looking over at Max's team, who are hanging out a few feet away playing on their phones. "Shadowman's not… himself. I ain't sure how to explain it, other than I caught him watching my group the other day. It freaked Brandon out, he wouldn't stop being invisible no matter what I said. For us he's an annoyance, but for the zoo kids—"
"He's the guy that kidnapped them," Max says, realizing what the problem is. "Did he seem to be looking for something specific?" he asks.
"I don't know," Jack admits. "It was strange, really. He just sat there, watching us as we did a debut. I had Ward and Brandon on crowd duty, right? It was going fine until Brandon saw him in the audience and started freaking out."
"What happened then? Did he attack?" Max asks.
"He didn't do anything. And he didn't say anything—in fact, he didn't even seem to recognize me or the guys. There was this… glazed look in his eyes." He stops as a group walks into the park, looking like complete nerds. "I knew they were here, but not HERE here!" he says, grinning widely again. "OYE!" he bellows, jumping to his feet and stepping onto his board.
"They're undercover, you moron!" Max snaps even as Jack races away. “Wait, why ARE they here?” he asks himself.
"Hey, you dorks!" Jack says, flying over to the group and completely ignoring Max. "Just what do you think you're doing here?" he demands. "I'm claiming this park for myself!"
"What?" Emily asks, looking over to a group of girls before looking at him. "You idiot, you're ruining our cover," she hisses before going on, "This is a public place! What would your mother say if she knew you were terrorizing a playground?"
"My mom would say you asked for it by looking like such dorks," Jack says shamelessly. "Especially you," he goes on, heading straight for Justin. "Did you dress in the dark or something?"
"When was the last time you brushed your teeth, man?" Justin asks. "Your breath REEKS."
The group of teens to the right are starting to freak out by now, and Max can hear at least one of them trying to explain what's happening over the phone. The others are recording it. "I brush twice a day—you're probably smelling your own B.O.," Jack mutters. "What does a little nerd think he can do to me, anyway?"
"Hey! Stop being a bully," Malina says, stepping in front of Justin and placing her hands on her hips. "What would your GIRLFRIEND say if she knew you were acting this way?" she demands in a threatening tone.
"Wait, Cold Steel has a girlfriend?" one of the teenage girls asks, sounding shocked.
"Are you threatening me, little girl?" Jack demands, stepping off the board and crouching down in front of Malina with a glower. She stares him straight in the eye, her hands on her hips.
"I am," she says. "I'll write your stupid school and tell them you're bullying harmless people!" Her voice lowers, "And I'll call up Aubrey and tell her you blew our cover, mister. Don't try and play big and bad—I've seen all those love letters you've sent," she adds, poking him in the chest.
Freddy chokes, looking away as his shoulders start shaking. The three behind Max start laughing their heads off silently, as well. Even Justin is grinning evilly.
"For someone so cute, you're seriously mean," Jack complains, rubbing his chest dramatically. "And for your information, I wasn't talking to you—I was talking to nerd boy, there," he says, looking at Justin. Before Justin can reply, though, someone starts yelling.
CHAPTER FIVE
"Hey!" one of the girls in the park says, heading for us. She's got chin-length pink hair, I think a bit blankly. She's also built just like a—I glance up in the direction Jack had come from, realizing abruptly that he hadn't been alone. Max sits on the roof of the restrooms, lounging lazily as if watching a show. He even has the gall to wave cheekily at me. "Who do you think you are, picking on poor innocent people?"
She's a super. NOT the healer super we were looking for—she's a normal super. Think she's Max's debut? It would explain why he's here, but since when has Max been explainable? "What do we do?" I hear Freddy whisper.
"I got this," Emily says silently. "Jack, I'm bringing in Divine Justice—prepare to run, would you?"
"But I got stuff to tell you," Jack says just as silently. The pink haired girl is looking back and forth between us and him, her pale blue eyes widening as she makes the connection.
"Call us on the system, moron," I tell him as a poof comes from the roof of the restroom, and Ditto practically lands in Max's lap. I see Max jump and dive for cover as Ditto, in full Divine Justice gear, strikes a dramatic pose.
"Cold Steel!" she yells in an equally dramatic tone. "Who do you think you are, picking on innocent people?"
"She stole my line," the pink haired girl complains lowly.
"She's debuted, you haven’t," Jack tells her with a shrug before turning to face off against Ditto. "Well, crap," he says loud enough to be heard. "Who let you out on the streets, DJ?" I abruptly remember that they would obviously know each other in character—she's dating his brother both on and off-stage.
"I let myself out!" she declares. "And you're not welcome here, so either leave now or I take you down. Do you know how pathetic you'll look, taken down by your brother's girlfriend?" she taunts, grinning evilly. "Think of the dinner conversations we could have."
Jack's face is perfect, I think as I pull out my phone and snap a picture. He looks completely dumbfounded. "You wouldn't!" he says.
"Oh I would, I would," Ditto says. Repeat appears behind him, tapping him on the shoulder with a little grin. He jumps slightly, jerking away from her, especially when she holds up a phone. "I've got your Daddy on speed dial, you know."
"You fight dirty, little girl," he declares. "This isn't me running away, though! I got bigger fish to fry," he adds defiantly as he steps onto his surfboard and takes to the air. "I'm taking over South Territory, next."
"You'll be sent running back home with your tail between your legs," Ditto says sharply. "Get out of here and I won't tell your mother you lied about her."
Jack races off, leaving the rest of us trying not to laugh. Repeat disappears and Ditto runs, leaving us to pretend to be norms. It must be nice to have built in alibis, I decide as I look at Emily. She's scolding Malina.
"You shouldn't speak to a super villain like that," she says, waving a finger in Malina's face. "They're dangerous! You could have been hurt!"
"Yeah, right," Freddy scoffs under his breath. I look over at him and he grins at me. "We've got Jack figured out," he says simply.
"But he was being a bully!" Malina says. "You have to stand up to bullies, otherwise they just get worse!"
"Yes, he was being a bully, but he's also a super villain with power over metal—which we happen to be surrounded by," Emily says, looking around at the playground toys. "That could have gotten ugly. Who knew Divine Justice could run him off so easily?"
"She's dating his brother, right?" I say, willingly going along. Payback for that last prank he pulled on me at school—I had one of my rings glued to the little toilet flush lever for half an hour. Sure, I took it off! But it's still petty embarrassing when guys look at you funny every time they come out of the restroom. "He's probably afraid she'll get him grounded."
"Who are you?" the pink haired girl says silently, looking from one to the next.
"We're just looking for a girl named Kirsten," I say. "We heard she's a Justin fan? I'm a HUGE Justin fan, myself."
"His biggest fan, even," Freddy says with an innocent look. I elbow him as quickly and non-noticeably as possible. Too
bad he grunts in reply.
She hesitates, looking back at the cowering group of teens behind her before nodding. "We can't do this here, you've drawn too much attention to yourselves."
"We just wanted to talk about joining the fan club," Malina says, earning a raised eyebrow from pink girl. "I've seen Cold Steel on TV a lot—he doesn't think things through, right? He probably was just flying past and saw Ju--Jesse’s ugly shirt,” she says, “and decided to come down and be a bully.”
"Probably," Freddy says.
"I think he does think once in a while... probably," I have to admit—I've been in the middle of a prank war with the guy since—oh crap, I think abruptly looking around. "Be right back," I say, running for the restroom. I hear Max on the roof as I enter a stall and reach down to check.
"What happened, get the runs?" Max asks from above.
"He pulled the zipper trick again," I mutter, checking ALL of my zippers. This pair has zippers for the pockets, too. "On ALL of my zippers."
"Next time get plastic zippers, moron."
"Shuddup, I kept this pair for the trip thinking he'd never see them!" I stop, looking at the toilet. "I gotta pee," I complain. I didn't have to until now, darn it! Max is laughing his head off above my head, and I hear the rest of his team start to snicker. "Why did you come here, anyway?" I ask.
"No, see, I have a reason to come here—you guys are the ones that have no reason," Max says. "Why are you here?"
"We're looking for our healer target, we think it might be a girl named Kirsten."
"Ahhh, is she part of the fan club group?"
"Probably," I say.
"Aren't you lucky, then? We'll be inviting her to join our school. You'll get one of your rabid fans in class every single day," Max drawls.
My eyes widen and a spurt of terror races through my veins. "Oh, crap," I mutter, racing out the door and for the others. They're standing away from the group with the pink haired girl and a shorter, stockier girl with purple hair. They all look up at me and I realize I'm running too fast. I pull to a stop, kicking up dirt. "Hey, guys, I just realized we have to leave," I say almost too quickly. "Time to go, gotta be on the road and everything," I add, wrapping an arm around Malina's shoulders and tugging her along. "We've got a schedule to keep."