by R. J. Ross
“Did you see his face?” Ditto asks as we start up the steps, joining a seriously long line. “Think he figured it out?”
“He would have if it’d been Jack,” Trent admits. “He started out at almost four, but last we checked he was nearing five--Dad thinks he’s going through a growth spurt.”
“Shhh,” I say, noticing the norms in front of us glancing back. “His brother’s seriously fat,” I tell one that’s bold enough to keep looking. “Like REALLY fat. Don’t go judging,” I add, giving him a dirty look. “Fat people are people too!”
Trent starts laughing, wrapping an arm around my waist to pull me back. “Calm down, he didn’t say anything, Em,” he says. The line starts moving, but Trent doesn’t put me down, merely carries me up the stairs as if I weigh nothing.
“I can walk,” I say finally, even though I’ve gotten really comfortable already. There’s just something so awesome about being able to be carried at my age.
“I know,” he says. “Just wait until I tell Jack you stood up for him, his mind is going to be blown.”
“She called him fat,” Ditto says, licking an ice cream bar as she hops up the stairs in front of us. When did she get ice cream? Oh man, she made it appear, didn’t she? Nico’s going to kill us... “I don’t see how that’s sticking up for him,” she goes on.
“Where’d she--” Trent asks me silently.
“Don’t ask,” I mutter. “He’s a fat head, at least,” I add to Ditto.
“Don’t see me arguing,” she says cheerfully. “Hey, hey, can I be in front? It’s one of those raft thingies, I’ve always wanted to be in front!”
“But--” I start out. “I want to be in front, too.”
“How about this,” he says, putting me down as the line stops again, “Ditto goes in front the first time, Em the second, and then we go swimming?”
“That works!” Ditto says before I can respond. The group in front of us gets into the raft and I dare to look down, watching in wonder as they race straight down the slide. Before I know it, we’re being strapped in and sent over the edge. I scream the entire way down, lifting my hands in the air. I wish I could fly--I don’t think I’ll ever be able to, though.
“Yeah!” Trent says when we pull to a stop. He hops out, picking first me and then Ditto out of the ride. “Let’s do that again!”
“Sure--” I start out, only to stop as people start screaming. We automatically start looking around, Trent groaning loudly already. He doesn’t even know what’s happened and he’s already sure that it’s one of our--
The crashing sound of glass comes from overhead and we all look up, watching in shock as Mega comes crashing into the area, glass pieces sprinkling down on us. I hear people scream more, trying to get out of the crowded pool before the large super hero lands on them--and Nico shoots out, grabbing him before he crashes.
“There goes our cover,” Trent says with a sigh. Nico at least slipped a mask on before flying, but it’s pretty obvious that he was already here. He’s wearing swimming trunks, after all. Trent looks upward, instead, staring through the hole with a dark expression on his face.
“What?” I ask him.
“Who was it that did it to him?” Trent asks. “This district is run by Pan--Pan can’t fly. Ace is over there, Jack is right there, and Max is...” he looks around before pointing, “hanging out with Vinny drinking a smoothie,” he says. “It’s not one of us, either. And Mega isn’t that easy to toss.”
The norms are freaking out, trying to get away from the shattered pieces of glass and find out what happened to one of our resident Hall members. “Correction,” Ditto says, “Mega isn’t that easy to knock out.” She points to where Nico is crouching over the super in question, a scowl on his face as he tries to wake him up. Trent’s expression changes to worry and he rushes forward, pushing his way through the crowd to get to his uncle.
I’ve got no choice but to follow, Mega’s family, too. We somehow manage to get close enough to see Aubrey slipping through the crowd. She stops beside me, a worried look on her face. “Did you see what happened?” she asks.
“No, Trent’s worried, too,” I whisper back. “He couldn’t think of a villain that isn’t either here already or can’t fly. Something’s going on.”
Aubrey nods and heads forward, only to get pushed back by a large male norm. “This isn’t a place for little girls,” the man says bossily.
“Let her through,” Nico says, making the large man look at him. “I said let her through. Now!” The large man hesitates, then moves aside, letting Aubrey through. “Ace, mask her,” Nico says, touching his ear. A mask appears on Aubrey’s face as she steps into the small circle around Mega’s inert body. Then, because apparently Ace is an overachiever, she “shifts” into a strange alien being with dark purple skin and floating hair.
She kneels down next to Mega, touching his arm. I can’t see the usual eye color change or the floating hair because of the illusion, but I know it’s happening. Mega jerks, waking up and staring blankly at her. “What--”
“Hi, Mega,” she says, waving a three finger hand at her. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
“Oh. Thanks, Au--” he stops himself, deciding just to hug her instead. “Thanks,” he says, getting up. “I’ve got to go,” he adds, looking at Nico before turning to the crowd. “No need to worry, folks, just saving a plane from crashing! We’ll have some people in to clean this up in no time.” Then he takes to the air, flying out the same hole he came crashing through.
“We’ve got some cuts over here!” someone shouts.
“I’m coming!” Aubrey says, standing and heading for the injured people. I look at Trent, then at Nico.
“That wasn’t a plane, was it?” Trent asks silently.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Nico says. “Until then, go round up the kids and we’ll get going as soon as Aub is done.” Then he stops, watching silently as a tall blonde woman and her daughter head straight for us. Oh great, I think, it’s that blonde girl that complained about us blocking the way.
“Technico,” she says.
“Melissa,” Nico says blandly. “Surprised to see you here.”
The blonde is glaring at me and Ditto--no, not the adult one, the mini-me. “Do you know what happened?” Melissa asks, placing a hand on the mini-me’s shoulder.
“We’ll find out later. I wasn’t exactly expecting someone to drop in--Trent, girls, you’ve got a job to do, right?”
“I’ll get the guys in the water fight,” I say, running off. I should have known that the mini-me was one of us. Her mom practically screams super. That plus the fact she’s approaching Nico with the kid in tow--
“I don’t want her to come to our school,” Ditto mutters, only to jump on Jack’s back. “Time to go metal head!” she says cheerfully. He doesn’t even budge with the extra weight.
“Not until Aubrey’s done,” he says, watching the line that she’s healing. “Stupid norms tryin’ to hit on my girlfriend,” he mutters darkly. “That guy wasn’t even that cut up, the pansy.”
“Ace!” I say, heading for the other bad boy on the field. “Looking pale as usual,” I add as I reach him. “We’ve got to go as soon as Aub’s done, so if you want to shoot Jack one more time, now’s the chance!”
“Good point,” Ace says, grabbing one of the massive water guns and shooting it straight at Jack--and Ditto. Whoops. She lets out a squeal.
“Sorry, not sorry!” I call over to her evilly. I bump fists with Ace, grinning from ear to ear.
“So you know what happened?” Ace asks me quietly.
“Nope, not yet,” I admit. “I think it’s bothering Trent, too,” I add as I look at my boyfriend. He’s calling all the zoo kids out of the pool. Now he’s walking to the side and giving them a hand out when it takes too long for his tastes. “He’s his uncle, after all.”
“Literally?” Ace asks.
“Nah, but he grew up with both Mega and Liz there all the time--he consider
s them as good as family.”
“This ain’t over, you know!” Jack says, heading straight for us with an evil grin on his face.
“Yeah it is, we’re leaving as soon as your girl is done,” Ace says. “Which looks like it’ll be soon,” he adds. “That one kid sure looks interested, though--”
Jack turns, seeing a teenage guy standing a little too close to Aubrey. He lets out a curse and starts for them as Ditto slides off of his back.
“Is that kid an illusion?” I ask Ace.
“No, but I’ll remember it for next time,” Ace says, looking at me with a little grin.
“Absolutely,” I agree evilly.
I see him looking over at Trent as he helps yet another of the kids out of the pool. “They don’t need him to do that, you know,” he points out as the kid happily swings from Trent’s held out arm like a playground toy before jumping off.
“I know,” I say. It makes me smile, actually. “He’s just that nice of a guy,” I admit, still finding the thought a bit stunning even after months of dating him.
“I bet that can get a bit annoying, can’t it?” he says, shoving his hands into his pockets as he glances at me.
“Him being nice?” I ask.
“To everyone,” he adds, “all the time, even to other girls?”
I hesitate, thinking about it for a moment. “Trying to make me jealous?” I ask him. “You’re a bit hypocritical there, don’t you think?”
“Huh?”
“You, Morgan, and Justin,” I say simply. “How can you claim to be best friends with a guy when you’re both chasing the same girl? Doesn’t work very well, does it?” Part of this is just me changing the subject, really, but I’ve wondered about it for a while.
“How about you, Ditto, and Trent?” he asks. I’m a bit surprised he doesn’t deny it straight off.
I shrug. “Ditto and me--we’re both...” I try to think of how to put it. “Me,” I say simply. At least that’s what Ken told me the last time we talked. Gently, of course--Ken never tries to shove facts down anyone’s throats, but he’d made a point of saying it. I’m just... I don’t know, messed up, still, from that time with the sisters. I’m working through it. “I remember everything Ditto ever does as if it’s me doing it, she does the same. Can you say the same about you and Justin?”
“No, but neither of us has a chance, either, so it’s not a big deal,” he says quietly, looking over at Morgan, who’s calling out roll call for the zoo kids now. There’s a strangely calm look on his face as he looks at me and shrugs. “No reason to fight with a guy that’s in the same boat as I am.”
I look at him, about to say something when Trent stops next to me. “Everybody’s ready, so let’s get going.”
“I’m a little disappointed,” I admit as I look around. Black suits are all around, cleaning up glass and repairing the roof. “I haven’t been swimming in years.”
“We’ll fix that,” Trent says, dropping an arm over my shoulders.
“How? This is the only water park around, right?” I ask him.
“Alright, let’s get going!” Nico calls out, still wearing his mask. “Sorry about that,” he adds quietly as we head out the door. I hear a small snap of a camera and see Nico hold out his hand. “And sorry about this,” he adds to the norms still there. Sounds of beeping echo from all around and I hear people curse as their phones blink erratically. “Can’t risk it.”
Then we’re grabbing our things from the cubbies and boarding the bus again. “Hey, since it was Dad that blew our cover, I think we should get a prize,” Sunny says abruptly, getting up in his chair so we can all see him. “What do you guys say?”
“YEAH!” we bellow.
“Okay, okay, what is it?” Nico asks. “You all have to agree on it or I get out of it!”
“We want our own pool!” Trent says. The entire bus turns and looks at him. “Look, I rebuild buildings all the time,” he tells them, sitting up like Sunny does. “All of us that actually are working capes have been doing construction work for a while now--we just need to build one, and the canyon’s big enough, so why not? I vote we enclose it so we can use it year round--plus, sooner or later we’re going to have kids that deal with water, right?”
“So let me get this straight,” Nico says, “you want a pool--but you’re volunteering to do the work, right?”
“If I have to,” Trent says, glancing at me. Oh. He... I feel a blush cross my face as I realize just what he’s doing. He’s willing to build me a pool just because I said--oh, wow. He grins slightly, although I notice his neck is a little red, as well. I hear Jack start to laugh his head off, but I can’t even get irritated by it. I mean, seriously, who’s got a boyfriend that will build her a pool just because a swimming trip got cut short?
This girl.
“Alright, let’s take a vote--who wants Trent to build everyone a pool?” Nico asks.
Every hand in the bus raises, except Vinny waves his. “I don’t want to boil the water,” he says. “Think I could get a bracelet or something for pool days?”
“Can--ah--” Lance starts out shyly, “can I use my abilities in the pool?” he asks, his voice getting quieter and quieter with each word.
“It’d have to be a form small enough to fit,” Nico says. “So no beluga whales or anything, got it? And we can discuss the bracelet thing.”
CHAPTER TWO
The group starts talking, even the zoo kids look excited. It’s only when Ditto sits up in the seat in front of us and leans over them precariously to kiss Trent on the cheek that I realize I should say something. I blush brightly as I get on my knees in my chair and lean up to kiss his other cheek, much to the amusement of my fellow apartment kids. “Thank you,” I say, hearing Ditto say the exact same thing.
“Alright, now that that’s decided,” Nico says, “since we’ve cut the whole pool party day short, who wants pizza?”
“Sir, we aren’t allowed to stop--” the driver starts out, only to stop as Nico looks at him. “Perhaps you should call Mastermental?” he offers.
“Fine,” Nico says, pulling out his cell phone and calling Double M. I reach down, where people can’t see, and lace my fingers through Trent’s, earning a little grin from him. “Yo, Double M, have you found out what happened with Mega yet?” I hear Nico ask. “Yeah? From the south? Really? Alright. Oh, before I let you go, I’m taking the kids to the pizzeria since Mega totally blew our swimming trip. Bye.” He didn’t give Double M time to reply before hanging up.
“So what was it?” Max asks, his feet kicked up on the chair in front of him and a smoothie in his hand. Did he get a refill before we left? I bet he did.
“Looks like Flame stood up one of his regular villains back south,” Nico says. “She came to get him back.”
“She can have him,” Vinny says, since Flame is here to act as his mentor at the moment, “he snores.”
“But she’s tough enough to knock out Mega?” Trent asks. “What are her powers?”
“Not sure,” Nico says. “Double M was too busy being yelled at by Century for me to bother asking.”
“Hey, Dad,” Zoe says abruptly, “who was that blonde lady that went up to you? Was that Falconess?”
“She was?” Jack asks. “Man, that uniform of hers must be really armored up, cuz--” he stops and I swear Aubrey gave him a dirty look.
“Good catch,” Nico says. “Yeah, that was Falconess. She was hoping to have her daughter meet everyone on neutral grounds, unfortunately that was cut a bit short.”
“Invite her to pizza,” Max offers. “Can we go to Funhouse?”
“Good idea,” Nico says, giving directions to the frustrated looking driver before making another call.
“I want to play the games,” Carla says, getting up in her seat and leaning over the one in front of her. “Anyone got some money?”
“Max does,” half the bus tells her.
“When did I become the school ATM?” Max asks, taking a long drink off of his smoothie. The
bus pulls to a stop. We hop to our feet, grabbing flip flops and swimsuit covers and tank tops quickly before racing out. We stop, going perfectly still as Nico lets out a sharp whistle. We turn, watching as he gets off the bus in an open shirt and his swimming trunks.
“We’ll be using the team system for this,” he says. “No purely apartment or purely dorm groups--you have to mix it up. Group leaders--Morgan, Max, Vinny, and... Emily,” he says, pointing at me, much to my shock. I never get announced as a leader. I’m one of those trouble makers that are usually assigned to someone else. “As team leaders you will keep your group safe, out of fights, and not noticed as anything other than a normal teen. If any problems arise, you’ll be the one being punished for it, understand?”
“I want to protest,” I say, lifting a hand. “I would SUCK as a leader. Can we make Trent do it instead?”
“Nope, you’re leader,” he says. I look at him sharply, and when he doesn’t seem to get the point, storm over to him and tug on his shirt sleeve to make him lean over--I’m too short to reach his ear.
“I’m not leader material!” I whisper in his ear. I hear Adanna let out a tiny little laugh and turn bright red, knowing her excellent hearing picked up on what I said.
“You’re not intimidating,” Nico says quietly, dropping a huge hand on my shoulder. “You’re cute and funny, right? Makes for a lousy team leader, I agree,” he says cheerfully--and too loudly. “That’s why I’m trusting you with the job.” He stands up straight, looking over at the dorm kids. “At least half of you are going to have to pick one of the apartment kids as a leader,” he says quietly, his hand still on my shoulder.
The group looks at each other, quietly discussing among themselves. To my shock, I see Carla and Lance step away from the group and head over to me. Those two are like, as far as I can tell, some of the most guarded of the group. The ones that Vinny and Morgan protect like rabid wolves, practically. I’m still pretty stunned they let Carla go with Trent across country to help Vinny--and Trent is Kid Liberty. He’s the best bodyguard in the world, practically.