by R. J. Ross
“You should be, too!”
He starts laughing, giving up on the argument easily. “Ready to go back?” he asks with a grin.
“Nope--I want a smoothie!”
***
I feel a bit jealous of Ditto right now, I’m not going to lie. Mastermental is sitting on his desk in front of me, searching my brain. He’s not hiding it. I can see various memories popping up and then being pushed aside as he goes deeper into my head. “Calm,” he says gently, “I know you want to put up your walls, but you’re doing good.”
“Nico says I’ve got some telepathic abilities,” I say, “is it true?”
“Very true,” he says. “You’ve noticed them, yourself, haven’t you?”
“I blocked Max from trying to read my mind,” I brag, “but it wasn’t very hard.”
“No, I’m sure it wasn’t,” he says with a slight smile. “It’s been driving him a bit crazy, trying to get his telepathic abilities to work properly.”
“Is he really having that much trouble?” I ask, a bit shocked at the image of Max having trouble with ANYTHING. “He always seems to be good at everything,” I say with a hint of complaint. “That’s just not right, you know?”
“Oh, he’s not good at everything in the least,” Double M says with amusement.
“Yeah?” I ask eagerly. Blackmail material, whoot!
“I heard that thought, you know,” he says, “but Max is a lousy artist--he has trouble drawing stick figures, much less something better. He’s also a bit too quick to decide what others should be doing--and promptly tell them what that is.”
“Oh, I KNEW that,” I say, waving it off. “He’s bossy.”
“Exactly,” Mastermental says. “I don’t know where that comes from, of course.”
It startles a laugh out of me, seeing the guy in charge of the entire Hall--all of the branches, if you go deep enough--saying that with such an innocent face.
“Here,” he says. I stop abruptly as a series of memories flash through my mind. “It starts here--you consciously decided that you were going to have a second doppelganger, right?”
The scene with Falconess pauses in my mind and I look closely at the shadow that appears. “So it IS a second one,” I say. “But why was she so angry?”
“Because you are,” he says, looking me in the eyes. “You’ve buried a lot of pain and anger, Emily, even past your conscious level. Watch what happened with Liz.”
I see through my own eyes as Liz pushes me behind her--and I feel it. “You see, the moment you saw Skystep you unconsciously projected your fear and rage,” Double M says as the emotions turn into colors I can see and the scene pauses. It’s like I’m here again, I think as I look around.
“So--“ I say, my eyes falling on the yellow and sickly green colors that swirl around me.
“They hit Liz hardest,” Mastermental says, pointing as the colors move slowly, wrapping around my foster mom. “Because Liz loves you so much, she felt it stronger than most--you unconsciously influenced her,” he says as I see a white light flare up over Liz’s body. “She reacted to the fear you were projecting without thinking.”
When Skystep starts talking I see the white that surrounds Liz change into a crackling energy before it seems to solidify into a wall. “That’s when her true nature started to show,” Double M tells me, pausing the scene. “Do you know why we allow them to call themselves Superiors?” he asks.
“She did something to some field, right?” I say. “Andre was shouting about it.”
“She manipulated the electric field,” he says. “That means she can control the force that keeps atoms together in an object. She controls a large area, much like her father does, in a slightly different way. Your foster mother, the woman that adores you, is one of the most dangerous supers in the world. She truly deserves the title of Superior. Had she wanted to call herself something with that in the title, we wouldn’t have said a word.”
Suddenly we’re back in his office. He’s got both of his hands on my shoulders and a deadly serious expression on his face. “You need to learn to control your projecting, Emily,” he tells me.
“Love is... dangerous,” I whisper.
“No, love is beautiful,” he says, smiling gently at me. “Fear, though, fear is extremely dangerous.”
I nod, staring at my hands rather than looking at him. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know you didn’t. Liz knows you didn’t, either. This was a very bad situation on all fronts.”
“Liz isn’t going to get in trouble, is she?” I ask. “She went too far, but it was my fault, we already figured that out--is Skystep--is she--“
“She’s recovering quickly,” he says. “Liz is under house arrest, though, as soon as you get back to the apartments. Nico’s been informed.”
“Would she have gone to the Cape Cells?” I ask quietly.
“In that situation, had she killed her... it’s a very real possibility,” he says. “There was no obvious threat, merely a rude greeting. Even considering your influence, Liz is a well trained super hero--she should act with self control. But because of what your doppelganger did, that crisis was averted. In a way, you’re the hero of this situation,” he says.
“What about my second doppelganger?” I ask him.
“Well, she could become a problem,” he admits, “or she could become a great asset. You are in control of your own thoughts and emotions, Emily, regardless of how it feels at the moment. When you control your emotions you’ll control yourself--and your doppelgangers.”
He’s telling a fifteen year old girl to control her emotions. I AM that fifteen year old girl, and even I realize how ridiculous it is. I just don’t have a choice, I think as the image of the green and yellow fog tangling around Liz flashes through my mind. I have to protect my new family. I love them too much to lose them.
I need to learn to control my emotions--and my new doppelganger.
***
Mastermental sits down at his desk, watching the door that the girl had just walked out of with his fingertips meeting. After a long moment he leans forward, pressing a call button on his phone. “Call Flameblaster for me,” he orders.
He needs to get to the bottom of this. The connection between Emily and Liz is so strong that if Skystep is rash enough to do something again, she WILL die. The last thing he can allow is for Liz to be stuck in the Cape Cells.
“Flameblaster is on line one, sir,” his secretary says.
He picks up the phone, pressing it to his ear. “I need to discuss something with you, Flint,” he says. “Why don’t you come to my office now?”
“I’m in the middle of the mentor training, can it wait?”
“No, considering the speed Skystep recovers, I don’t think it can.”
***
“Mastermental says you’re under house arrest,” I say as we land in front of the apartment building. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Honestly? It didn’t really even register,” she admits as we stop at the panel and head inside. “I was so obsessed with what happened to Ditto that I didn’t even think about it. Doesn’t matter,” she says with a shrug. “I’d rather be a couch potato for a few weeks, anyway. Maybe I’ll expand our place to the empty apartment next door, what do you think?”
“Yeah,” I say, watching the footprints closely as I make my way through the security field. “Liz?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Em!”
“Yeah, I know,” I say quietly. I know even better now than I did before talking with Mastermental. I’m about to say something else as we get through the shield, only I stop as I realize that Ditto and Trent have returned. I turn, watching them come in with a curious look. I won’t know what happened between the two of them until Ditto disappears, not unless they tell me. They’re smiling, walking hand in hand until they get to the panel.
A part of me is jealous. Here I get my brain searched while she was out
playing around with my boyfriend--I stop as they step through the shield, blinking stupidly as Ditto lets go of Trent and rushes forward, wrapping her arms around me tightly. “I love you, Em!” she says.
“What?” I say, when it still doesn’t make sense a second later.
“I love you,” she says, pulling away and looking me in the eye. “And I forgive you for cheating on me with other doppelgangers.”
“I--how would that be cheating?” I finally get out.
“It’s totally cheating, right, Trent?” Ditto says to Trent.
“I’m not getting in the middle of this one,” he says, holding up both hands.
“Like ALWAYS,” Ditto complains. “I yelled at him for that bad habit while we were in the park,” she tells me, draping an arm over my shoulder, which is a bit awkward since we’re the same height.
“She’s got a point,” I have to agree, looking over at Trent. “You never take sides on anything.”
“Hey, I like to think there are always plenty of you on the same side already,” he declares, putting one hand on my head and the other on Ditto’s. He ruffles our hair affectionately before heading for the apartment. “It’s lunchtime, right?”
“Oh--oh crap, I totally forgot!” I say, starting to freak out. “I’ve got to go to the dorms! Liz, I’ll be back later, I’ve got cooking class to go to--”
“No you don’t--someone needs to go with you,” she says, starting forward.
“You’re under house arrest,” I say. “It’s only twenty feet away! You can watch me from here, right?”
“Trent, go with her,” Liz says instead.
“Sure,” he says.
“It’s not like Skystep has even gotten out of the ER,” I complain. “I’ll be perfectly fine!” But arguing about this is taking up more time and if I’m late, who knows what Vinny will do? He might swear off teaching me! He’s got important things to do, after all--like feeding the entire dorm! He’s also got a would-be girlfriend to flirt with and--
Instead of all this thinking, I really need to go, I decide, only to blink as Ditto pats me on the shoulder. “I’ll go!” she says, poofing away. For a second I get an image of a picnic table and Trent, and then it’s gone. She’s already at the dorm.
“I wanted to go,” I complain.
“How about this? You take classes with Mom while Ditto takes classes with Vinny?” Trent offers. “Mom should be back from her rounds for church by now.”
“So... two classes at once?” I ask.
“Yeah, two classes at once.”
“Jeanie wouldn’t mind, would she?” I ask, more of myself than him. Maybe... maybe I’d been going about this a bit wrong. Maybe I should take more advantage of having more than one of me. “I’m going to go ask her!” I declare, racing up the stairs to their apartment. The sight of Ken and Jeanie in the kitchen was no surprise. The intimate moment between the two, though, doesn’t register until I’m already in the kitchen.
“Oops, um--I’m interrupting,” I say, blushing brightly as they turn to me. Ken starts laughing even as Jeanie pulls out of his hug and crosses over to wrap her arms around me. I let out a little “eep” when her hug is a bit too strong and she loosens her hold, blushing slightly.
“Oh, sweetie, I’m so glad to see you’re out of the ER already!” she says, kissing me on the cheek before pulling back.
“Yeah, but, um, I can leave the room if you want to continue doing the whole kissy stuff--” I offer, still stuck on that.
Ken bursts out laughing, making my blush get even worse. Jeanie shoots him a look before placing both hands on my shoulders. “Sweetie, we’re married,” she says.
“Yeah, I know, I was just--”
“There’s nothing wrong with kissing your husband,” she tells me with a brilliant smile, “or yelling at him when he’s being a brat,” she adds with another pointed look at Ken. “Now how are you feeling? Should you go back to bed? Where’s Ditto?” she asks in machine gun fashion, leaving me no time to reply. “I know that Liz is under house arrest, but she’ll be fine--”
“Yeah, she’s fine with it,” I say, just jumping in the middle of her sentence because it seems like she won’t stop. “The house arrest thing. She’s thinking of knocking out the wall between our apartment and the empty one next door--I’m not sure why, but,” I shrug, “maybe she’ll put in a game room or something,” I decide.
“Oh good,” Jeanie says. “I hope,” she adds with a hint of worry. “I heard Aubrey is back, too--the two of you should keep her occupied enough. Hopefully.”
“Honey, you just used the word ‘hope’ twice,” Ken points out. “Liz will be fine.”
“I know, I know--it’s just she gets a bit antsy when she’s stuck in one place for too long,” Jeanie says. “Maybe we should go rent her some movies, or video games! Video games would be good!”
“Okay, we’ll go out and rent her a dozen video games,” Ken says. “Maybe I’ll stop by and play a few rounds with her--”
“Nope, won’t work,” I say, not surprised to see Jeanie shaking her head as well.
“Yeah?” he asks.
“Liz goes into the game,” I explain.
“She enjoys playing her own version,” Jeanie adds helpfully. “Well, when you’ve got that ability it’s rather hard to ignore, don’t you think?”
“How come I’ve never seen that?” Ken asks. “It sounds awesome.”
“It is! I’ve watched Zoe do it a dozen times,” I say, grinning cheerfully as I remember. “She kicks butt.”
“Must be a family hobby,” Ken says.
“Nah, Sunny can’t do it--he’s tried,” I say. “It’s just the ones with tech based abilities, like Nico, Zoe and Liz. Liz counts because she can wiretrip,” I explain, having asked the same thing before. “Or at least that’s what she told me. I think there’s more to it, but hey, she gets so distracted all the time that it was difficult to get that much out of her--it came with a half hour long story about Nico training her when she was a kid,” I finish with a grin. The story had been funny.
“She does that,” Jeanie agrees happily, “especially now that Nico is out of the Cape Cells. When he was in them, well, she was a lot more quiet about what happened in her past.”
I nod, not knowing what to say to that, really. I hadn’t been around when Nico was in the cells. “Hey, um, I know this is a bit off topic, but can you give me another cooking class?” I ask. “Ditto’s over at the dorms, learning from Vinny, and Trent suggested having two different classes at once might be a good idea.”
“Of course, I’d love to!” Jeanie says, hugging me again before rushing off. “Let me get the matching aprons!”
Yes, she said matching aprons. I’ve caught Trent wearing one before–they have ruffles! Jeanie comes out of the pantry, holding out one of the aprons to me and tying on her own. “I think we should do hamburgers this time!” she says.
“Sounds good,” I say, glancing up as the door opens and Trent comes in. “We should make extras, right?” I ask.
“Oh, sweetie, haven’t you figured it out? In this household there’s no such thing,” Jeanie says, pulling out a massive thing of hamburger.
This is going to take a while, I think dryly. At least it’s calming.
***
“So...” Flint says as he steps into the large office. Mastermental is sitting at his desk, flipping through a file with a curious expression on his face. “What’s the big problem?”
“Skystep is,” Mastermental says, closing the file and tossing it onto the desk. “When I agreed to let you transfer I didn’t plan on bringing in a new super villain, as well. We’ve got a schedule for that sort of thing, you realize.”
“Skystep isn’t--”
“She chased down Firefly just to see what she was like,” Double M interrupted bluntly. “Do you know how stupid that is? Firefly doesn’t fight super villains for a reason, Flame. She’s strictly for spying, flashy rescues, and showing the world that the Hall is completely fine wi
th gender equality--but that’s a lie,” he says bluntly.
“So you don’t believe in gender equality?” Flame asks sharply.
“No, I don’t, purely because most of the men I know AREN’T her equal. And yet your foolish little nemesis hunts her down when she’s already feeling protective. You should be on your knees, kissing Emily’s ugly combat boots as thanks for stopping her from killing the woman.” Flint winces, the image of Skystep’s tattered body flashing through his mind. He finds her troublesome, to be honest, but Mastermental is right. “I want to know what you know about Emily’s parents’ death,” Mastermental goes on, looking the tall redhead straight in the eye. “Either you volunteer the information or I get it straight from her.”
Flint hesitates before turning and closing the door. He crosses the room, dropping down in the chair across from Mastermental. “She didn’t kill Melody and Helter Skelter,” he says slowly, “but she might have been... a part of it.”
***
Lunch went well--neither the apartment or the dorm kids died or anything, and I’d only burnt the burgers a bit--the charred parts actually added to the flavor! Or at least that’s what Ken told me. Ken’s really nice like that. I’m tired. Ditto went to afternoon classes for me, she’ll be back soon. Me being this tired is ridiculous, it’s not even three in the afternoon, but I am. I grab my phone, calling Aubrey and getting her answering machine. “Hey, Aub, just thought I’d check in,” I say, feeling extremely lonely, “call me when you get the chance, okay?” I hang up the phone and slip it into my pocket as I drop down on our couch.
I almost jump as I realize I’m sitting on Liz’s lap. She’d crashed out on the couch, sound asleep even after I sat on her. I didn’t realize she was tired. For a moment I just sit there, wondering if she’ll even notice, and then I reluctantly get up, tugging the throw off of the back of the couch and pulling it over her.
The knock on the door makes me glance up. It opens before I can say anything and Taurus walks in. “Em?” he says.