by R. J. Ross
“So Falconess’s daughter?” she whispers silently against my ear, hugging me.
“Not a problem,” I whisper back. “He didn’t even notice her most of the time.”
“Oh good. I’m so exhausted,” she adds–and falls asleep standing up. I brace myself, holding her tightly to keep her from falling over. I didn’t realize she could do that, I think as Ken comes over, casually pulling her out of my arms. She doesn’t weigh that much, really, but I don’t argue.
“Is she okay?” Jack asks, looking worried.
“She’s just asleep,” Ken says, holding her in a princess hold. “She’s had a very long week.”
“Thank you for the help, Virginia,” Jeanie says to the clipboard lady. “I hope you don’t mind telling the ER that we’ll be taking Aubrey home now?”
“Of course not, she’s been working herself too hard,” Virginia says. “And thank you for putting up with our new guards,” she adds with a pointed look at Jack.
“You can make it up to us by having the tailor build us a leash and collar,” Trent says before Jack can reply. “We’re going to need one strong enough that we can get rid of that massive chain.”
“I don’t know, I sort of like the chain,” Jack says, lifting the thick metal chain with a curious look.
“It’ll break too easily,” Trent says. “We’ll compromise–you can cover it with steel after it’s made.”
“Deal,” Jack says.
“I’ll have Kim build you something as soon as possible,” Virginia agrees. “Do you want to wait to take him home until it’s finished?”
“Nah, this will work until then,” Jack says, picking up the chain.
It’s only then that I notice Taurus is being especially quiet. I turn, looking for him, only to blink as I realize he’s nowhere in sight. I can’t help myself, I start for the exit, seeing if he was left behind.
“Miss?” a guard asks me, making me glance over. He’s a tall black man with a curious look on his face.
“Have you seen Taurus?” I ask him.
“No, did he come with you?” he asks, his eyes lighting up.
“Yeah, but I don’t know where he went,” I admit, looking around again with a slight frown. “Hey, Ken? I’m going to find Taurus,” I call over my shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
“Stay on the property,” Ken calls back.
“I’ll go with her, sir,” the guard says, lifting his gun slightly to show he has it. I think he’s got an ulterior motive, though, because he looks more eager to find Taurus than I am. We start for the entrance, and I look over at him.
“Taurus fan?” I ask.
“Biggest fan,” he admits. “When I was a kid there weren’t any African-American heroes in Central Hall. When Taurus showed up, it was a pretty big deal.”
“There are a few others,” I say, frowning slightly. “What about Panther?” I ask.
“Super villain,” he says simply. “I’d never even seen Prisma until I joined the black suits,” he goes on. “She’s only on Hero TV. It’s changing though, isn’t it?” he asks me. “You should know–you go to Cape High, right?”
“Yeah, it’s changing,” I say, starting to grin. “We’ve got all sorts in school, white, black, mixed, Native American, Hispanic. But there WAS a black super hero when you were a kid,” I tell him. “He just started up Hero TV instead of being on it.”
“What?” he asks, looking at me in shock.
“Taurus’s dad–he owns HTV,” I tell him with a grin. “He’s even bigger than Taurus,” I add as we step outside. I look around, frowning slightly as I don’t see him in the alley. “Taurus?” I say, venturing out just a little further. “Hey, where’d you go?”
“There you are,” a woman says, shimmering into view. My eyes widen and the guard brings up his gun at the sight of Skystep. She doesn’t look very good–I can see through her, even though I’m sure she’s supposed to be solid. She stands over me, swaying slightly for a second. “I was looking for you,” she says.
“Get back,” the guard says, starting to push me behind him. He’s a norm, I think.
“No,” I say as Ditto pops into existence. Beside her appears a second one, her hands clenched at her sides. Before I get over my shock, the third races forward, jumping on Skystep and dragging her to the ground. She starts punching the villain, slamming her fists into her as hard as she can.
“You KILLED MY PARENTS!” my doppelganger bellows. She gets thrown off of Skystep, and disappears as she slams into the wall. I start forward, only to stop as a bone-chilling roar shakes the ground and a massive Minotaur drops from the roof of the Hall.
I’ve never actually seen Taurus in his shifted form–at least not in person.
“I JUST WANT TO TALK TO HER!” Skystep bellows as he picks her up.
“You don’t touch my little girl,” Taurus snarls, bringing her up so she’s face to face with him. She’s the one that looks like the little girl in his massive paws.
“We need backup, I repeat, backup behind the Hall building,” I hear the guard say behind me. I don’t even have to look at Ditto before we rush forward, wrapping our arms around his waist.
“DAD!” we shout. A part of me feels guilty for using the word, but I’ll deal with that later, I decide as Taurus goes still. “Dad–you’re going to be our dad, remember?” I say, holding on tightly. “Don’t. She’s not worth it. We’ve got–we’ve got family vacations to go on, right?”
He goes still. “Say what you want to say, but make it quick,” he says to Skystep, his voice far deeper and more gravelly than I’m used to. It would be in this form. “If she doesn’t like it, I’ll make sure you never see her or anyone else again.”
“I–this is a personal matter,” Skystep says, phasing out of his hold and landing on the ground. “Melody’s daughter–“ she says, turning to me. “Your, um, copy has a nice right.”
“Get to the point,” Taurus growls as the entrance to the Hall opens and Ken and Jeanie step out. Soon we’re surrounded by them, and Trent is pulling me away from Taurus–or trying to. There’s no way I’m going to let go of him right now, not even with Trent tugging. I wrap my legs around Taurus’s leg just to make a point. This is why Liz is under house arrest, I think–because I let go.
I’m scared, I’ll admit it, but this is one of those moments where I have to decide which is more important–my fear or keeping Taurus from making a mistake. I have to control my emotions.
Skystep, on the other hand, is starting to look scared in my place. I look over at her as her eyes go from Taurus to Ken to Jeanie, and even to Trent. “Usually I wouldn’t have a problem with an audience,” she says. I’m pretty sure she’s bluffing by the way she takes a step back. “What ties do you have with a South Branch girl?” she demands.
“She’s not South Branch anymore,” Trent says, stepping forward. He’s given up on making me let go, I notice. “She’s ours, now.”
“Tell me, Skystep, do you really think it’s smart to visit the Hall when you’re in this sort of shape?” Jeanie asks as she steps forward. She’s not in uniform, but she is wearing her trademark sequin mask. Anyone would know who she is. “You should be somewhere recovering.”
Skystep looks at me again. “This is none of your business,” she says to the others abruptly. “I need to talk to Melody’s daughter.”
“But she doesn’t want to talk to you,” Jack says, stepping out of the Hall with his massive dog in tow. “So I suggest–as a fellow villain–that you get the hell away from my brother’s girlfriend before you piss off more than just the bull guy.” Taurus’s hand comes down, resting on my head for a second. It’s huge–to the point where his fingers almost obscure my view.
“It’s okay, I won’t do anything now,” he says softly. “You can let go.”
“No,” I say, holding on tighter than ever. “I don’t want what happened to Liz to happen to you.”
“Liz wasn’t hurt,” he says, looking a bit confused.
“But
she could have done something really bad,” Ditto says, clinging to him as well. “She could have killed her and wound up in the Cape Cells and–and the present is more important than the past.”
He looks at both of us for a moment, towering over everyone around in his Minotaur form, and then nods as he shifts back to human.. Both Ditto and I fall on our butts, since his legs got a lot shorter. We hop to our feet before he can worry, hugging him again. This time he hugs us back.
“This is all nice and heartfelt,” Skystep says, although her attention is now on the Liberty family, “but I think this conversation can wait until we have a bit more privacy.” She phases through the ground, leaving.
I almost wish she hadn’t. Truthfully, I’d have rather gotten whatever “talk” she wanted out of the way. I just want her out of my life--
“Wait,” Ditto says, looking at me. ‘Where’s the third?’ she asks in my mind.
I look around, but see no traces of her. ‘She’s probably back in me,’ I reply. ‘She took a pretty heavy hit.’
‘How can we be sure?’ Ditto asks. I have no reply, because I’ve got no idea. That worries me.
“Let’s get everyone back home,” Ken says. I look over at him, seeing him looking straight at me. “How are you doing, Emily?”
“I’m--I’m fine,” I say, slipping out of Taurus’s hold. “I’m not scared--I mean, she’s no match for an entire Liberty family and Taurus, right?”
“That’s right,” Jeanie says, holding out her arms. I walk over, getting the offered hug. “Liz is probably really worried,” she says. “Let’s go reassure her, okay?”
“Okay,” I agree.
***
The sight of Nico and Zoe standing outside the apartment security field makes our little group pull to a stop–especially as Zoe crouches down next to the field and brings up her hands. “Okay, Dad, I’ve got it,” she calls over to her father.
“Good,” he says, taking to the air and floating above the building. “Make sure you’re watching, you’re going to be doing this part sooner or later,” he orders her. The lasers come into view, sparking angrily. Then the beams start changing colors. Some of them turn yellow, others turn blue, and yet more turn a deadly red in color.
“Can I ask what you’re doing?” Ken calls up to him.
“Setting a third of the lasers to detect phasing,” Nico replies. “If you’re worried she’ll try to come up from underground, don’t worry, we already fixed the basement. By the way, don’t go down there.”
“Nobody goes after my friends,” Zoe says in a deadly tone, waving her hands slightly and tapping on the air as if she’s interacting with a keyboard.
“This was your idea?” Jack asks Zoe, looking surprised. There’s still a bit of bad blood there, and it shows as Zoe gives him a dry look.
“Dad, can we test it?” Zoe asks, rather than replying to Jack. “How about we use Rocco? You said he could walk through shadows, it’s a form of phasing.”
“True, unfortunately that would be considered abuse of authority and if it works, murder,” Nico drawls. “Let me check a few schematics against it and we’ll know for sure,” he says, pulling out his phone and tapping on it. The lasers flash and spark twice. “We’re good,” he says, dropping back down on the parking lot concrete. “Nice calculations,” he says as Zoe walks over. “I noticed you tweaking the basic design.”
Zoe flushes, looking quite proud of herself. “I thought it could use an upgrade,” she says shyly as he pats her on the back.
“Can we still go in without dying?” Trent asks.
“Of course, the panel still works as usual,” Zoe says, glancing over at us–and promptly heading for me. “Are you okay, Em?” she asks worriedly. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” I say. “I was perfectly safe–“ but I feel sort of weak. I shake my head, giving her a broad grin. “You’re terrifying, have I mentioned that lately?”
She turns bright red. “What did I do?”
“You were going to use Rocco to test lasers!” I tease.
“I would have set them to stun!”
“We don’t have a stun setting,” Nico tells her.
“Oh, well... we could add one!”
“What’s the point?” he asks. “We’re guarding super kids from supers–a stun would be a mere tickle. Now you guys go in, Zoe and I are going to go redo the campus security.”
“Thank you,” I say, hugging Zoe tightly. She hugs me back, practically squishing me. It must be too tightly, I think as I start to feel light headed. That’s the only explana–
“Emily?” Zoe asks. It sounds like it’s from a distance. “Em–“
I think I’m fainting. What the heck?
***
I’m sitting on a roof. How I got here, I’ve got no idea, but I’m sitting on a roof–downtown, I think as I look around. There’s the huge building with the spinning round thing on the roof, there’s Winsteads. Yeah, okay, I know where I am–I just don’t know why I’m here.
A flash of light catches my eyes and I look up, watching as Vinny’s uncle, Flameblaster catches sight of me. He’s lit up like a torch–I didn’t realize he had the same abilities as Vinny did! Well, anyway, he’s caught me. He lands a few feet away, a confused look on his face. “Emily?” he asks.
“I’m not here to talk to you,” I hear myself say. “Where is she?”
“Where is who?” he asks.
“Where is Skystep?” I demand, getting to my feet. “Where is she? She said she wanted to ‘talk.’”
“She’s still in the ER.”
“No she’s not,” I snap. “She tried to attack me, but Taurus stopped her so she made up some lame excuse about just wanting to talk. So where is she?”
“She’s in no shape to talk to you–and you don’t look that good, either,” he says, stepping forward as the flames die down. He reaches out, touching my shoulder–and his hand sinks a good few inches into my flesh. “You’re not fully developed,” he says. “You’re–“
I wake up, sitting up on the couch in my front room with a gasp. I find myself face to face with Aubrey, who lets out a heavy sigh as she sees me awake. “Are you okay?” she asks, pulling me into a hug.
“I–“ I start out.
“You scared the living crap out of us!” Liz complains, hugging both of us.
“My second doppelganger,” I say, “she’s running wild.” And I’m not quite sure how to stop her, I add silently, looking down.
***
“It’s enough,” Flint says, making Skystep jerk slightly. She’s set up base in an old warehouse, one that’s falling apart around her. It doesn’t matter, she keeps telling herself, even when the sounds of mice creeping past in the middle of the night keep her awake. As long as she’s here, she’ll be okay. As long as Flint is here, she’ll be okay.
“Enough?” she repeats.
“You need to go back home, Skye,” he says. “You need to stay away from Melody’s daughter–she can’t handle it right now.”
“What? I–I’M the one that can’t handle it–she’s my best friend’s daughter! She’s all I’ve got left!”
“She thinks you killed her parents,” he says harshly. It sends a shock through her body and she literally recoils.
“I–you know I didn’t! I tried to stop it!”
“But you told me yourself that you lost control,” he says. “You knew how easy it was to start an avalanche–and you weren’t even in South Territory! You knew they were there on a special mission–“
“She just LEFT me! Of course I followed her!” She feels like he’s attacking her–and he is! He’s bringing up things that should never be brought up! Every single day she remembers Melody! “And her daughter is HERE, Flint!” she goes on, tears threatening as she strikes a defensive pose. “She’s right here–she looks so much like her–it’s like I’ve finally gotten her back! I can’t–“
“Emily is NOT Melody, Skye,” he says, his hands coming up and firmly graspi
ng her shoulders. The world seems to sink slightly beneath her feet, but she doesn’t even seem to notice. “She’s got a new life–a new family. She’s going to be the next Liberty girl, right here in Central. She doesn’t need you.”
“And neither do you, is that what you’re saying?” she says, feeling as if he hit her. “Nobody needs me. I’m just an annoyance–“
“Skye, I’m not saying that,” he protests, looking frustrated. “You just get so needy–so dependant. You know you can’t be like that in this world. We have jobs to do, Skye. We have–“
“Just shut up,” she hisses, jerking out of his hold. “Shut up, already. I get it. You don’t need me, Melody’s daughter doesn’t need me, nobody needs me! I’m just an annoying super villain that doesn’t even have a place! Well you know what? I don’t need you either!”
“Skye–“ he starts out even as she rushes away, leaving all of her things behind. She goes straight through the wall, running as far away as she can–only to come to a stop at the sight of America’s Son in full gear, floating in front of her. She jerks back, her mind rushing through what all she knows about the man. S class tank, known for dealing with major disasters. Had he been there when the avalanche came, a voice whispers in her mind, Melody would still be alive. He could take on natural disasters and win.
“Hi,” he says in a calm voice.
She turns and races through the sky, leaving him behind. He’s one of the Liberty family. He’s one of the ones taking Melody’s daughter away from her. She jerks, realizing that he’s flying right alongside her, as if she were taking a leisurely trip. She’s going as fast as she can!
“I need to talk to you about Emily,” he says in a gentle tone. It makes her shudder to a stop, jumping back from him as far as she can.
“I don’t need to talk to you,” she snaps. “I get it already–Flint already told me to get lost! I don’t need to be told when I’m not wanted!” Apparently she did, though, she thinks darkly. She just doesn’t want to tell this guy that fact.