by Kai Strand
“Um, it’s required for my job, sir.” Hans’ voice lifted at the end as though he were posing a question instead of offering an answer.
“But villains aren’t polite, Hans, so why are you?”
Hans let out a breath and allowed a small smile. “That’s because I’m not a villain, sir. I’m just a regular human who works here. There are a few of us throughout the academy. Not many, though.”
“Oh. Interesting. I didn’t know. Do you have villain envy or covet super powers or something?” Jeff asked.
Hans drew his brow together again. “No! I can’t speak for the others, but I work here because I’m a friend of your father. Well, now we’re friends, but back when he was a full-blown villain, sir, I was as close to a friend as he’d allow. So, when he opened the academy, he asked me to work for him. I was honored.”
Jeff refrained from pointing out that you don’t act like a lap dog around your friends or treat them like royalty. He nodded toward his dad’s office door. “Is he here?”
“No, sir, he left for an appointment a half hour ago.”
Jeff closed his eyes and mentally tamped down his frustration. “Did he say if he was coming back?”
“Yes, he will be returning today.”
“Great, I’ll just leave him a note.” Jeff pushed through his dad’s office door and went around the large cherry wood desk. He sat in the oversized leather desk chair and grabbed a notepad. He scratched out a note asking his dad to find him in the library when he got back to work.
“Thanks for your help, Hans.”
Hans popped up from his desk again, but this time watched Jeff leave with an admiring expression on his face.
“What?” Jeff asked.
“Pardon me, Mr. Tohler. It is just so refreshing to hear a young man with manners.”
Jeff grimaced. “Manners” was a nasty word in the world of villainy, and Jeff was still sensitive to having his kinder attributes pointed out. They’d brought him enough trouble back at Super Villain Academy, such as scorn from the administration and a thorough beating by fellow villain students.
“Yeah, refreshing.” Jeff exited, slapping the doorframe on the way.
Chapter 7
The campus of Future Vindicators of America looked a lot like the corporate headquarters for a technology company. There were several non-descript buildings spotted throughout green spaces, a man-made lake, parking lots, and sidewalks. The library was almost at the dead center of the campus, located just behind the administrative building. As is typical for a library, it was a large room filled with the prerequisite shelving arranged with books on all subjects, but it also had comfy seating clusters with couches and cushy armchairs, fireplaces and a coffee bar. It was like a bookstore/coffee shop, except you didn’t have to pay for anything.
Jeff found an empty sitting area with only three armchairs arranged around an oversized footstool. He settled into a chair and stretched his long legs across the stool and began to flip through a motor cross magazine that had been tossed onto the footstool.
“Want anything, Polar?” the girl behind the coffee counter, called out to him.
“Sure, Destiny. I’ll take a really large coffee, please.”
Destiny blushed red as a maraschino. “Such a sweet talker, you are.” She brought his coffee over. “Here you go. Do you want any cream or sugar?”
An overwhelming desire to flirt outrageously stirred in Jeff. Destiny was obviously receptive to it, the way she leaned toward him with her lips parted like she was about to lick them. He crooked a smile and Destiny moved closer, placing her hand on his knee as she bent to set his coffee on the table next to him.
“Cream would be good,” he said, never breaking eye contact with her. He could see hunger and desire in her eyes. The left side of his smile pulled open just a little. Dropping his gaze to her mouth he wet his lips with his tongue. Destiny fell to her knees in front of him, her hand slid further up his leg.
He looked at where her hand rested and raised an eyebrow at her. “Why do they call you Destiny, anyway?”
Her gaze hooded seductively and the air warmed. Tingles of awareness sparked all over Jeff’s body, and what felt like a fur coat rubbed intoxicatingly against his defenses. He considered dropping them to let her in, but realized that was exactly what she wanted him to do.
“I can’t get through your defenses,” she said. “They’re good.”
Jeff scoffed. They hadn’t always been. Actually, he hadn’t had any when he first attended academy. The only reason he had any now was because Mystic had built them for him. He considered himself lucky that he’d left their last encounter with them still intact. However, Mystic held complete power over his defenses, a major weakness that more than concerned him.
Destiny continued. “I can get some villains to let me in, and most humans don’t even know what hit them. The real cynical ones are tough to crack, though. But white hats are the easiest mark. They’re so trusting.”
“Once you’re in, what do you do?” Jeff asked.
“My mark is overcome with an absolute knowledge that we belong together, and they will do whatever I need or ask to keep me happy.” Destiny sighed. “Not much of a super power now, though.”
Jeff’s gaze shifted away, and a flush colored his cheeks. This wasn’t the first time he’d realized how worthless the balancing had made some supers feel. When he looked at Destiny again, she stared at him with eyes glittering and smoldering all at once.
“You blush?” She placed her palm on his warm cheek. “Wow, that’s sexy.”
Jeff’s blush deepened, and he had to fight against rolling his eyes at his own traitorous reaction to her come on. A thought skittered across his mind that this was the second time in two days he had considered giving in to the wiles of another woman other than Oceanus. The thought niggled at his conscience, but he brushed it aside quickly, telling himself all teen boys deal with desire just as frequently.
A shadow fell over them and someone cleared their throat. Jeff sank further into his chair to get away from Destiny’s touch, but she simply glanced up at the person who’d interrupted them. When she saw their headmaster glowering down at her, she jumped to her feet. Her embarrassment, if that’s what you’d call it, was short lived. She winked at Jeff and brushed his cheek before she walked away. “Want anything, Mr. Mean?”
“No, I’m fine,” Frank replied, eyeing his son. He plopped into a cushy chair. “I thought you and Oceanus were more exclusive than that.”
Jeff blushed again and rubbed his face in hopes of removing the offending color from his skin. “We are. Destiny is… well she’s… she’s not even a friend really. She just caught me at a bad time.”
“So, why the special request to find you?” Frank asked. He stretched his legs out onto the footstool in front of him and rested his arms on the overstuffed arms of the chair. Jeff always admired his dad’s laidback attitude.
“It’s something I heard,” Jeff said.
“Like gossip?” Frank asked, his smile indicating he’d like it if it were.
“No, it’s something I heard in class.” Now that Jeff had his dad’s undivided attention, he found the subject more difficult to bring up than he’d expected. How do you ask your father if he was a mass murderer?
“Which class?” Frank asked.
“History.”
“Ah, Mr. Hammond. White hat. Special abilities include, but not limited to, being able to spout more bullshit than any ten people combined. What’s he spewing in history?”
Jeff squinted at his dad. He hadn’t even considered that maybe Mr. Hammond wasn’t telling the truth, or that he’d exaggerated the circumstances. This might not be so bad after all. “That you and your dad were mass murderers.”
Frank blinked at Jeff. When Jeff didn’t continue, Frank said, “And?”
Jeff opened his mouth, but found he had no idea what to say next. Obviously his dad didn’t consider this horrendous accusation an insult. “So, you were?”
Dumbstruck, Jeff’s mouth hung agape. He didn’t even know what to say.
Frank rolled his eyes. “You just don’t really get the whole villain thing, do you?”
Jeff shook his head. “I guess not.”
“Polar, I realize you’re a hybrid and all, but I have to admit that I don’t really understand your lack of villainy. You seem to have plenty of white hat in you. Where is that bad kid you were growing into anyway? Are you completely good now?” Frank asked.
“I’m not a hero, Dad,” Jeff said.
“You could fool me, son.” Frank looked at his watch. “Anything else?”
Jeff couldn’t believe his dad was just going to blow him off. ‘Yes, I was a mass murderer, got a problem with that?’ Jeff shrugged and shook his head, not even able to look at his dad.
“Good, I’ve got a meeting with a prospective Assistant Principal. See you at home. Tell Sarah not to hold dinner for me.” He walked away without a moment’s consideration for his son.
Jeff swallowed loudly, as if choking down a mouthful of liver. Mass murderers on one side, and founder of the HERO network on the other. Yet, Jeff didn’t like either of those actions. He knew he wasn’t the hero people liked to accuse him of being, and he couldn’t fathom becoming a villain of his father’s caliber. If he was neither hero, nor villain, what was he?
Chapter 8
The guard eyed Jeff nervously with the phone pressed to his ear. The longer it rang, the faster Jeff paced.
Shaking his head, the guard hung up the phone. “She’s not answering.”
A surge of anger fueled Jeff as he pushed through the front door of the building. Where was Oceanus now? The telltale ripping sound of cracking glass made Jeff cringe after the door’s handle impacted soundly with the pane. Hunching his shoulders he peeked behind him.
“What the…?” The guard jumped from his chair and jogged over to examine the damage.
Jeff ran a hand through his hair. “Man, I guess I don’t know my own strength.”
Lip curled, the guard glared at the seven foot long crack in the glass. Just before he turned toward Jeff, he carefully masked his expression. “Not a big deal, Mr. Tohler. We’ll just tape it up until tomorrow, when it can be repaired.”
Jeff stared at the crack and then shrugged. “I’m really sorry, man.”
On the way to his car, Jeff puzzled over his unexpected anger. Sure, he was mad at Oceanus for choosing now to be unavailable, but to be so completely overtaken by a swell of anger was unexpected and strange. He unlocked his car and slid into the driver’s seat. His olfactory sense was overwhelmed with the scent of leather. He swung his head around and gasped.
“Hey there. Miss me?”
Jeff recovered his breath, but his mind whirled in confusion. “Savannah?”
Sprawled over his backseat in form-fitting leather and a tumble of wavy red hair was Savannah. She leaned against the side of the car with her legs tucked up sideways. They were wrapped in soft, brown leather pants that begged to be stroked. A matching leather jacket, unzipped dangerously low, revealed nothing underneath but muted freckled skin.
“What are you doing here?” Then Jeff remembered they were in the parking lot of the academy and panicked. “How did you find me?”
“Sources.” Savannah shrugged.
“What do you want?” Jeff asked.
“Nothing more than you.”
“Get out,” Jeff said. He climbed out of the car, and then reached back in to fold the seat forward so that she could crawl out.
“Oh, come on. You’re not really going to kick me out after I had to work so hard to find you?” She still lay seductively across his back seat.
Jeff scrunched his face, rubbed a hand over it, and growled, “Out.”
With a whimper, Savannah unfolded first one leg and then the other. She slid with uncommon grace until she perched on the edge of the seat and then slowly pulled herself out of Jeff’s backseat. She slid to a stand directly in front of Jeff so that he felt her heat and looked up at him with eyes filled with sensual promise. “Take me out for coffee, then.”
“Who are you working with? What’s the angle?” Jeff asked.
“Angle? There’s no angle. I’m just,” she trailed a finger down his chest, “attracted to you, is all.”
Suddenly, she burst into tears and slipped her arms around his waist. “I was devastated that day. When you just left like that after… after we’d…” she sobbed harder.
Jeff stood there in shock, trying to figure out what she was talking about. He carefully unwrapped her arms from around his waist and moved her away from him. “You are messed up!”
Savannah sniffed and looked around at the few stray kids leaving campus, who were all out of earshot. As fast as the waterworks started, they stopped. “I thought we’d felt a connection that day, is all.”
Savannah looked at the campus grounds with a sudden curiosity. “So what kind of school is this?”
She walked around his open car door and stepped up onto the sidewalk. Jeff caught her by the arm when she stepped onto the grass in front of the administrative building.
“I’ll take you home,” he said, and steered her back toward the passenger door of his car.
“That’d be nice,” Savannah said.
Jeff’s mind worked a mile a minute as he settled Savannah into the passenger seat and walked around to the other side. She had to know what kind of academy this was if she knew not only that he attended FVA, but also which car was his. Yet, what if she didn’t know the full story of the place? He didn’t want to be the one to spill the beans. Was she being used as a pawn? Was she bait? Did she know? Was he already taking the bait by driving her home? He was confused and didn’t have enough time to think it through.
He slammed the driver’s side door in a fit of anger, but squashed his knee against the steering wheel. Grimacing, he spoke with clenched teeth. “What are you up to?”
“Up to? Just wanted to see you again, s’all,” Savannah said. She relaxed in the passenger seat as if she were in a lounge chair at poolside.
“Come on, Savannah. There is no way you would have been able to track me here just from our chance encounter the other day. Who are you working with, and why?”
Jeff looked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t going to back into anyone when he pulled out of the parking place. Savannah pulled the zipper of her jacket down another quarter of an inch and artfully placed waves of hair alongside the gaping zipper. He scowled at her before looking forward again.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Savannah said, her voice a bit choked with her chin angled downward. She suddenly flung hair over her left shoulder. Jeff felt it slide across his bicep as it flew past, leaving the sweet scent of fake strawberry in its wake. He glowered at the offending hair and then at her.
She dropped her head against the headrest and laid a hand on his thigh. “Do you remember where I live?”
Jeff could almost read the invitation in her eyes. He forced his attention to the road, shifted the car into gear, and concentrated on driving.
“Is that really your house?” he asked.
“Whose house would it be?” Her hand started moving back and forth on his leg in a lazy fashion. Instead of answering, Jeff moved her hand and dropped it onto her own thigh. The faster he unloaded her, the better.
During the drive, Savannah asked questions that Jeff ignored. Then she prattled on about herself, and Jeff turned up the radio. When he pulled in front of her house, he finally broke his silence. “Here you go.”
“You’re coming in, aren’t you?” Savannah asked. As she returned her seat back to an upright position, she reached over to place a hand on his arm and her jacket gaped.
Jeff rolled his eyes and stared out the windshield. “Out.”
“Oh come on, Polar. Come in,” she simpered.
“Out,” Jeff said again.
“Shame,” Savannah said. She ran her hand down his arm. “Remember, the invitation stands. You can stop by anytime.”
Jeff kept his mouth clamped shut and stared at the car parked against the curb in front of him, the same car he’d literally run into. The back quarter panel still bore the evidence of his encounter.
Savannah finally climbed out of the car. “See ya, handsome,” she said and swung the door closed.
Jeff slammed his car into gear and pulled away with a squeal of tires.
“Polar, huh? Well, now I know,” Jeff said aloud. “Villains make my stomach do the jitterbug. Question is, which villain is inside that house?”
Chapter 9
“The Great Depression; can anyone tell me what the actual cause of that was?” Mr. Hammond scanned the classroom. “Your enthusiasm is contagious.”
Trina glanced around before cautiously raising her hand.
Jeff felt a pang of sympathy for her, knowing she got a healthy ribbing over her teacher’s-pet status.
Whisper turned to Jeff with a sappy expression on her face.
Jeff rolled his eyes, shrugged, and tried to muffle his thoughts from her, not that he had a clue how. She was going to get the impression he was a good guy if he wasn’t more careful.
Whisper giggled.
“Oh, you have an answer for us, Mr. Tohler?” Mr. Hammond asked.
Jeff shifted his attention to Mr. Hammond. “No. I don’t even remember the question.”
Snickers murmured through the room.
With a pinched expression, Mr. Hammond turned away from Jeff. “Trina, why don’t you shed some light on The Great Depression for us?”
“The Great Depression was actually the effect of a strategic attack against a notorious villain family, The Lelands, who were driving prices up in order to maximize their profits. Their power had become so widespread that the only way to take them down was to stage a collapse of the American economy.”