by R. J. Ross
“It is very flattering,” Tatiana tells Skye. “You look like princess!”
“I’m not a princess, I’m a super villain,” Skye points out. “This dress should be black, not pink. Super villains shouldn’t wear pink.”
“It’s a wedding, darling, super villain or not, a bridesmaid dresses in whatever color the bride decides. For you, Summer picked pink,” Marie says. The dresses are a rainbow of color, each one picked out specifically for the woman that will wear it. “So, what should we do with the octopus? Will I be getting a roommate?” she asks Superior over her shoulder.
“No thanks,” he says. “We’re packing her up and sending her back to the Cape Cells, as far as I know.”
“And just leaving her lying on the floor like that?” Marie asks. They all look over at the unmoving woman. “Are you hoping that she wakes up and tries to sneak away?”
A practically vicious smile crosses Tatiana’s face. “Why would we ever do such a thing as that?” she asks in a patently innocent voice. “It is not as if she has invaded my household, attacked myself and my loved ones, and attempted to destroy North Pole! She is safe as baby in basket!”
“The one that fell when the wind blew it?” Skye asks.
“Exactly!”
The woman on the floor goes even stiller, barely daring to breathe. All thoughts of escape leave her mind, replaced by fear for her life.
***
Diamond Dust looks over the crystals, and then at me. “Have you tried to sculpt before?” she asks.
“I really doubt I have artistic abilities with hands like these,” I say flatly, holding up my hands.
“You’d be surprised. Here, let me show you,” she says, picking up one of the crystals. “He even gave us all four walls, so we’ll make this the north side.”
I look at the piece she’s holding. “What are you going to do with it?” I ask.
“I’m going to carve it,” she says, running her hand over the crystal before starting to carve it with her fingers. It’s like she’s finger painting, I realize in surprise. Every time she touches the material she pulls her finger down it gently, stripping off small slivers. “You can do the other side,” she says. “If you mess up, well, we’ll have him make some more.”
I want to, I realize. I want to see if I can create something as beautiful as the jewelry she made. But at the same time… “Shouldn’t you be going home? Actually, why did you even bother coming up here in the first place?”
She looks up at me, her expression raw. “Because as much as I don’t deserve to be near you… I can’t seem to stop myself. You’re my daughter. I wish… no. You’ll be a wonderful Liberty girl,” she says, turning back to her work. “I look forward to watching you become the biggest hero in the world.”
“I refuse,” Reaper says from the doorway. We both jerk, and I wince as I hear the screech of crystal being scratched.
“You have no right to say what she becomes—” Diamond Dust starts out.
“Sandra?” he says. I look at him. “What do you want?”
I look at the crystal in my hands, trying to figure out what I want. “I… I like the Liberty family,” I say slowly, “but I don’t know if I want to be a Liberty girl. I mean, even if I don’t become one, I figure I’ll still get to fight with the Liberty boys, right? We’re tanks, it’s only natural. I do like their dog, though… actually, I like all of them…”
“Dad had an idea about that,” Jack says from behind Reaper. “Why don’t you move into the room we made for you—”
“Wait just a moment, there,” Reaper says.
“And we set up the apartment across from us for Reaper?” Jack finishes, ignoring his protests. “It’s not like we lock our front door. You can come and go whenever you want, and you’d just have to cross the hall to see Sandra. That way Sandra will be taken care of when you’re busy with work, like Aubrey and Emily are whenever Liz is working. Mom’s really good at that. And if you want an apartment, Diamond Dust, well, we can set up one nearby, as well. ‘Course, you’ll have to go through Marigold and Mastermental, since you’re East Hall.”
“So you wouldn’t be adopting me?” I ask.
“No, but you’d be as good as family,” he says. “I guess it’d be more of a cousin thing than a sister thing, but that doesn’t matter.”
“Who lives in this apartment of yours?” Reaper asks. “Are they all heroes?”
“Well… we do have Bombastic living there, but he’s working for the school now. I live there, and I’m a villain, but for the most part we’ve got heroes like Taurus, Firefly—that’s Liz, Nico and Summer and their kids, the older Falconess, and the rest of my family,” Jack sums up. “But really, whether you’re a hero or a villain doesn’t matter if you play the photo-op game. Oh, and the walls are all computer screens. You’d have access to the fastest computer in the world.”
“I’ll think about it,” Reaper says. “Would that work for you, Sandra?”
“Only if you don’t wear the shiny coat without warning people first,” I decide. He starts laughing, and I allow myself to grin. I think it won’t be so bad, getting to know my biological dad, you know? If anything, he’s so scary looking that it makes me look cute in comparison.
I glance over at Diamond Dust, who’s turned back to her carving, and wonder what she’s going to do. When she doesn’t say anything, I turn my attention to my own piece of crystal, and try to figure out what I want to carve. I’m a bit nervous about even trying.
“Someone’s keeping an eye on Atlanti, right?” I yell.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Superior calls back. “Trust me.”
“She’d better not,” I say. “She caused way too much trouble to let her go.” I can still picture the ice cracking. “Wait, where’s Malina?”
“She went to fix ice with Toodles and Santa!” Tatiana says. “She will be more than fine!”
I can’t help the little smile that crosses my face at that.
***
“Okay!” Malina says. “Boyd, I want you to pull the ice towards you just a little bit—that’s good! Bonnie, pull your piece to your right just a smudge—oh, that’s wonderful, thank you!” She holds out her hands and the snow starts to freeze back into place. The chunks of minerals that Diamond Dust had unconsciously brought up are stacked to the side. She’s absolutely thrilled. The ice will freeze even better thanks to that.
“She really knows who’s who?” she hears Santa ask Toodles, quietly.
“She picked up on that extremely fast,” Toodles says. “Malina, what do you want us to do?”
“Ummm… well, those salt spikes, do you think it could be used for something?” Malina asks. “I bet if we tried we would find a use for them! I just don’t want them going back into the ice.”
“We’ll do something with them, don’t you worry. We can use them to make salt licks for the reindeer,” Santa says with a smile.
“Then Santa, if you would take those, I’d appreciate it!” Malina says. “Braden, lift that ice just a quarter inch—there, that’s good, I’m coming to you!” she says, heading for the next part of the ice to freeze.
“Did you know that she’s only sixteen?” Toodles asks Santa as she lifts the mineral spikes up to him. “She’s adorable, and she’s so capable…”
“She is,” Santa agrees.
“I… I did a bit of looking into her past, Santa,” she says, quietly. “Her last foster mother couldn’t handle her abilities, so she’s been on her own… well, I mean, she’s going to school right now, and they have their little family, but…”
“But?” he prompts as she falls quiet.
“But she needs a real family. Once they graduate, they’ll go their own ways. She’s having a hard time right now, Santa… and I…” She takes a deep breath, looking him in the eye. “I want permission to offer to adopt her. Now before you say anything like I would be a single mother, listen to me all the way through—”
“If anyone can pull it off, it’s y
ou, Toodles,” he says. “But they won’t allow you to take her out of the school until she graduates. It would be a long-distance relationship, you know.”
“For two, maybe three years,” Toodles says. “But once she’s out, I’ve already figured out how she can… well, if she wants to, that is—”
“Can what?” Malina asks from behind her. Toodles jumps, looking guiltily. “You’re discussing me, right? I want to hear what you’re planning.”
“I—well—” Toodles says, only to look at Santa.
“Toodles believes that the two of you have quite a good connection, Malina,” Santa says. “Do you think so, as well?”
Malina looks at Toodles. “I… I like her, a lot, but—”
“I’m almost forty-five, now, and I don’t have any experience as a mother, but—I mean, I know we’ve only talked a few times, but—I—I’m really making a mess of this, aren’t I?” Toodles says, only to yelp as Malina throws her arms around her.
“You would be an amazing mother, Toodles,” Malina says. “But—I told you the trouble I have with the Halls, right? If I come up here, how will any of that be settled?”
“We’ll buy a teleportation bracelet from your principal,” Toodles says. “And when you’re not helping with the ice up here, or when there’s a problem on any of the beaches, you can just go straight there with a touch of a button! Oh, that’s only if you don’t mind the snow and cold, that is—”
“I like the cold—no, I love the cold,” Malina says. “If—if you still feel this way after I graduate, then… then is it okay if I take you up on your offer?” Yes, Jeanie had offered, but this… she looks over at the Yeti working hard to help, and then up at Santa, who’s smiling broadly, and feels like she’s finally found where she could belong.
“Of course you can!” Toodles says. “I might have to get the watch early so I can come down and visit all the time—I would LOVE to go shopping where there aren’t bells on everything. Do you know how annoying it is when your underwear jingles?” she asks. Malina chokes, spluttering for a second before laughing. When she sees a look of embarrassment cross Santa’s face before he politely turns away, she laughs even harder. “So… we should finish, shouldn’t we?” Toodles says, blushing slightly.
“Yeah, we should,” Malina says, grinning widely. She can’t WAIT to tell Justin—er, and the rest of the zoo kids!
***
“Hey, Dad,” Jack calls out as he reaches the warp portal area. “Nico finished the com-bracelets for the space travel thing. I’m doing the delivery because he fell asleep.”
Ken looks over from where he’s standing in front of the space portal. “Come here, Jack, we’re having a family meeting before Cosmic closes the portal.” Jack nods and flies over, looking through the hole to where Trent and Jeanie are waiting. “Once Emily decides what she wants to do, we’ll have Cosmic open it up again, but for now… well, there’s one thing we need to decide on. Are you sure you should be doing this right now, Jeanie? Sandra is in the middle of making her decision.”
“We invited them to move into the apartment,” Jack says. “I think she and Reaper might go for it. I don’t know about Diamond Dust.”
“I think me being here might actually be for the best,” Jeanie says. “I want her to feel free to get to know her daughter, Ken. If I’m there, it might discourage that. These next few days… maybe a week or two… it’ll give her the opportunity to try. Besides, the people of this planet just need a little push. I’m sure that they can work towards peace.”
“Hey, um, you don’t need me, do you?” Jack asks.
“No, sweetie, I want you to be there for your father,” Jeanie says with a smile. “This won’t take long at all. I love you two.”
“Oh, here,” Jack says, throwing the com-bracelets through the hole. “Nico said you can call us or Cosmic at any time with these. If you need help, just call, okay?”
“We’ll do that,” Trent says, pulling his on. “It shouldn’t take too long,” he says, glancing down. “Although I sort of wish we had Summer or Sunny here.”
“We’ll tell them you said that,” Ken says. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, Dad,” Trent says.
Jeanie comes through the hole, kissing Ken. “Love you, honey. Wish us luck?” she asks, giving him a flirtatious grin.
“I would, but I almost feel sorry for the poor schmucks that you’re going to take down,” he says, grinning. “You can do it, sweetie. You’re just that amazing.”
“I know I can. God’s with me,” she says, returning to her side of the warp. “I’ll call you tonight.”
He nods before looking at Cosmic. “You can close it now.”
The warp portal snaps shut.
***
*Two Days Later*
“So,” Nico says, stopping in front of Star Born’s cell. “I think I’ve given you enough time to convince yourself that you’ve gotten away with it.”
“Gotten away with what?” she asks. She’s lounging on her bed, reading a book. “Do you think you could get me some new books? I’ve read these too many times.”
“I noticed your Bible looks untouched,” he points out.
“I dislike fiction,” she says.
“I see,” he says.
“Going to lecture me about being an atheist?” she asks.
“America’s Son is the one that worries about the state of other peoples’ souls. I couldn’t care less, especially if it’s yours,” Nico says coldly. “You slipped Badmoon that serum I told you to get rid of.”
“And he got caught, hmm?” she says. “Have you stripped him of his powers because of that?”
“Was that what you were aiming for?”
“I did hope,” she admits.
“So you deliberately gave him his powers back, just in hopes that we would take them all from him?” he asks, looking a bit stunned. “Why? What did he ever do to you?”
“I dislike idiots. He and the others that ran got caught so quickly because they were stupid. People that stupid don’t deserve the powers that they have.”
“You realize we have grounds to strip your powers from you, now, don’t you?”
“You think I’m useful,” she says. “Even if you stripped my powers, I would still have my mind.”
“You’re wrong,” he says. “Badmoon kept his powers, but he lost his mind. Coyote wiped it clean. Now he’s basically a three-year-old in a grown man’s body.”
“He what?” she asks, fear showing in her eyes for the first time in a while. “How could you—”
“Mastermental could do it,” Nico says, casually, “Max is rapidly getting to where he could, as well. While Coyote probably won’t do it to you, unless we tell him what you did to his brother, we have others that are capable. What you’ve done will be discussed in the next council meeting.”
“Wait,” she says as he starts to walk away. “Technico, wait! There has to be something I can do that will keep them from wiping my mind.”
“You didn’t seem to mind the idea of your powers being taken,” he says. “What makes your mind so different?”
“You, of all people, should know,” she says. “My powers are an aberration, my mind—my mind is everything to me. I can’t imagine a life without my intelligence. I’ll—I’ll do anything to keep it.”
“Anything?” he repeats.
“Anything,” she says. There are tears gleaming in her eyes. “I’m sorry that I did what I did. I’ll never do it again, I promise. Just—just don’t wipe my mind.”
“I’ll make sure to show this to the council when they meet,” he says. “Maybe it’ll make them feel more… creative about your punishment.”
The sound of the door closing behind him seems to echo through the area for a long moment as she sinks to the ground, trying to breathe. Her powers being taken has never frightened her, she doesn’t value them. Her mind, on the other hand, is everything to her. To lose her mind would be worse than losing her life.
Bonus
Chapters:
Dorm Parents
In the Cape High Dorm, there are two floors of dorm rooms above the cafeteria and rec room. The lower floor of rooms is for the boys, the upper floor is for the girls. Each level has a two bedroom apartment built for the dorm parent of the floor. On the boy’s floor, it’s Blackjack, on the girls, it’s Banshee. The halls are monitored, and it’s very likely that Nico is checking in on them regularly, since the guy hardly ever sleeps.
Of course, nothing inappropriate ever happens, but… well, that doesn’t mean nothing happens at all. Like this one time, several months ago, when Lance first decided to take himself for walkies.
Wandering Puppies
“Blackjack,” the whispered voice over his earbud jerks Blackjack awake. For a second he looks around, wondering when Banshee had entered his room, and then he sighs as he touches his earbud, sitting up.
“I’m up,” he says, grabbing a pair of shorts off the floor and tugging them on. A t-shirt follows, but he doesn’t bother with shoes. During the first month of this job he had automatically changed into his uniform every time, but now he’s gotten used to it. She would tell him to suit up if it was a super problem.
“Have you ever heard those stories about waking up sleep walkers?” Banshee asks as he steps out of his room. He looks over, seeing her floating along behind a familiar looking coyote.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“Lance here is sound asleep,” she says as he automatically takes to the air to join her. The coyote has his nose pressed to the ground and is sniffing something. “At first I thought he was just sleepless, but his eyes are closed.”
“Why haven’t you woke him up?” Blackjack asks curiously.
“I thought it might be more entertaining to wake you up, instead,” she says, grinning a bit evilly. “He’s got this trick—watch.” The coyote stops at one of the doors, sitting there for all of a second before going up on his hind legs and pawing the door handle. Blackjack’s jaw drops as he hears the lock on the door slide open.