by R. J. Ross
Trent looks around. "Did you stop time?" he asks.
"It's what I do," Century says before flying away.
"Did you unfreeze my girlfriend?" Trent yells after him.
"She's next!" Century calls back. Trent takes to the air, floating over the frozen norms and taking in the situation. There are other supers racing through the crowd, accompanied by black suits. They're busy picking apart crashes and saving the ones being trampled. It's creepy, Trent decides finally. He knows all of the people are living, but they look like wax statues at the moment.
Trent heads into the crowd, helping the others with the job at hand. "Never going South," he mutters under his breath. "Never, ever, EVER going South."
"Why's that?" Emily asks over his earbud. He almost jumps before grinning with relief.
"We're sorting out norms like they're puzzle pieces," Trent explains. "This is creepy as all get-out. Is Max unfrozen yet?"
"I have jet lag," Max says. "My sense of time is completely off. Is everyone else having this problem?"
"It was only for a few minutes, though, right?" Emily asks.
"How should I know?" Trent asks. "Someone back at school, can you tell us how long we were out?"
"Three minutes," they hear Zoe say. "It shouldn't be enough to give you jet lag, Max," she scolds.
"But it did," he says.
"Remind me to never take you on an oversea vacation, then," she says.
"I'm perfectly fine!" Emily says. "You and I will go on vacation, Zoe!"
"Hey, now, I never said I couldn't handle it!" Max protests. "Don't go throwing away my vacations!"
"Emily and I will go overseas and take pictures of castles and things," Zoe declares cheerfully. "I'm sure it'll be awesome."
"Let's do it!" Emily says.
"Your girlfriend is ditching you, too, Trent. Shouldn't you speak up?" Max demands.
Trent pulls a small child that was frozen mid-trip off the ground. The look of terror frozen on the boy's face rips at his heart.
"I never said I wasn't going with them," he says, trying to focus on the banter as he works. He places the boy on an empty bench to the side. "Aubrey? Have you been freed?"
"I'm here," she says.
"I'll see about getting all of the injured in one place so you can patch them up. Hopefully you can get it done before the time stop runs out," he says. He motions to Voltdrain. "Can we set up an area for the injured? We've got Aubrey here."
"Sí!" Voltdrain says, his grim expression lightening into a smile. "That would be good. We will have it in the playground." He touches his own earbud and explains it to the South Branch people. "Tell Senorita Aubrey that it is in the area made of props, por favor," he says to Trent.
"Thank you, Voltdrain," Trent says.
"I'm on it," Aubrey says.
"Wait, where's Keliah?" Emily asks after a moment. "We need to make sure she's safe!"
"Everyone keep an eye out for Keliah," Max says. "She's one of our Fledglings. We're not going to let her get hurt. But we still need to do what we can here before time starts up again."
"Got it," Trent says.
"I'm going to spread out," Emily says. They all hear two poofs that show she's brought out her doppelgangers. "If it's already been three minutes, we don't have much time."
"Technically we have no time at all, since it was stopped," Max says.
"Max? Go back to whining about your jet lag," Emily tells him when the rest of the group groans.
***
Austin stops, looking around blankly for a long moment. Where is Massteria? He has no clue, honestly, but he has to find him before he starts something new. Who knew the guy would get so strong after being in lock-down for this long? He looks at his hand, a sudden thought occurring to him. How much stronger has HE gotten? He promptly shoves the question aside and takes off again, searching the ground for sight of the non-flying super.
He shouldn't have gotten much farther than this, right? "MASSTERIA!" he bellows, cupping his hands around his mouth. "COME OUT HERE AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!"
"That won't work," he hears Nico say over the earbud. "Massteria isn't a man."
"What?" Austin asks. “Then what is he?"
"I’m thinking an over-sized weasel that shaves," Nico says. "You need to stop, Boombastic," he goes on. "I'm coming to get you. We'll go back to the Hall and--"
"And what, leave Massteria out here, free as a bird?" Austin demands, his teeth clenching at the very thought. "No. I'd rather spend another hundred years behind bars than let him run free. He sent a CHILD, Technico, he sent A CHILD TO THREATEN MY GRANDDAUGHTER!" he roars, his rage racing through him. He feels his power threaten to go out of control. He hasn’t had that problem since he was a kid. "What kind of sick monster threatens someone's family through a little boy that cries for his mommy?"
"I agree," Nico says, his tone calm. "He's not right. None of us are completely stable, but he definitely takes one of the top tier cupcakes."
"Top tier cupcakes?" Austin repeats, slightly distracted by that phrase.
"Can't say he took the cake when Deathblow was in the next cell," Nico says almost cheerfully. "But I might be spending too much time with kids. Either way, you need to stop and trust me. Not the Hall, not anyone else. I'm asking you to trust ME," he says. "Can you trust me to take Massteria out for you?"
"I--"
"Is that Technico?"
The question sends a chill down Austin's spine even before he turns. There, standing right behind him as if he'd been there all along, is Massteria. "Is it?" Massteria asks. "Ask him how he's doing, living as a tool for the Hall, will you?"
Austin lets out a roar and rushes the smaller man, swinging a burning fist through the other man's--through the air where the other's man face should be. Massteria's not there. Austin looks around. The world is wrong. What had once been a simple dirt road in the middle of nowhere is now a dirt road in the middle of a barren, alien land. The trees he'd hardly noticed before now look twisted and unnatural. He's all alone.
He scowls and starts forward. "I know you're here, Massteria!" he says. "Come out and I'll make it quick," he lies. "And I know you're trying to get in my head again!"
A laugh echoes from all around him. "Trying?" Massteria asks. "Haven't you realized that I've been in your head all this time?"
"You're a dirty liar," Austin snarls.
"I've always wondered, just how did you last as long as you did against Superior?" Massteria asks him. "He should have wiped the floor with you."
Cold sweat suddenly hits Austin and he turns, slowly, not surprised at the sight of Superior floating overhead, just as he had all those many, many years ago. “Do you think you could do it, still?” Massteria asks, tauntingly. “Or will you finally be killed at his hands, like you should have been all those years ago?”
“Superior,” Austin says, his throat dry. His mind races as he tries to judge the distance—further back, he thinks, jumping straight back as fast as he can. Further back and distract. If you distract him, he won’t have time to get close enough to use his abilities. What was it, a mile? It had been a mile distance back then, his wife had told him once. He just needs to keep a mile away from the other man.
He can’t die now, he thinks, touching the ground and using his powers. The explosion will happen in five… four…
He races away, leaving the ground to explode behind him. The sound of Superior cursing is enough to give him a tiny hint of hope.
He needs to find Massteria, he reminds himself, but if he slows down, Superior will catch him. If Superior catches him, he won’t let him live, not this time. He’s certain of that fact.
“BOOMBASTIC!” Superior shouts. Something seems wrong about that, Austin realizes vaguely as he plants another timed explosion. He doesn’t have time to think it through—he has to keep moving. “BOOMBASTIC, STOP!”
Austin takes to the air, flying as far away from Superior as he can, but before he can get very far, Superior appears with a pop and
a puff of smoke, right in front of him. The fist that slams into Austin’s face sends him flying back a half mile before he drops to the ground. Before he can get up, Superior is in front of him again—but it’s not Superior.
“I said STOP!” Technico bellows in his face. “You’ve blown up half the countryside, you moron!”
Austin stares up at him, stunned. “Technico?” he asks after a moment, gingerly touching his teeth with his tongue to make sure he hadn’t lost any.
“Technico,” Nico agrees. “And that was just recorded,” he adds grimly, looking into the air and letting out a curse. “If I kill it now, we’ll both be in hot water.”
“I can’t do this—I have to find Massteria!” Austin says, shoving the other man out of his way. “He has to be close—”
“He’s long gone by now,” a hauntingly familiar voice says. Austin looks up, staring dry-mouthed as his wife lands a few feet away, their granddaughter in her arms. “Well, Austin, when you screw up, you do it up right, don’t you?” she says, surveying the pitted, rubble covered land behind them.
“Grandpa? Are you okay?” Keliah asks, pulling away from Angela and racing over to him. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“Keliah—you can’t be here!” Austin says. “I thought I told you to take her somewhere safe,” he says to Nico, feeling betrayed.
“Tell that to your wife,” Nico says. “I can deal with Massteria. He won’t even get near her.”
“But he’s not alone,” Austin says. “I think Deathblow’s with him.”
“Is he,” Nico says, his expression hard to read. “I think—” he stops and touches his earbud. “Yes. Fine, we’ll be there soon—”
“What’s going on, Nicolas?” Angela asks.
“We’re bringing Boombastic in,” Nico says.
“I already—” Austin says, only to be grabbed before he can run. “I don’t have time for this, Technico—”
“I don’t care,” Nico says. “If we don’t go in now, you will NEVER have your hearing, do you understand?” he demands. “You just took out twenty acres.”
“So we all know how the hearing will wind up,” Austin says. “If I go in front of them, they’ll sentence me to life! If they’re going to do that, at LEAST let me take out Massteria first—”
He grunts as a flash hits him from the corner of his eye. He can literally feel his power draining out of him. “I don’t think you understand who you’re up against, Austin,” Nico says, in a surprisingly gentle tone. Austin feels himself hauled into an unbending hug by the younger man as they take to the air. He feels shaky with weakness. He has to shake it off. He can’t go to a hearing—
***
“Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for making time in your busy schedules,” Mastermental says. I look around the large room, my eyes going to the half-circle table, with screens in place of the Hall Leaders. Only Mastermental is here in real life, even if we ARE in the South Branch Hall.
“Mastermental, I’m still in the middle of cleaning up—” Century protests.
“I realize, but I also realize you have several of my younger capes there, helping. Besides, this shouldn’t take long. We come together to discuss the future of one of our Cape Cell escapees—”
“Wait!” We all look up as the doors burst open and Rocco races into the room. “I never got to ask,” he says. Mom and Malina enter right behind him.
“Technically, he answered the question without you finishing it,” Nico says.
“But he didn’t fight me,” Rocco says. “That’s part of the requirements, right? He had to not fight me when I asked him to come in—and he didn’t!”
“But you weren’t the one that brought him in,” Marigold says, “so it still doesn’t count. That means this hearing is void—”
“I agree, if we only go by the idea that Rocco had to bring him in,” Mastermental says. “That is why I propose, with no regard to previous agreements, to have a hearing discussing the parole of Austin Sitkin, AKA Bombastic, AKA, apparently, Boombastic, as well,” Mastermental says. “Nico, I believe you have some evidence to show the board?”
“Most of this you’ve already seen,” Nico says as the wall in front of the table starts flashing scenes of me and Grandpa doing things that—
“How did you know about all that?” I demand, blushing brightly as the conversation about robbing the lady on the street flashes over the screen.
“We’ve been watching you,” Nico says. He doesn’t even look guilty!
“That’s got to be illegal!” I declare.
“Do we really need to discuss legalities when we’re following an escaped convict?” Nico asks me. “But give me a minute, Keliah, I’m going somewhere with this. You’ve all seen how he’s conducted himself during the time out of the cells—yes, he DID break out, but I’d like to hear what he has to say about that, himself,” Nico says, turning to my grandpa.
“I just wanted—” Grandpa starts out, only to stop as they all turn to him.
“What did you want, Bombastic? Realize that I am using my abilities to see that you’re telling the truth,” Mastermental says.
“I just wanted to see the sun without being collared like a dog,” Grandpa says. “We all know that the Cape Cells is a maze, and I didn’t know how long I would have to get there, so I took the shortest route.”
“That’s…” the entire group turns to look at Marigold, “somewhat understandable. I’ve taken the shortest route, myself,” she admits.
“It isn’t reasonable for normal citizens, but we aren’t dealing with those, are we?” Isotonic says. “I have to admit it does make sense—but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re still rebuilding the Cape Cells because of you.”
“If he helps rebuild it, will you forgive him?” I ask.
“Keliah—” Mom says, but I ignore her, heading for the area in front of the table so they can see me.
“My name is Keliah—I’m supposed to be the next Falconess,” I declare boldly. “I’m from a long, long line of Falconesses, so even if you don’t know me, I’m sure you know my family.”
They nod, but look a bit irritated. “Sweetheart, we need to—” Century starts out.
“No!” I say. “You’re going to listen to me. I ASKED my Grandpa to do a fake fight with Carla because Nico wanted him to—you all must have seen it! And he did! He didn’t hurt her and he took the fall at the end, just like you wanted him to—to a fourteen-year-old girl,” I sneer, leaning forward and giving them my sharpest look. “I know what my grandpa can do—he went toe to toe with Superior!”
“Not exactly,” Grandpa admits.
“Be quiet, please, I’m trying to defend you,” I tell him. “He willingly took the fall—he played the game! It was probably really embarrassing to lose to a girl only a year older than his granddaughter, you know?” I toss in a dramatic pose, because I AM a cape, and then announce, “If he was a bad guy—one that deserves to be stuck in prison for the rest of his life, then he wouldn’t have done that! And he didn’t know there were people in the buildings! I say he’s done his sentence!” I declare.
“Keliah,” Negatia says, “regardless of whether he knew people were in there or not, he did a lot of destruction—then, and now,” she says. “We’ve seen the remains of what he did before you brought him here.”
“That was—” I start out.
“He was under the influence of Massteria,” Nico says.
“Nico, if you would take Bombastic and the others outside of hearing range, we’ll discuss this among ourselves,” Mastermental says.
“I would like to say something,” Grandma says, stepping forward.
“Angela—” Grandpa says. “Let them do what they will, as long as SOMEONE goes out looking for Massteria, I don’t care what happens to me.”
“We agree, which is why we’re trying to do this quickly. Now if you would leave the room,” Mastermental says pointedly.
I look at Mom and Grandma, feeling helpless as we head out of
the room. I even turn to Nico, expecting him to do— “Son, you had best not use this to spy on the room,” I hear Century say over his earbud.
“Will it affect the judging?” Nico asks.
“It very well might,” Mastermental says.
Nico sighs and taps on his earbud. “Let’s go, people, to the cells,” he says, heading down the hall. I turn, looking at the room behind us. “Don’t even think about it, Keliah.” He doesn’t even look at me when he says that, I notice.
“I haven’t said nearly enough,” Grandma says. I see her hands clench angrily and I feel a rush of empathy.
“Neither have I!” I declare. “They’ve been forcing our family to work for them for generations, you’d think they OWE us—”
“They aren’t forcing us, honey,” Mom says. “We chose to work with the Hall—Mom was one of the founding members, weren’t you?”
“And my mother was part of the previous group of crime fighters,” Grandma says, waving it off. “Half of the time, at least.”
“But I’m NOT one of you,” Grandpa says. “This is ridiculous. I’ve already said they can throw me back into the cells—this is just wasting precious time.”
“Be quiet, Austin,” Grandma says.
***
"We could have had him," Deathblow snarls as they finally stop a few cities away. He looks around and heads into an empty building, taking his coat off and throwing it hard against the wall.
"You were running right next to me," Massteria mutters sullenly.
"You didn't do your job right!" Deathblow yells.
"I did exactly what you told me to!"
"You should have done it better!"
"Technico showed up!" Massteria yells. "You idiot, if we hadn't run, he would have gotten us too!"
"I can take Technico," Deathblow says, but he's not yelling any longer. "How soon after we ran did he get there?"
"Soon enough for me to pick up on it," Massteria says. "And you can't take Technico, none of us can."