Super Zero

by Rhonda Stapleton

  Amy had a beautiful, spacious two-bedroom condo that overlooked the lake. Of course, on her salary she could probably afford more, but she believed in not spending above her means. As a financial planner in her day job, Amy was one of those people who religiously invested 12 percent of her income in her company’s 401k and constantly preached to me about the importance of a Roth IRA.

  At this point I’d settle for a job, much less any sort of benefits. I still hadn’t figured out what the hell I was going to do.

  I leaned against her dark green Formica countertop, spilling the beans about Vigilante’s dalliance with the dark side.

  Amy tilted her head and looked at me, taking her attention away from the veggie tray she was arranging. “Are you sure about that? Something doesn’t add up for me.” She paused, thinking. “If he was working with Rowena, why did he save you at the barn ambush? It would have been smarter to wait until you were killed, then get the jewel from you.”

  Hm. Crap, she was right. A weird twisting feeling made my stomach turn. Did I judge Vigilante too soon? None of this was making sense.

  “You make a good point,” I finally said. “But he still lied to me. Even if he didn’t know Rowena was a bad guy, he was still using me to bust Mason.”

  She pursed her lips, chopping celery into even chunks. “Yeah, that’s true. I’d be pissed about that too. Go grab the veggie dip from the fridge and put it in the dip bowl, will you?”

  I did as she asked, scooping it into the glass container on the countertop. But I couldn’t get my mind off Vigilante. “I don’t know what to do,” I said to her. “I’m confused. He knows the most about Dementrix, but do we trust him enough to have him help us?”

  Amy kept her focus on chopping the vegetables. “Well, you’ll get your chance to sort through it, as I invited him over here,” she said.

  “What?” A ripple of shock ran through me. Vigilante? Coming here?

  “Come on,” she said, waving the knife in the air. “Don’t be mad at me. I didn’t know you two had a blowout. Yesterday I sent out a call for help after I dropped you off, and he’s one of the people who answered.”

  I nodded, my hands shaking as I put the lid on the dip and popped it back in the fridge. “So, who else is coming?”

  “A few of my friends. They’ll be a big help to us, I’m sure.”

  I still felt a little uneasy about it, but I had to be honest. My judgment in character had been off base lately, between my misperceptions of Mason, Rowena, Carrie and now Vigilante. I guess that was just one more thing Amy excelled at more than me. At least her friends had come through for her solidly.

  We finished making preparations in silence, my mind wandering through what happened yesterday, replaying what he’d said. He’d tried to keep me from leaving, had reached out to me, wanting to explain something else. But in my hurt, I’d pushed him away.

  Would he be willing now to explain himself? And even if he did, would it make a difference in my feelings?

  Tension tightened my shoulders and neck, and I tried rotating my head to relieve some of the stress. I set out the plastic cups and plates on the dining room table. Even if Vigilante wasn’t a bad guy, he still used me. I would ask him to explain himself, make sure he wasn’t on the villains’ side, and maybe he could help us with our mission.

  But I made a solemn vow to keep my heart to myself. Not that he wanted it anyway.

  The doorbell rang. I jerked, the plastic knives flying out of my hand.

  Amy wiped her hands on a dishrag. “Chill, Jenna.” She opened the front door.

  In walked a superhero I’d never seen before, wearing a black leather suit. He was attractive, in an arrogant sort of way, with shiny blonde hair that probably got a weekly hot oil treatment. Even his fingernails glinted, like he wore clear nail polish on them. Interesting.

  And right behind him was Dwight, lugging his ever-present black leather suitcase.

  What the…?

  In total confusion I looked at Amy, who pointed Dwight toward the couch.

  “What’s he doing here?” I whispered to her. Was this endeavor going to be so risky we needed to sign up for gruesome insurance first? Not a promising sign.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Dwight happens to be a genius at planning coups. He’s meticulous and thorough, and I’ve relied on him for years. Plus, he’s got a great superpower.”

  I shook my head and went to close the door when a hand darted out in the rapidly closing crack.

  I jerked the door back open. It was Vigilante.

  It felt like there was no air in the room. I dragged in a ragged breath. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

  He gave me a small, polite nod, moving right past me. My chest ached at the sight of his hooded eyes, not connecting with mine at all.

  Wait a minute. He’s the one who lied. Why did I continue to feel bad? I was the wronged party here. I let the anger carry through me, closing the door a little harder than necessary behind him. I was going to keep a very close eye on everything he said and did, just in case he turned out to be a villain too.

  “Help yourselves to some food, guys,” Amy said, pointing toward the laden dining room table. “We can snack while we talk.”

  Dwight and the frat-boy superhero headed right into the dining room. Amy turned to follow them, shooting me a meaningful glance before going. I knew exactly what she meant—she wanted me to stay and talk to Vigilante.

  I sat primly in the seat across from him. He still didn’t look at me. This was going to be awkward, but I forced myself to plunge ahead. “So, you said yesterday that I didn’t know everything going on. What else didn’t you say?”

  Vigilante shrugged. “Does it matter? You have your mind made up about me anyway.”

  “Hey, I’m not the only one involved here.” I clenched my hands into fists, trying to keep my voice down. “If we’re going to trust you, put our lives in your hands, we need to know you’re not going to turn us over to Rowena.”

  He finally looked at me, his eyes pained. “I never meant to hurt you, Jenna.”

  My throat tightened. Somehow, I knew what he said was true. I needed to put my own hurt feelings aside and concentrate on the mission.

  My fingers clenched the chair’s armrest. “Why didn’t you tell me you were working with Rowena?”

  “She and I didn’t know who we could trust. You were working for Mason, so we thought you were involved in the scam too.” He scoffed. “I was an idiot to trust her. Serves me right.”

  “So you’re not involved in her plans, then?”

  He drew in a long breath, exhaling slowly. “I was directly involved in the plan to remove Mason from the council by revealing his crimes. I had no idea, though, that she planned to get the crystal. Or that she was working with Dementrix.”

  A horrible realization swept over me as I finally understood the impact of the deadly trio working together. If Rowena got the changing crystal, she’d control the ability to change or grant superpowers. That, combined with Dementrix’s facial recognition cameras that could unmask any superhero, meant utter chaos.

  A world ruled by three insane women, at the mercy of their malicious deeds, where superhero power could be granted to anyone, on a whim. Where the real heroes would be unmasked and fed to the sharks.

  Mason was a bad guy, to be sure, but Rowena? She was a nightmare waiting to happen. I had a bad feeling that by ratting Mason out, I’d plunged the League of Heroes out of the frying pan and into the fire.

  Well, not if I could stop it.

  I leaned forward, looking deep into his eyes. “We have to stop them, Vigilante.”

  He nodded, his face just as serious.

  Amy slipped back into the room, throwing me a questioning glance. I gave her a nod with a small smile to say yes, we could trust Vigilante. And if not, I’d be watching him like a hawk.

  She sagged her shoulders in relief, tugging Dwight and the other guy back in the living room as they carried full plates of food.
/>   Dwight’s eyes widened when he remembered who Vigilante was, and he scrutinized him. Probably wondering how to talk him into buying insurance, no doubt.

  “Let’s do some quick introductions,” Amy said. She pointed at the blonde surfer-looking guy. “This is Mechanoman. He has enhanced senses, most notably super hearing and super sight. And he also has some great gadgets.”

  Mechanoman gave us a quick smile, waving his hand. He went back to digging his fork into his potato salad.

  “This is Night Ghost,” she said, pointing at Dwight right as he had a piece of cold ham flapping out of his mouth.

  He swallowed it down fast, pushing up the rims of his glasses. “I can turn invisible. I also sell accidental death and dismemberment insurance, which I find vital for this line of work.”

  “I’m Jenna,” I said quickly, trying to stop Dwight before he started his whole spiel again. “I can manipulate electricity. And I don’t have a cool superhero name yet, sorry.”

  Amy smiled. “Well, as you all know, I’m Hellfire, and I can create fire. And this is Vigilante,” she said, using her head to indicate him. “He has super flexibility, speed, and strength.”

  “And he knows Dementrix and Rapida, so he’ll be an asset to our team,” I interjected, popping over to the dining room table to get a drink. I was suddenly feeling nervous and needed something to occupy my hands so I didn’t bite the crap out of my fingernails.

  This had to be the most awkwardly mish-mashed weirdness in the history of superhero meetings. I was sure the council of the League of Heroes didn’t have cold cuts and snacks at their planning events.

  “So,” Mechanoman said, “Hellfire said Rapida turned to the dark side, so to speak. Are you guys sure about this? That’s a pretty bold accusation to make, especially considering she’s the new head of the council.”

  I nodded, heading into the room and settling into the chair. “Hellfire and I saw her with our own eyes. She’s got something really bad planned, so we need to stop her.”

  Vigilante sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, she’s smart. Really smart. I guarantee she’s had this planned for years, just waiting for her opportunity. She isn’t going to be easy to take down.”

  “So what do we do, then?” Amy asked.

  “We smoke her out by planting some bait.”

  “What kind of bait?” I asked, skeptical. “What do we have that she wants?”

  Vigilante slowly turned his eyes to me.

  Chapter 21

  I clutched my cell in a shaky hand and looked at the group, who en masse stared at me expectantly.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked them for the fortieth time. Deep down I knew it was our only hope, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t freaked out of my mind.

  “Come on,” Amy groaned, “let’s just do this and get it over with.”

  “Fine,” I bit out, then opened the phone and called Rowena’s home number.

  It rang a couple of times, and then she picked up. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Mrs. Wallings. It’s me, Jenna.”

  “Oh,” Rowena said, her tone chilling. “What is it you want?”

  “Well, I’m supposed to be turning the changing crystal over this evening, but I’m a little…well, I’m scared, to be honest. I was hoping you’d help me out by sending someone to protect me. I haven’t heard from Vigilante since I last saw everyone. But I’m afraid to be there by myself.” I paused. “Especially after what happened last time, you know.”

  “I see,” she said, her voice much softer now. “Well, I’ll be glad to help you out. I’ll come, myself. Where, and what time?”

  Got her.

  I told her the address we’d decided upon. “We’re going to meet at midnight tonight,” I said.

  “Well, let’s you and I plan to be there a half hour early, just in case.” The sneaky bitch. I could tell what she was up to, faking like she wanted to help me, when she really wanted to off me and take the crystal before she believed the other superheroes would arrive. Clever gal.

  “Oh, thank you,” I managed to say in as grateful a tone as I could muster. “I’m just so glad you’re here to help. I don’t know who I can trust anymore, especially with The Machine not being the person I thought he was. I feel like I’m all alone right now.”

  Amy elbowed me in the side. Okay, maybe I was laying it on a bit too thick. I was pretty bad at this acting crap.

  “No problem. See you tonight,” Rowena said.

  We hung up. I crammed the phone back in my purse. “Okay,” I said. “She took the bait.” Meaning me, of course. In reality, I knew it was the best idea. She wanted the crystal, and I had it. Hopefully my new superhero status was still hidden. And she didn’t know I knew she was evil, so we had the advantage right now, too.

  Which gave us the perfect opportunity to take her down and hand her over to the authorities, once and for all.

  * * *

  I waited impatiently in the treehouse in the children’s section of the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. A quick glance at my watch confirmed Rowena was late. It was already 11:35 pm, and she was supposed to be here five minutes ago.

  Not that I was eager to see her. I had a sudden empathy for the worm on the hook, waiting in painful silence for the big fish to scarf it up.

  I peeked through the surrounding trees to the night sky, speckled with stars. The moon hung bright, the globe heavy and low in the air. Thankfully it was a clear night, so Vigilante, Amy, Mechanoman and Dwight could remain hidden in the topiary’s many dark spots and still keep an eye on me. Of course, that meant there were enough dark spots for the three villains to hide, too, but that was a risk we had to take.

  I heard a soft shuffling as something approached up the wooden ramp leading to the treehouse. It was Rowena, making her appearance as Rapida. She paused right outside of the treehouse. A few leaves blew off of a nearby overhanging tree, scattering across the wooden floor.

  “Why don’t you come out here where I can see you?” she asked in a smooth voice. “It’s awfully dark in there, and I can’t see a thing.”

  Yeah, right. Didn’t the spider say the same thing to the fly? I must have had “stupid sucker” written on me somewhere without knowing it.

  I clutched one of the high-voltage batteries I’d nestled in my pocket a little tighter, then took a couple of steps toward her and stopped. I didn’t want her to see yet that I was in uniform, so being in a covered area was the best idea right now.

  “Actually I feel more comfortable in the dark,” I hesitantly said. It wasn’t too hard to add a little shakiness to my voice, as I was quaking in my boots. “Who knows what danger is lurking out there, you know?”

  In a split second she was beside me, her Victoria’s Secret vanilla perfume wafting up to my nose. I felt a sharp point in my upper left side puncture my skin, slicing through my shirt and uniform underneath my breast. Blood trickled out of the cut, and I gasped at the stab of pain.

  “Be a good girl and hand me that crystal now,” Rowena asked, her voice silky in my ear. “I don’t want to have to take it from you, but I will.” Her unspoken threat on my life loomed in the air around us.

  Rowena was ready to shed the pretense now and play hardball. So be it. I drew in a shallow breath, not wanting to push her fingernail further into my skin, then touched her arm with my right hand and willed the power to transfer from the battery to her.

  She screamed as the jolt of electricity ran through her, jerking her hand away from me. Her body shook as the volts ran through her.

  I’d tested the transference of electrical currents earlier in the day, giving Dwight a minor jolt. We needed to make sure it would work before finalizing our plan, but I had to admit, that test was more enjoyable than it should have been. After doing it, I was tempted to check it again on him, but Amy had shot me a glare, squelching my fun.

  We’d decided the batteries in my pocket had just enough power to stun someone, but not kill. Which was exactly what we needed it
to do.

  After jerking a few seconds, Rowena dropped to the smooth wooden floor of the treehouse, not moving. I tied her arms and legs with the rope I had tucked into my boots, then tucked tail and ran down the ramp as we planned, heading toward the thin strip of woods to my right, where Vigilante perched. A whooshing sound darted right past my left shoulder, nicking the skin. The arrow thunked hard in a tree not ten feet in front of me. I flinched at the pain and dropped to the ground, crawling into the woods.

  “Dementrix is here,” I whispered to Vigilante. I knew Mechanoman, with his super hearing, would be able to hear it from his hiding spot about twenty feet behind us. He should be able to contact Amy and Dwight, who were on the other side of the children’s garden.

  Vigilante nodded, then squinted hard as he looked at the darkening stain spreading across my shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked, reaching a hand toward me and examining the holes in my uniform.

  I swallowed, almost more pained by his tender touch than the cuts. God, I desperately missed his hands on me. I missed feeling close to him.

  I shook those thoughts out of my head. Bad timing, Jenna. You’re wounded and in the middle of the biggest battle of your life. Let’s stick to the plan.

  “I’m fine, thanks,” I said, moving slightly away. He was too distracting.

  He paused for a moment. “I’m going to scout the area for Dementrix,” he said, his voice flat. He was gone before I could say another word, vanishing into the dark.

  Was he pissed at me for moving away? I was tempted to run after him, but I didn’t know where he went. Besides, I needed to stick to the plan and wait for Amy’s signal, showing all was clear and I could lure Rowena further into the gardens once she awoke from the zap I gave her.

  I wasn’t chasing Vigilante around anymore. I was a strong, independent woman who wasn’t going to let a man have that much power over her. And if I repeated that mantra in my head about a thousand times a day, I might believe it in a few years.