by R. J. Ross
"They--they--" she whimpers. "They thought--that I--"
"I know," I say. "They're wrong. We all know it. Do you want me to make them regret it?" I ask. "Because I can."
She shakes her head against my chest before hugging tighter, as if trying to force me to stay right where I am. I look up, not surprised as Mom and Dad step in front of me, turning this into a group hug. I glance over at Frank and Max, who are standing to the side, having a silent conversation, no doubt. They have the same expressions on their faces and suddenly I see the family resemblance. It's a bit terrifying, if you think about it, the idea of these two teamed up together. But then Frank changes the subject.
"I believe this is as good a time as any," he says, making us step back and turn to him. Somehow Emily has transferred from me to my mother and is cuddled up against her side like a chick under a wing. "Since we have established the two boys as enemies, I would appreciate you keeping up the rivalry in the school. And I know that you and Zoe are friends, Emily, but a bit of feuding, or perhaps trying to talk her out of dating a super villain might be expected. It will, of course, be for show, but--"
"I--I don't mind if Zoe knows it's just play acting, right?" Emily says, frowning.
"She will be informed," Frank says with a smile.
"I'm looking forward to it," Max says, grinning at me. "Team captains, right?" he says.
"I get Sunny," I say quickly.
"I'm keeping Zoe. But we need another super villain or undecided if that's the case," Max says. "Since you're obviously keeping Emily, too."
"Ah, yes. The one I'm planning on recruiting hasn't called back yet, but I've heard from Black Panther. Of course it was delivered as a threat letter shortly after the fight, you can't expect a traditionalist like Panther to do anything else, but he's asked for his son and daughter to be admitted into the school. He wants both to be properly trained super villains. Alas, I could only accept the daughter for the moment."
"And why is that?" Max asks.
"Because the son is only three years old. The daughter is fourteen, almost fifteen. According to tradition, she should be called Adanna, now that there's a son to inherit the family name, but for most of her life she was called Cub. His threat letter is extremely informative. His wife sent a text, though, saying that she would rather her daughter choose her own path, so as far as we're concerned you can both try and sway her to your sides."
"Do you have a picture?" Sunny asks.
"Of course. I've been watching Cub quite closely for a while. She's a shape shifter," Frank says, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it over to Max. Max looks at it curiously for a long moment before handing it over to me. The black girl in the picture is thin and wiry looking, but her face is striking, even though it looks like she's trying to dress and look like a boy. She has high cheekbones and tilted eyes and a wide, full mouth that's set in a threatening scowl.
"What does she shift into?" Emily asks, peeking at the picture I'm holding.
"What else? A panther, of course. Enhanced speed, hearing, agility, all the things that made her the perfect heir for the Panther name except for her gender," Frank says. "She's trained since before she could walk in bo staff fighting and hand to hand combat. I was hoping your showing would get her, especially since she lives so close."
"It sounds like she's already well trained," Max says.
"No, unfortunately she's having quite a bit of trouble with her shape shifting," Frank says. "And with the new brother, well, she's at a disadvantage. I expect you to treat her well," he adds, looking pointedly at Max. "Since officially she'll be on your team, so to say."
"I've always admired Panther," Max says, "she'll be fine."
"She'll be there tomorrow for the first day," Frank says. "Now, if I could speak with Emily for a moment?" he adds. "Privately?"
I look at Emily, who looks a bit worried, then nod, heading for the exit with the others. I can't help but feel like I should stay, though, as the door closes behind the last of the assistants. I can't hear a thing from inside the room.
***
"Now, seeing as you're no longer in hearing distance of the Liberty family," Frank says as he turns to the little redhead. "Tell me what you would have done with that family."
"Wh--what? I don't think it's really right about the little brother, but it frees her up to--"
"Not that family," Frank says. "The Beht family."
"Oh. Them." Emily looks down, staring at her feet for a long moment before speaking. "I don't like them," she says quietly. "I don't like how he just assumed he was good because he's called a hero, or how they just assumed their daughters were right--I don't like them at all. I'm glad I don't have to pretend to live with them anymore," she says fiercely.
"Do you want them out of the super business?" he asks.
"What?" Emily asks, shocked. "I can't really decide that--"
"But I can," he says. "Although this might come to a surprise to many, I am still the official head of the Hall--regardless of what branch it might be. I can fire them. Their head leader might protest, and I might have some red tape within the Hall to cut through, but within a month or less they will lose their backing as Hall members. I cannot stop them from going vigilante, of course, but it is not a very nice world for vigilante heroes."
Emily looks at the door, then looks back at him. "I... I don't like what they did in their personal life, but I never heard about them doing bad things in their cape life," she says finally. "There aren't really that many heroes, right? I mean, when you think about how many norms there are--can you--I don't know, stick them on some sort of fire fighting duty or traffic accident duty instead? Oh, or something really, really nasty, like sewer patrol or something! Something that needs to be done, but really sucks to do! Where they never show up in newspapers or anything cool like Trent just did!"
Frank looks at her for a moment, then starts to laugh at the sight of her wicked grin. He reaches up, messing up her short red hair with a fond grin. "Consider it done," he says. "You know, I think that you will be an excellent addition to the Liberty family."
"You mean because I'm going to be Trent's partner?" she asks. "But that's not really enough to let me use the super hero family name, right? I mean, I'm part of the Divine family, not that anyone knows us hardly... or me, I should say."
"In time," Frank says. "Maybe you should consider using it in your name? As a tribute."
"If I can live up to it," she says.
"Something like Divine Justice," Frank adds. "Or Justice Divine."
Emily smiles a little. "Yeah, maybe. So I can go now, right? Because I've got school in the morning."
"Of course. Thank you for your very helpful input, Emily," he says. "I'll get that set up now."
"Okay!" she says, grinning from ear to ear as she heads out the door. She stops, though, with her hand on the handle. "But... please find out how to fix the girls, okay?"
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I want them doing sewer duty, too." He's still laughing as she slips out the door and heads straight for the family waiting for her with anxious expressions. Ken's the first to react.
"And?" he asks.
"Sewer duty for Geoff and Marlina!" she says, looking quite important. "He offered to have them canned, but we need heroes, right? So I thought they should do something that needs to be done--but is really nasty, instead." She grins as Jeanie tugs her into a hug, kissing her on the forehead.
"A very fitting decision," Ken says. "There's a lot of really nasty jobs out there that need to be done, and maybe it will teach them a bit of humility. But sweetie," he says, looking her straight in the eyes, "I want to talk about forgiving with you."
"I know," Emily says. "But it's easier said than done."
"I know," he says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Trust me, I know."
***
"So... they're building a school," Star says as she sits down at her desk. The tiny office she has is in the basement of yet anot
her abandoned building in the middle of another city. No one's noticed, no one comes to this area except for druggies and homeless people, and they couldn't care less about what happens in the building.
"Yeah," he says, playing with a rubik's cube. She's not sure where he got it from, but she really doesn't think it matters. "I don't feel right, Star," he says abruptly.
"About what, honey?" she asks.
"About taking their abilities. I thought you said we were making people better, not worse."
"But aren't there some people we don't want in our new world, honey? People that are so willing to share secrets shouldn't be trusted with ours, right?"
"But they were just kids," he says, still staring at the rubik's cube. She knows he won't look at her, not when they're arguing. If he looks at her he'll feel guilty and start apologizing. "I like kids. We're helping kids, right?"
"Not all kids," she says.
"But--"
"Why don't you go check on the pretty lady, honey? Make sure she seems comfortable," Star says.
"Yeah, okay," he says quietly, getting to his feet and heading for the stairs. She frowns slightly, thinking about how to deal with her partner thinking for himself.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"Think I should wear this or this?" Emily asks, barging into my room with Ditto in tow. They're wearing two different outfits, I notice as I glance over. But they're both wearing jeans and t-shirts, just different colors and pictures on the front. "Or should I put this shirt with those jeans?" she asks.
"Does it matter?" I ask, "the only people that are going to be there are the usual crowd--"
"And Cub!" she says as Ditto poofs out of existence. "Another girl, Trent! You don't think she'll pick on me, do you?" she asks as abruptly worried as she was excited. "She looked really tough."
"She can probably beat you," I say honestly. She's caught me in the middle of working out, but she doesn't seem to care that I'm doing situps, so I just keep doing them--it's only when I start doing pushups that she sits down on my back. "What are you doing?" I ask.
"Adding weight," she says. "You're getting flabby."
"Whatever," I mutter, flushing slightly. "Look, Cub's a super villain in training, right? You can't just assume that they're all like Max, got it? So be careful around her."
"I know," she says. "Oh! You're going to be on the news tonight, right? We should go see it!"
"Why? You saw it first hand," I say.
"But you're going to be on TV," she repeats, as if its important. Dad and Mom are on television every once in a while, like, once a month practically. It makes me look like a total noob when I'm excited to see myself--
"Trent! Emily! Get in here! Everyone else is already here waiting!" Mom yells.
"Did you set it to record?" I hear Dad ask. "We've already got the Hero TV version--"
"Of course I set it to record!" Mom says.
"Trent! Hurry up already!" Max calls. "Flirting can wait!"
"We're coming!" Emily says, hopping off my back and racing into the front room. I get to my feet and follow at a slower pace. "Would you hurry up already?" Emily demands. She's already sitting on the floor in front of the couch, waiting for me. I drop down next to her and lean against Dad's leg, since he's sitting behind me.
"And today had a bit of Super excitement," a lady says into the mic. "Maximum showed up right off the highway, only to have a newcomer stand up to him!" The screen changes, showing me throwing the bus at Max in a dramatic fashion. "We've done some research and it seems that the newcomer is none other than America's Son and Star Spangled's boy, Kid Liberty!"
The video changes, showing me crouching down and talking to the little boy. Somehow they even managed to capture the conversation, I think in amazement. "I'm here with the little boy that met Kid Liberty earlier," she goes one as the screen returns to her. The little black boy is standing next to her, beaming like he won the lottery. "You talked with Kid Liberty, right?" she says.
"Yes," the little boy rasps out.
"Did he seem nice?" she asks.
"He asked me if I'm going to be good," the boy says.
"I saw that!" she replies. "And what did you say?"
"I said yes," the boy says seriously.
"And how old are you?" she asks.
"I'm five and a half."
"I bet you're going to tell all your friends at kindergarten about this, right?" she says. I'm pretty sure she's realized she's getting nowhere, but he's too cute to mind that. The little boy nods enthusiastically. There's a crowd of people behind her, waving at the camera and trying to get some screen time. "What about you?" she asks an older girl. "Did you see the fight?"
"I did! He got hit with a bus," she says. "It was awesome!"
"So tell me, are you a new Kid Liberty fan?" the interviewer asks.
"Sure! But I felt a little sorry for Maximum, though. He got hit in the face."
"So you like Maximum?" the interviewer asks.
"Well, I mean, he was on youtube and he stopped this crazy kid not that long ago--I think he's just misunderstood."
"Because he's too cute to be really evil," another girl butts in.
"He seriously is!" the first girl agrees. "Oh, but that Kid Liberty was cute, too, wasn't he?"
"I think Maximum's just a little bit cuter, though."
"Either way it looks like we've got some up and coming capes to keep track of!" the interviewer says. "This is Renee, signing out." The show goes back to the two people at the desk, who are grinning.
"So you can't be really evil if you're cute, huh?" the man asks. "That's good to know."
"It's so good to see a new generation of old fashioned heroes," the woman says. "I'm a big fan of America's Son, myself, and his son looks so much like him!"
"That's funny, I'm a huge fan of Star Spangled," the man says. "That family is one to watch. Now, on a less super note--" The news becomes a drone in the background as the group starts to cheer.
"Ha! I'm cuter!" Max says, looking far too proud over that fact.
"They just didn't get a good enough shot of me," I say. "That or the girl was blind!"
"Very nice cover for your first fight," Dad says, messing up my short hair. "A feel good piece, sure, but since nothing major was destroyed it would be."
Emily's staring at me with a frown. I look at her. "What?" I ask.
"I'm trying to decide whether she was blind or not," she says seriously. I start tickling her.
"Admit she was blind," I say as she starts giggling.
"Stop! Stop!" she cries.
"Once you admit she's blind!"
"NEVER!" she says, trying to get free. "Okay fine! Someone's blind!" she says. I grin, pulling away. "You, that is," she says. Dad grabs me before I grab her again, and she hops up into my Mom's lap, sticking her tongue out at me.
"That's enough," Dad says with amusement. "Now, we're going to discuss proper interview behavior as capes. Emily, you aren't in uniform yet, but you should listen. Firstly, whether you're the good guy or the bad, you've got little kids hanging on your every word. You do not curse. You can get creative all you want, but I don't want to hear some six year old cursing and saying they learned it from a Hall member, got it?"
"Sir, yes, sir," Max says.
"I'm holding you to it," Dad says. "I know some supers might not agree with me, but I don't care. They'll just beep the words out on news, anyway, so it's a waste of air time as well as offensive. You're free to give each other a hard time on television, though, but keep it superficial until you've been fighting for a while. They don't need to know that you two know each other well."
Emily slides back down to the ground, leaning back against Mom's legs.
"But I can make fun of his height, right?" I say.
"Of course," Dad says.
"Yeah? Well I can make fun of your empty head," Max mutters, throwing a couch pillow at me. I grab it and stick it behind me.
"My head's not empty!" I protest. "I'm thinking something right now!
"
"What are you thinking?" he asks.
"Shorty, shorty, shorty--" I say, making Zoe have to grab Max from lunging at me.
"No fighting in the apartment building," she says, tugging him back onto the couch. "Dad'd kill you both then make you rebuild it."
"Where is your dad, anyway?" Max asks.
"He went out to check the school's security system again," Zoe says. "Ever since the sisters were caught he's been rebuilding it so that his brother won't be able to affect it."
"I think I'll take a quick walk," Dad says, getting up.
"Are you worried about him?" Mom asks.
"No, of course not. He's the son of Superior. I just feel like getting some air," Dad says. He's out the door the next second, leaving us to look at each other.
"He's worried," I say.
"Extremely," Mom agrees.
***
Nico goes perfectly still, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as he slowly turns. He'd sensed him coming, he thinks, he'd thought he'd been ready for the world warping, too--but it is a bit off-setting, even with expecting it.
"Hi," the man in front of him says, raising a hand. "So you're that girl's dad, right?" It's like looking in a mirror, in some ways, Nico notices. But just like the world all around him being the wrong colors, so is the man in front of him.
"And you're my brother," Nico says. "Or something like that." Because there's something wrong with those pale gray eyes, he realizes. Something missing that he usually sees in his mirror. Cynicism, maybe.
"We're family?" the man asks. "Oh, but I can't stay long," he goes one before Nico can respond. "I'm here to say sorry."
"What for?" Nico asks.
"We're trying to make the world better," the man says. "But she made it worse for those two. I'm sorry." He stops, looking up as if seeing something coming. "I've gotta go. Goodbye, brother," he says.
The world twists in on itself, jerking out from under Nico and flinging him backwards--and the negative him is gone. "Nico!" he hears, from a distance. "Nico, are you okay?" Ken appears in front of him, looking worried. "What just happened?" he demands.