by R. J. Ross
"I met my brother," Nico says, shaking his head and shoving himself to his feet. "I think."
"Did he hurt you?" Ken asks.
"No. He apologized," Nico says, his confusion showing. "Ken... it was like talking with a kid. Not one of our kids--a little kid."
"What?"
"Exactly."
***
"Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" I wake up. Hard not to when a ninety-something pound ball of energy jumps on top of you. She's got me pinned under the blankets, but doesn't seem to care. I look at her sleepily.
"What?" I ask.
"It's school!" she says. "Get up and get dressed, we gotta get to school!"
"Emily, honey, quit assaulting Trent and come get your breakfast!" Mom calls from the kitchen.
"Coming!" Emily calls back. "If you don't hurry I'm going to eat yours, too," she threatens before racing off.
"Don't let her eat mine!" I call from my room before heading for my shower. I come out a few minutes later, get dressed, and head into the kitchen to sit down across from Emily. "You're way too excited for school," I say.
"Like you aren't," she says. "Think of it, a school where you don't have to hide what you can do at all! I can make Ditto take notes for me! I can run as fast as I want in gym, it's--it's like a dream." Her eyes are shiny and her smile's so wide that my cheeks hurt just looking at it.
“Okay, okay,” I say as I start eating my rather large breakfast, finishing off my plate quickly. I stand up when I’m finished, kiss my mother on the cheek, and grab my bag, leaving Emily to shove the last bit of food into her mouth and chase after me. She’s still chewing as we start down the stairs--and Sunny falls on me from behind.
I jerk, looking at him blankly as his head rests on my shoulder. He snores in my ear. “You can carry him!” Zoe says, going past me and falling into step with Emily. “Otherwise he’s never going to get there in time!”
“Oh for crying out loud,” I mutter, not even that surprised when Sunny wakes up just enough to climb onto my back, piggyback style. “You owe me, man,” I mutter, starting down the stairs again. The funniest thing, though, is Nico’s sauntering along behind us with a cup of coffee in his hand as if he’s got all the time in the world. “I thought principals were supposed to be the first ones there,” I say over my shoulder.
“Eh, it goes against my super villain nature to be on time for anything,” he says. “Also, you realize he’s going to do that to you every morning, don’t you?”
“I’m trying to ignore that fact,” I admit as we reach the bottom of the stairs and get in line to exit the security system. “Hey--hey SUNNY!” I yell in his ear. “You gotta go through the security system, man!”
“Five more minutes,” Sunny mumbles.
"There's something really wrong about carrying another guy piggyback," I complain as I drop him on his butt--or try to. He's got a good hold on my neck and doesn't seem to be letting to anytime soon. "Sunny!" I say. "Get off, you gotta do this on your own!"
"Want to borrow the blowhorn?" Nico asks.
"Please," I say, plugging my ears with my fingers as Nico brings out the blowhorn--and blows it right in Sunny's ears. "Although it'll be your fault if he goes deaf," I add as Sunny yelps and wakes up.
"I'm up, I'm up! Sheesh," he mutters, stumbling over to the door and pressing his hand against the screen. "That's got to be child abuse," he mutters.
I follow, pressing my hand and exiting the building when it's my turn. Once outside, though, I look around cautiously. "They know where we live," I say to Nico.
"Yeah," he says. "Which is why we've got the entire staff of semi-retired hero teachers hovering over our heads right now."
I see them, now that he's mentioned it. "Is that Banshee?" I ask, pointing at a rather dangerous looking woman with long brown hair. "I heard she was working overseas."
"She's the music teacher."
"Seriously?" I say.
"According to Double M himself," Nico says, taking another drink of coffee. "I'm not sure my kids can carry a note in a bucket--I know Zoe can't, haven't heard Sunny try, but Double M insists."
"That's Taurus," I say, my eyes catching on a huge minotaur man sitting on another roof.
"He's the gym teacher," Nico says. "Which is why he's the only fully acting hero we've got. He'll be joining Central Hall, too."
There's others, I notice, about six in total, all names and faces that I recognize straight off--we're talking the big names of the past few centuries, ones that have done their civic duty a million times over and survived. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit speechless. And Mom and Liz aren't even here yet--I think they're going to show up when Nico decides when their class will be.
"You can close your mouth," Nico says. "One of the major reasons they're so willing to sign up was because they're ready to take me down if need be."
"Could they?" I ask.
"Together? Absolutely," Nico says. "Doesn't matter, I've got enough on my hands to deal with. So, first day of school with your cute little girlfriend, huh?"
"What?" I ask, jerking. I just passed Sunny--who's half asleep on his feet, soaking up the sun again. I'm tempted to go in a large circle around him, but I'm too late. He grabs me.
"Carry me," he says dramatically, wrapping his arms around my chest from behind and dragging along behind me.
"Oh for pete's sake," I mutter, stopping. "Get offa me you lazy punk, otherwise we'll both be tardy." Unfortunately he seems to have misinterpreted what I just said, because he's climbing onto my back again. "No--no--this is definitely not how a super hero goes to school on the first day!" I protest, trying to get him off. It's like trying to remove a superpowered vine. Once I move one arm it latches on somewhere else.
"Are you two dating?" Emily asks, looking back at me.
"No! Absolutely not!" I say, absolutely appalled at that question. "I like--" can't say "you" in this situation, can I? "girls! He's just a friend! He's--he's--I'm going to kill you, Sunny," I mutter as she snaps a picture of us with her cellphone.
Sunny snores again. But that's not nearly as embarrassing as the sound of the supers above us laughing. "He's solar powered!" I call up to them. "Stupid elementalist." And that just makes them laugh harder. "Zoe, he's your brother, you carry him!" I call to Zoe.
"Heck no, I don't care if he's tardy!" she calls back. "Just drop him on the concrete, he'll wake up in a few hours!"
Nico is laughing. "Nico, he's your kid! You carry him!" I call out.
"I agree with Zoe!" he says. "But I might give you both detention if he's tardy too many times, so think it through!"
"Why would I get detention?" I demand, reluctantly carrying the sleeping plant boy to the school.
"Because you're a working hero now, Trent! Saving people is part of the job--so save Sunny from detention!"
"Oh for crying out loud," I complain and keep walking. I can't help scanning the sky, though, wondering if someone or something is going to happen--but I should have been looking at the school.
A poof of smoke appears right in front of Death Canyon and dramatic laughter echoes in my ears. The supers above all turn, ready to fight as a large black man in a dramatic African outfit appears, holding a staff in his hand. "Heroes of Central Hall," he proclaims in a voice that carries. "I have come!"
"Black Panther, you dare to--" Banshee starts out, only to stop as Nico raises a hand.
"This one's mine!" Nico calls up to them, still holding his coffee cup as he saunters lazily towards one of the most famous super villains around. For a moment it almost looks dramatic--then Black Panther lets out a laugh of joy.
"Nico! My old friend, when did you get out?" he asks, throwing his arms around Nico in a hug. Nico starts laughing, hugging the big man back and pounding him on the back.
"Not too long ago--I've been busy or I would have called, honestly," he says, pulling back with a wide grin. "How's Amara?"
"She is well, as beautiful as ever--and twice as demanding," Panther says d
ryly, grinning from ear to ear. "Are you involved in this school?"
"I'm the principal," Nico says. "I heard your girl's going to be joining us, right? Is she as pretty as your wife?"
"She is her spitting image at that age," Panther says, turning to the silent teenager that I hadn't even noticed until now. "Adanna, come, meet my old friend," he says. She's tall for a fourteen year old girl, as tall as Max, at least, and thin. She's wearing a baseball hat and baggy clothes, but she moves like a dancer. If she's trying to hide the fact that she's a girl, she's failing.
"Sunny," I say.
"Five more minutes," he mumbles.
"Sunny, you really need to wake up," I hiss. "Seriously need to wake up--not even kidding here."
"Huh?" he says, managing to open his eyes.
"Remove the hat, Adanna," Black Panther says. The girl reluctantly tugs off her baseball hat, revealing her black hair is braided tight against her skull and stops at the top of her neck, and her face--she looks like a model. That's the face you see on those teen magazines aimed at girls in line at the super market. Her eyes are yellow gold in color, a striking contrast to her dark brown skin.
"Holy crap," Sunny says.
Not the most eloquent of reactions, but I totally get where he's coming from.
"Zoe, get over here, kiddo. Sunny, you too," Nico calls. Sunny hops off my back and heads forward, completely awake by now. It figures that a pretty face would do it, I think with amusement. "Pan, Adanna, meet my twins, Zoe and Sunny," he says, dropping a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Hi," Sunny says, holding out his hand.
"You look very much like your father," Pan says as he takes the hand. "Is your power the same?"
"No, he takes after his mom," Nico says. "Zoe here takes after me."
"I see," Panther says. "And your powers are, Sunny?"
"Plants, and maybe earth, I guess?" Sunny says, covering a yawn with his free hand. "I'm an elementalist."
There's a look of surprise on Panther's face, mixed with a hint of wonder as he lets go. He looks at Nico. "So you have both a technopath and an elementalist child?" he says quietly. "Will they become villains?"
"It's up to them," Nico says. "But honestly I'm trying to talk Zoe into it and Sunny out of it."
"I see! You will make a wonderful super villain," Panther says, shaking Zoe's hands. "Your father was a true credit to our side." Is it just me or does he seem relieved at that statement? Maybe the idea of an elementalist as a super villain is even off-putting to super villains. I know it scares me. Thankfully, Sunny's too lazy to get into the whole "causing havoc for havoc's sake" sort of thing.
"Um... thanks, I think?" Zoe says.
Sunny's taken advantage of this and moved towards Adanna, his hand held out and a grin on his face. "Hi, I'm Sunny," he says.
She looks at him, not offering her hand. "You are lazy," she says coldly. "You should walk to school on your own power or not come at all. You are not fit to be a proper super villain."
Ouch. Doesn't help that she's taller than him, either, I notice. Poor guy.
"That's fine, I'm not going to be one," Sunny says, letting his hand drop. He looks around, then heads back to where I'm standing, discreetly elbowing me in the gut. "Thanks for waking me up," he drawls sarcastically.
"Hey, she's got a point," I admit. "You're lazy in the mornings." Even as I say that he's tilting his head back and closing his eyes as he holds out his arms, soaking up the early morning sun again. After a second he growls something incomprehensible and tugs his t-shirt off, revealing a thin white tanktop.
"I dunno why, but I think I'm not getting enough sun, or something," Sunny says. "It's weird."
I glance up as Max pulls to a stop behind us, wearing civvies. "What I miss?" he asks me, glancing around. "Hey, is that Banshee?"
"Black Panther and his daughter showed up," I say, nodding in their direction. "And the daughter shot Sunny down straight off, told him he's too lazy to be a super villain."
"He is," Max says, looking at her, then looking at Sunny doing his sun thing. "Is it just me or does him doing that make you nervous?" he asks quietly. "Why'd he take his shirt off?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm right about him being solar powered," I admit. "More than likely he's going to start getting taller pretty quick, or something."
"Like a plant," Max says dryly.
"You laugh, but I'll lay odds on it," I say. "Maybe you should stand in the sun more often."
"Ha ha," he says. "Very funny."
"I thought so!" I say.
Zoe's stepping forward, offering her hand to Cub at this point, so I stop joking and listen in intently. "Hi," she says. "I'm Zoe."
"I am Cu--Adanna," Adanna says, shaking the hand that's offered. "It is good to meet a fellow villain."
"Well, I actually haven't decided yet," Zoe admits. "But I'm dating one?"
"That's my cue," Max says, heading for the two girls. I'm actually not that surprised as Emily takes his place, standing close to me with a worried expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" I ask, dropping an arm over her shoulders. She leans in unconsciously, a sure sign that she's not paying attention.
"I don't think she's going to like me," she whispers, looking as if the world has already crashed around her.
"Hey, you don't know that for sure," I whisper back.
"But I'm not going to be a villain," she says. "You aren't, either. So she won't like either of us, right?" Adanna is looking past Max and straight at us, making me realize that there's a very good chance she's listening to everything we say.
"Maybe," I admit. "But just because they're on the same side doesn't mean they've got to like each other in their private lives, right? And just because they're on the opposite side doesn't mean they've got to dislike each other in their private lives, either. You just be you," I tell her. "No point in worrying about the rest of it."
She nods, but the way she's being clingy tells me she doesn't really believe it. The heroes are landing all around us, talking among themselves. Taurus, though, heads straight for me as he shifts into his human form. As a human he's a tough looking black man with a short cut goatee and long dreadlocks pulled up in a ponytail--his minotaur form is three times larger, but his human form is as big as my Dad is. "I'm thinking that you're Kid Liberty?" he offers.
"You're right," I say with a grin, taking the offered hand. "Trent Styles. This is my future partner, Emily Dreyton," I add. "Emily, this is Taurus, one of the heaviest hitters out there, in his shifted form. Dad's a big fan of his, he's got at least three of his T-shirts."
"America's Son is a fan of mine?" Taurus asks. "I'm honored." He offers Emily his hand, who takes it shyly. "It's a pleasure to meet a future Liberty girl," Taurus adds, grinning at her.
"Thank you," she says.
"Is it too early to ask your abilities?" Taurus asks. Ditto poofs into existence on my right side, rather than Emily trying to explain. The startled look on Taurus's face changes to a laugh as he looks at her. "A duplicator! I never thought I'd get to meet one," he says, shaking Ditto's hand as well.
We've got a crowd by this time, since the heroes all want to talk about the fight from yesterday or examine Ditto curiously. The more people that approach her, though, the closer Emily and Ditto move to me. They're practically hiding under my arms by the time Nico whistles loudly.
"It's time to offend all the heroes!" he says cheerfully. "So if you'd line up I'll scan you and input you into the security system, otherwise you won't be able to enter--at least in one piece."
"Really, did he have to put it that way?" Taurus asks me.
"It's one of the perks of the job," Nico calls over to him. "But I promise not to tell what classes you're all ranked as--although we all know they're either A or the rare S class since Double M handpicked you, so really it's not that big of a threat. Shame, that. Panther, I'm afraid I can't allow you access--you know that, though."
"I'd be offended if I was trusted enough for that,
" Panther says. "But if it were anyone other than you, there would be problems."
"Of course," Nico says. "Why don't you and the family come over for a barbecue sometime? You can meet the rest of the gang."
"I'd be happy to." He turns, pulling Cub forward. "Adanna, you will train under these people. You will learn how heroes operate, and you will learn how to be a better super villain because of it," he says.
"Yes, Papa," Cub says. She flushes as he pats her on the head before taking off at full speed. For a second there's a slightly panicked look on her face as the heroes move past her, and she takes a step back. I can practically hear her thoughts. She's completely surrounded by the enemy, and not just any enemy, enemies that all outclass her by a mile.
Emily and Ditto are watching her like Siamese cats watching a toy. I wonder if they even realize it.
"Why don't you go introduce yourself?" I say to them.
"But--" they say, both looking at me. "You come too," they say, grabbing my arms and tugging me forward. "Hi," they say, the same tone, same expression, everything. "I'm Emily."
"There are two of you," Cub says. "Why do you say 'I'?"
"This one's Ditto," I say, raising my right arm and her holding hands with it. "Emily's a duplicator."
"I see," Cub says, watching Ditto closely, then watching Emily just as closely. "I am Cu--Adanna."
"Cub, right?" I say. "I'm Trent," I add, offering my hand.
"I no longer have claim to that title," she says. "It belongs to my brother."
"When you're growing out of it, he'll be growing into it," Nico says. "If you want to be called Cub here, we don't mind."
"No, I can't," she says. "I am Adanna. I will be called Adanna." She looks at me. "You are both heroes?" she asks, looking to Emily as well.
"Yeah, we are," I say.
"Then we are at odds."
"Do we have to be?" Emily asks.
"Yes," Cu--Adanna says, "we do."
Well there goes Emily's hope. This girl's really good at shooting people down, isn't she?
***
"Welcome to Cape High," Nico says as we all step onto the campus grounds. "I think this is a better place to introduce ourselves--for now we have a pretty small class, so we'll start with them. First, my kids, Sunny and Zoe," he says. Zoe raises a hand and Sunny glances up from where he's back to sunbathing. "Zoe is a technopath--or will be once she gains some control, Sunny's an earth elementalist. Next are our two poster boys, Max and Trent--you all saw them yesterday on Hero TV. Max specializes in gravity, Trent is a tank. And our last two are the newcomers to the group, Emily and Adanna. Emily, as you saw earlier is a duplicator, Adanna is a shapeshifter, right?"