by R. J. Ross
"This is like a dream," he says, holding her tightly. "I spent so many years... so many years wanting to see you. Now you're here--"
"I haven't forgiven you," she lies. "You have a lot to make up for if you want me back."
"It's because of the canyon, isn't it?" he says, with a sigh.
"To put it that simply--Nico, you're a genius, but you're so--so--stupid!" she says, pulling away to glare at him. "I had plans, Nico! I was pregnant! And there you were, running off and destroying massive amounts of land--"
"Concrete! All concrete!" he protests.
"Not that deep down it wasn't," she says darkly. "And then you get tossed into the Cape Cells! You know supers can't visit the Cape Cells! And what am I supposed to do, write you a letter? One that would be read by the entire Hall? 'Hello, Nico, this is Lady Rose, I'm pregnant with twins'?" she demands, slapping him on the shoulder. "You moron!"
"I was a super villain!" he protests.
"You were a super moron!" she corrects. "Our children grew up without a father because of you!"
"Did they?" he says. "Did you really never find someone to replace me?"
"A date or two," she says after a second. "I went on a date or two--but do you have any clue how hard it is to find babysitters for those two? I kept worrying that their powers would kick in young! Picture the splatter on the wall left by the teenage babysitter," she says dryly. "I did. It was the most vivid image in my mind on every single one of those dates. You'd told me about all the explosions you caused as a kid, remember?"
Nico lets out a laugh, only to get slapped on the shoulder again.
"I want new clothes, too," Summer says, looking down at the pants and shirt she's borrowed from Jeanie.
"Do you still dress like the sixties?" Nico asks.
"Yes, I do. It's comfortable," Summer says.
"And you're a hippie."
"Well you're a technophile," she says before falling silent. "I'm surprised," she admits after a second.
"By what?"
"By how quickly you've taken to fatherhood."
"It's easy," he says, looking up at the stars. "I look at them and I see the one person I love most in this entire universe. I work from there."
"Yourself?" she teases.
"Oh, I see that, too," he admits, shooting her a grin. "Especially in Zoe."
"Sunny has a bit of you, too, you know," she says. "More than just his looks."
"I've noticed, but I can read Zoe like a picture book." His hand comes down, covering hers as he falls silent. The silence isn't uncomfortable, she thinks as she looks up at the stars. Neither is the touch.
***
Sunny's glued to my side. I haven't even told them what happened, yet he's right there next to me, a worried expression on his face that says "I know something happened, you can't hide it, you know," on his face. I'm not quite sure what to do, because shoving him away doesn't work when he's in this mood, and I'm positive he's going to figure out what happened if I say something--why is Trent looking at me now?
I blink as Emily leans back, resting her head on my knee and looking up at me. Okay, am I that obvious? Really? And now Max is flipping off the television entirely because Zoe is looking at me with a blatantly worried expression. So...
"What happened?" Max asks.
"Did I say anything happened?" I ask, not looking him in the eyes. Only problem is, no matter which way I turn, practically, there's someone staring at me from it.
"It's pretty obvious," he says. "All but Zoe's parents ran off on a rescue mission, right after you go off to get pizza."
I nod, bringing my legs up and hugging them so I can rest my chin on my knees. "Well... Shadowman got out," I say simply. "And this time before I could fight back he'd already dragged me into the sewers--"
"I'll kill him," Sunny says, starting to stand. I grab his jeans, pulling him back down.
"Your dad almost did," I say. "He punched a hole through the concrete and took Shadowman's powers away and punched him in the face. Then he stole his phone," I say. "That's how he knew where to send the others."
"Were you hurt?" Zoe asks.
"No, I wasn't hurt at all, but it was really weird going straight through the ground," I say. My mind goes to something Nico said. "Nico says there's a good chance a lot of the people that Collector collected were kids, since Shadowman was doing the capturing. So... I wonder if they have families looking for them, or--"
"Or if they're first generations or orphans," Max finishes for me with a scowl. "I should have thought of that. We would have heard about someone from one of the bigger families missing, but the D class capes and the ones that don't even rank... the kids could be listed in the norm system instead of ours."
"So we have no idea how long they were there, or anything, right?" Emily asks.
"Yeah, pretty much," Max says.
I feel sick to my stomach. "I hope they catch this Collector man," I say, my hands fisting. "And make him pay."
"They will," Trent says.
And when Sunny hugs me with one arm, I don’t even try and shove him off. Right now, I realize in surprise, I really do need a hug.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Spread out,” Liz says as she steps into the massive building. It appears abandoned from outside, but inside there are glass walls encasing people in every direction. It's a lot like a high class art museum, with security systems everywhere--which she just totally wiped out by wiretapping in from the outside line. The doors had opened easily after that, letting the supers just walk in.
Taurus stops next to her, still speaking on the phone. “We’re going to need medics, ambulances--yes, I know we’re filled to capacity--if we have to we can take them to the norms hospitals and send a few of our specialists to oversee it. And--“
“It looks like none of these have doors,” Ken calls over to them. “Pretty solid plastic, only enough air holes to slide trays in and provide air.”
“Can you break it?” Taurus asks.
“Yeah. But the kid inside--“ Ken says, hesitating before crouching down in front of the plastic. He places his hand on it. “Hey, I’m going to break this, so I want you to hide in the corner behind your mattress, okay?” he says, earning a nod.
“Get me some lasers,” Taurus says. “Heavy duty cutting torches, whatever. It’s going to have to cut through plastic about a foot thick or more. Nico should have killed that--“
“Taurus,” Liz says, making him look up. “I don’t want my big brother back in the cape cells, so don’t give him any ideas.”
“You’re right.” he agrees with a sigh. “Make it quick,” he finishes over the phone before hanging up and moving forward.
“Each cell has the basic bathroom built into the back, a cot, and a few toys,” Liz says, looking sick. “Most of the toys have been destroyed entirely, the children--“ She stops, staring into one of the cells. A young girl sits in the middle of the cell, her legs crossed in front of her, her expression impossible to read. She looks a few years older than Emily, who Liz considers her own daughter, now, and she isn’t reacting to their entrance at all.
“Sweetie, we need you to back away from the wall,” Liz calls through the glass. The girl doesn’t look up, or even twitch in acknowledgment, she just sits there, staring forward blindly. Liz curses under her breath, walking around the cell for a few moments before making a fist and smashing through the plastic. “Not my strongest suit,” she admits as she steps through the hole. She prefers doing things with less brute force, and more shock value. Not that she can't use brute force, of course, she just prefers not using it.
“Wait,” Taurus says, grabbing her hand. “There’s something off about this one. Do we have any clue what her abilities are?”
"She's just a child," Liz says, "who's been through a very rough time," she adds, tugging free of his hold and stepping into the cell. She walks over to the girl, crouching down in front of her. "Hi, honey, we're here to get you out of here," she says, reaching forward.
The girl's hand shoots out, grabbing the hand. For a second Liz's eyes start to glow--then turn dull. At that second the girl twitches, her eyes opening wide before her entire body changes, turning into lightning and shooting through the hole that Liz just made.
"What happened?" Taurus demands as Liz stands.
"She stole my ability," Liz says after a second. "I can't morph."
"What?"
"We've got a teenage bolt of electricity with no clue how to control it, that's what happened," Liz says. "We have to catch her before she--" The lights go out, "finds a plugin," she finishes belatedly. "Don't you dare say I told you so," she snaps before he can say anything. She pulls out her phone, speed dialing her brother. "Nico? We've got a little problem."
***
I hear Nico cursing as he comes down the stairs. "Alright, we're spread thin, and as much as I hate this, I need your guys' help," he says as he steps into the room. "We've got a runaway lightning bolt."
"Liz?" Sunny asks. "I always knew she was a bit weird, but--"
"No, a teenage girl, about your age. She was at the zoo, she took Liz's abilities. I know how to get her to this building--of course the rest of the city isn't going to appreciate it, but once she's here we need you to help catch her."
"What are you going to do?" Max asks.
"I'm going to shut the power down everywhere except for here, she'll be forced to come here by instinct. Once she gets here I'm going to shut down the power until she's stuck in one machine, understand? While we're doing this, Trent, Max, I want you standing guard--the lasers are going to have to go off, got it?"
"Yeah, we can do that," Max says, glancing at Trent.
"If anything happens, shout," Nico says, heading for his laptop and starting to tap. "Okay, there's a large surge of electricity, most likely her--" He taps a key, then another, and I can almost picture the electricity going out one neighborhood after the other. "She's coming this way," he says.
"Don't kill the hospitals!" Summer protests.
"They've got backup generators," he says ruthlessly, tapping another and another key. "She's coming!" he says. "Get ready!"
I look around, grabbing my bo as I keep staring at all the various electrical items. I hear a sizzling noise and know the force field is down. I hear a click, and another, and another as the power on each of the floors turns off--
The television turns on and a teenage girl stares out at us. "Where am I?" she demands. "Let me out! I need to go after Collector!" She starts slamming her fists against the television screen. "He needs to pay! If I don't go now, I'll lose this ability!"
"Sorry, kid," Nico says, stepping in front of the television. "We can't let you do that just yet."
"Then how do I get out? It's going to stop--" Nico reaches down and unplugs the television. A spark of electricity comes from the plug, then she's there in the flesh, standing in front of us and breathing heavily.
"Oh, man, my head," she says, grabbing her temples and almost falling over. "How does she DO that?" She stumbles back, then forward, staggering. Automatically I reach out, grabbing her shoulders. "Got you," she says in satisfaction--
Only to shift into a tiny panther cub and drop to the floor.
"Rowr?" she asks, looking shocked. I grab her, turning her and looking her in the face.
"You stole my powers," I say. "But as a young shape shifter, you're worse off in that form." I hold her up to the others. "Am I really this cute?"
"Cuter!" Emily says cheerfully.
"Absolutely cuter," Sunny agrees.
"Well, then," Nico says. "Let me bring the electricity back up--"
"Nico!" Max shouts. "We've got a problem!"
Nico races out, leaving me holding the cat... with no bag. She starts fighting me, trying to bite my hand.
"Hold still," I say, shaking her slightly. "You don't seem to have taken my other abilities, just the most useless," I add with amusement. "Do we have a box?" I ask.
"You can't stick her in a box!" Emily says.
"Well you can't hold her," I point out as the cub tries to gnaw my wrist off. "That hurts, you know," I complain. "Don't make me get the newspaper."
"Here, I've got a cat toy!" Emily says, pulling out an atrocity of pinkness from her pocket. The disgusted look on the cub's face actually makes me laugh.
"Is that what I look like?" I ask.
"A lot of the time," Sunny says.
***
The world is twisted. Nico mutters something dark and steps out the front door of the apartment building. Max is floating upside down, looking like he's not quite sure if he's right or if everyone else is wrong. Trent is standing in front of Nico's "brother" his hands in fists, his eyes closed.
That's probably not a good sign, Nico figures. "Hello, brother," he says, walking through the distortion without glancing at it. He'd been thrown off by it the first time, but he knows what to expect, now. His eyes focus on the heat readout instead, sending everything back to normal--or close enough. "Come for movie night?"
"I'm not your brother," his look-alike says.
"Then who are you?"
"I don't--I'm not sure, but I'm here for the plant boy. Star says he can be my family."
"You want my son," Nico says, digging a handful of strange items out of his pocket.
"You can come too," the man says. "She says I can have his entire family!"
"She does?" Nico asks. "So you want all of us, huh?"
"Yeah, so we can be a family," he repeats, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "We can read comics together and tell stories and--"
"You know," Nico says, knowing he's about to say the wrong thing. "You can come here. We can be a family here."
"I--I want to..." the man says, hesitating. "But I can't leave Star. Star has important work to do--"
"What's your name?" Nico asks.
"Distort. My name is Distort."
"Okay, Distort," Nico says, "Star's not good. She captured my--my wife, and she kept her against her will. She hurt people. Like that kid she gave powers to? He almost died!" He really isn't good with this type, he thinks a bit darkly.
"But he got powers," Distort says. "Everyone should have powers, powers make life better."
"Not when it can kill you," Nico says.
"But--" Distort stops speaking and starts screaming, clutching his head with his hands in pain. The distortion around them shatters, reappears, then shatters again, and a trickle of blood drips down from his nose.
"Excuse me," a woman says from above. She appears next to Distort a second later, grabbing him by the back of his white uniform. "This is mine." The world seems to get hotter, burning up as if they're standing on the sun, then a giant hole appears behind the two, sucking at everything around. She takes a step back into what can only be called a black hole.
The hole closes, leaving them all just standing there.
"What just happened?" Trent asks finally.
"I think," Nico says, "that there's a lot more to this than we know."
"We should have killed them," Max says.
"It’s a thought.”
***
"They were right there," Sunny says. All of us are standing at the window, with me holding the cub in my arms--having practically forgotten that she's a danger. Thing is, she seems to have forgotten as well. She's staring out the window with the rest of us. "He could have come in and--"
"Nico stopped him," Summer says. "Distort is--Distort is more confused than evil," she goes on, resting a hand on Sunny's shoulder. "It's the woman--she's evil." Her hand tightens on his shoulder and I see him wince without her noticing. "She's pure evil."
"I hate them," Sunny says. "I hate them both."
I look at him, frowning slightly. He's trembling slightly, his hands fisted at his sides. I'm about to say something when the cub suddenly shifts, turning into a teenage girl--who I'm still holding like a child.
"You can't keep me here," she snarls, trying to jump out of my hold. Instinctively I tighten it
, keeping her right where she is. "I'm going to kill him!" she says, jerking at my hold.
"There's way more dangerous people outside right now," I snap at her. "You're not going anywhere!"
"I'm going to kill him! He kidnapped me! He stuck me in that place!"
I hug her. She's trembling. "You're out now," I say. "That means you have time to plan your revenge, right?" She goes still, so still that I pull away and look at her. "Don't jump into this stupidly," I tell her. "You can get revenge--you can get justice, but as you are right now, do you really think it will work?"
Tears are falling now, streaking her face. "He took me," she whispers. "I want him to suffer like all of us did."
"Then you need to do more than just wildly jumping around--do you even know where he lives?"
"No," she says.
"Then that's one of the things you need to find out," I say. "You need to know how to control your powers--do you?"
"I--"
"Obviously you don't," Zoe says. "You'd need to know how to control all of the powers you steal, right? So you need trained."
"That's right, she should come to school with us," Emily says. "And if the adults haven't caught him by the time she gets some control, she can hunt him down herself, right?"
"What's your name, honey?" Summer asks gently.
"Morgan--"
The door slams open and Liz storms in. "You caught her? You little power thief--" she starts out, pointing at Morgan.
"You almost got me caught in the television!" Morgan says. "Do you have any idea how terrifying that is?"
"Yes."
"Wh--what?"
"Nico left me in the television for a couple of hours one day when he caught me trying to hack his digital diary," Liz says straight-faced. "He called it time out. I call it boring."
"Well--well it's still scary the first time!" she says. "You should have told me you were an electrical freak before I stole your powers!"