by Drew Hayes
“No, you’re not!” Vince said, his voice rising noticeably.
“Yes, I am,” Roy reinforced.
“Yes, he is,” Mary said softly. Both of the battling boys looked at her. She was sitting in her chair, petting No on his head and not meeting either of their eyes. There was something about her that seemed... sad. Just a few moments ago she had been the same old Mary with the wild hair and the unreadable eyes. But now, in the time that Roy had come in the room, it was like some of the light had left her somehow. It was impossible to put a finger on what was different, but it was equally impossible to ignore the change.
“Well,” Roy said after a pause. “If the telepath agrees with me, it must be true. I’ll see you girls later on.” Roy’s eyes stared right at Vince and Nick, making certain they knew he wasn’t just referring to the actual women.
“Where are you going?” Vince asked, an undisguised tint of suspicion in his voice.
“Whiskey Shallows,” Roy replied. “It’s a popular club around here. I told a few of the admirers I met last night that I’d stop by. You girls are welcome to come, if you think you can peel yourself out of your chairs.” With that, Roy tipped his hat to Mary and Alice, and then strode out the front door.
“Wasn’t he just a ray of sunshine?” Nick quipped. Alice chuckled politely, but Mary just stayed quiet while Vince seemed to be rolling something around in his head. Slowly, but forcefully, Vince uprooted himself from his sitting position and got on his feet.
“I’m going with him,” Vince said simply.
“The word ‘why’ comes to mind,” Nick said. “Are you in the mood for more narcissism and ego?”
“Not even remotely,” Vince replied. “But I was there this morning when Hershel had to try and explain himself out of the situation Roy had left him in. The worst part of it wasn’t watching him run, or panic, or take that girl’s insults and accusations in stride. It was how resolved he was to it. Like he had done this countless times before and expected to be doing it for a long time after.”
“What do you think you can do?” Alice asked.
“Not sure,” Vince replied. “Maybe I can at least keep tabs on Roy, and help Hershel with whatever mess he wakes up in.”
“I’m sure Hershel is used to dealing with these things alone,” Alice said, a trace of bitterness clinging to her words.
“I’m sure he is. But Hershel doesn’t have to be alone anymore. I want to go show him that,” Vince said.
“Very noble,” Nick said sarcastically. “I expect you’ll expect us to rally to your words and leap up to join the cause?”
“No. I expect you all to do what you need to do. I’m sure some of you need to rest. I need to do this,” Vince countered. “I’m changing clothes and leaving in twenty minutes. If you want to come, then come. If not, then I’ll see you in the morning.”
It was an idiotic idea. They were all sore and tired, and it was evident that Vince was on a fool’s errand. Roy was three ranks higher, so even if Vince wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him. There was literally no point to anything that silver-haired moron was doing. So why did Alice... care?
24.
“Well,” Nick said at a volume higher than normal. “This seems like a lovely, cultured establishment.”
Vince, Alice, and Nick all stood in the entryway of Whiskey Shallows, a club with a country theme and a powerfully pumping stereo system. It had taken Vince a few minutes to look up the address and he cursed himself for having wasted the time. They could have found their way using the tacky neon glow and the ridiculously loud music, both of which were detectable from blocks away. He was happy Nick and Alice had decided to join him, though. Nick he was only moderately surprised by; after all, his sandy-haired friend did seem to enjoy getting out of the dorm at any chance presented. Alice, on the other hand, had been a huge surprise when she emerged from her room in fashionable top and tailored blue jeans.
It had been a very fortunate surprise, though, because in the haste of his bravado Vince had utterly forgotten that he didn’t own a car. Neither did Nick, since before the procedure they had a tendency to blow up around him, so it fell on Alice to cram the two boys into her BMW and chauffer them to the club. Vince had been very tempted to ask why she was tagging along but decided against it. It wasn’t as though she had been unfriendly at all; he had merely thought she would see herself above coming to a place like this. It was his own fault for making such assumptions about her just because she projected a confident and put-together aura.
As the out-of-place trio maneuvered through the robust crowd, Vince was surprised by how many people his age seemed to be in attendance. Most of them had large black Xs on their hands like he and his friends, so they were old enough to get in but too young to drink. He looked around more and realized that none of the faces looked familiar. It made more sense, though: only the Supers would be reeling after today’s workout. The rest of the college would be out celebrating their return to school and the first Friday of the year. This place was close to campus, so even if the younger students couldn’t drink, it was still a good place to get off campus and meet new people.
Vince passed a pair of girls in a corner taking shots behind a potted plant while trying to keep their hands out of sight. He re-evaluated the possible reasons the underage students would come. Vince was tempted to yell at Nick and Alice to split up and cover more ground looking for Roy, but he wasn’t confident he would hear or feel the cell phone in his pocket with all the bass and noise surrounding them.
That was a shame, because he could have used a way to cover more ground. The club was huge, with three bars on the first floor and two more on the second. An enormous dance floor sat a few inches higher on the first floor, making sure everyone could have a good view of the people shaking their stuff. It seemed oddly like a way to window shop to Vince. After a moment, he realized that’s exactly what it was.
“I think we’re doing this wrong!” Alice yelled, getting Vince and Nick’s attention and dragging them near a set of restrooms where things were marginally quieter.
“How so?” Vince asked.
“We’re looking for one person in a giant club. That could take forever. We should be looking for a group instead,” Alice explained.
“Why a group? All we want is Roy,” Vince pointed out.
“Yes, but Roy said he was meeting people here,” Alice explained.
“If he was telling the truth,” Vince said.
“Yeah, if we’re going to question his truthfulness to us then we have to ask ourselves if we’re even at the right club. So why don’t we just work under the assumption he was honest for now?” Nick said.
“Right. So, if Roy is meeting people, then we need to look for a cluster of people, probably ones that are our age if he met them that night on campus,” Alice said.
“Cluster of people our age,” Vince agreed. He turned his head back toward the club and tried to count how many clusters of people he saw in the college-aged range. Once he passed thirty, he turned back around to Alice. “I don’t suppose there’s anything else that would narrow it down?”
“It’ll be almost, if not completely, made up of girls,” Alice replied.
“How do you know that?” Nick asked.
“I saw him last night. Trust me, that boy only has one thing on his mind and definitely isn’t just sitting on a stool all night,” Alice said.
“Gotcha,” Vince said quickly, closing off the subject. “Okay, let’s scout for groups of girls our age with a cowboy hat poking out from the middle.”
“You know, I’m a little surprised there’s such a massive country bar out here,” Nick said as they started back into the main area of the club.
“There’s everything around Lander. There’s a gay club, a techno club, a dance club, and a bunch of bars,” Alice said. “Lander is a pretty huge school and people come from all over America, so local business owners found a niche for just about every kind of way to drink and meet
new copulation partners.”
Nick laughed loudly. “I’ve never heard picking up bar skanks put in such a classy way.”
“It’s a gift,” Alice replied.
“Speaking of gifts, I think we just got handed one,” Vince said, pointing to the dance floor. Standing a few yards away from them, dancing simultaneously with three girls, was Roy. He was moving smoothly to the beat while holding a drink in his left hand. Periodically he would take sips, usually while executing spin maneuvers. Not one drop of the brown liquid was spilled; in fact, none of it looked like it dared summon up the nerve to even approach the rim of the glass, unless, of course, it was making a direct beeline for Roy’s mouth.
Vince noticed Roy’s hands weren’t stamped and wondered how he managed to pull that off. It wasn’t really relevant, so he pushed the thought aside. What mattered now was keeping an eye on Roy, and, if possible, dissuading him from abandoning Hershel in an awkward situation. If Roy wasn’t willing to play along, at least Vince might be able to explain things to the girl so she didn’t freak out whenever Roy changed back. He didn’t have much of a plan, but then Vince had never been great at strategy. He set a goal and he found a way. That style had always worked out before, so he set his shoulders and prepared to shadow Roy for the rest of the night.
That plan was almost immediately interrupted by a familiar voice behind him.
“Hello again, Sucker Punch.”
25.
Vince turned around and found himself face to face with his former opponent.
“Michael, right?” Vince asked.
“Damn right,” Michael replied. Michael was a touch out of place, wardrobe-wise, having chosen to wear only a black tank top that drew attention to the impressive arms and shoulders his practice at boxing had wrought him. Combined with the steel-toed boots on his feet and the unpleasant sneer on his face, it made for an appearance that was anything but warm or friendly.
“You decided to come out tonight too, I guess,” Vince said.
“We did indeed,” Michael corrected him. A quick glance behind Michael revealed two other males standing in proximity to him. One was tall with ink-black hair and the other was strikingly familiar. It only took Vince a moment to place him; after all, Coach George had been adamant about searing that face into his mind.
“You’re Chad, aren’t you?” Vince asked. Nick jerked visibly and Alice suddenly seemed uncomfortable. From the rumors that were floating around, Chad had dominated every opponent he went up against except the number two rank. Even then it hadn’t really been a close fight: just a minute or so longer than the others.
“I am,” Chad confirmed. “You’re Vince Reynolds, the girl to your side is Alice Adair, and the boy slowly edging his way behind you is Nicholas Campbell.”
“Wow,” Vince said. “That’s really impressive. How’d you do that?”
“Student directory and an eidetic memory,” Chad replied with a bored shrug.
“Awesome; well, it was cool running into you, Michael, but we’re sort of in the middle of something,” Vince said as he delicately tried to extricate his group from Michael’s and go back to keeping an eye on Roy.
“Hold up there, Silver,” Michael said, placing a hand firmly on Vince’s shoulder. “I owe you some payback for the cheap shot you pulled on me the other day.”
“You mean where I used my talent against yours in a perfectly acceptable and legal way during a recorded and observed fight? Is that how you define a cheap shot?” Vince asked.
“You lured me in thinking you couldn’t do anything but run, then you cracked me in the jaw. You tricked me,” Michael said, his hand tightening its grip.
“It’s called strategy, and I suggest you adapt to it quickly in this school. Isn’t this moot anyway, though? You won, you beat me, you proved you’re the better fighter between us,” Vince tried to pacify him.
“Maybe I feel like I deserve a little more payback for that crack across the jaw,” Michael replied, flexing his impressive arms.
“Okay,” Vince said simply. In a motion like flowing mercury, Vince snagged Michael’s arm carelessly exposed arm, gripped his shoulder, and applied pressure above and below the elbow. “If that’s the case, then maybe you should keep in mind that I’m a better than you when we take out any extraordinary advantages.”
“Gaah,” Michael grunted as Vince intensified the pressure. He was holding Michael close so that anyone that happened to glance over might think they were still merely talking. He had come here to observe Roy under the radar; the last thing he needed was the bouncers noticing what was going on.
“I’m going to have to ask you to release him,” Chad said as he moved slowly up to Michael’s side. “As you recall, those beneath the top five ranks may not challenge us formally or otherwise.”
“Wasn’t really looking for a challenge, I just wanted to come out with my friends. Michael here is the one who had a problem with mutual coexistence,” Vince replied.
“Noted, but you’re the one who took it from verbal to physical,” Chad countered. “It was a nice grab, by the way, but from the way his face is contorting, I’d say you have only a few more seconds to release it before Michael makes this situation worse and escalates things.”
Vince looked at Chad, and then felt the shaking in Michael’s muscles. If it had been anything else Vince might have been able to absorb Michael’s energy and keep him restrained. With cold, though, that just wasn’t an option. Making a snap decision, Vince released his hold and quickly took a step back.
Michael wheeled around, eyes wide and a long vein bulging noticeably on the top of this head. He shook off the arm that Vince had been holding and then curled the hand into a fist.
“If you do this, you know there will be severe consequences, right?” Chad asked in his same detached tone.
“Fuck ‘em,” Michael replied tersely. Vince shifted his footing slightly, readying himself to dodge Michael’s blows.
“You girls take all the fun out of being at a club, you know that?” The voice was Roy, who swaggered up to the tense zone that surrounded Vince and Michael. “I mean, really, you were doing good at staying covert for a while, but taking a fighting stance? Now everybody is paying attention to you shitheads instead of me.”
“Not your fight,” Michael grunted, his eyes never wavering from Vince’s waiting form.
“No, but it is my night. So now instead of drinking and playing with my girls, I had to take time out of it to come make sure you morons don’t go trashing the club,” Roy countered.
“I don’t need your help, Roy,” Vince said as he measured Michael’s breathing and line of sight.
“I didn’t come to help you. I came to help me. Now both of you calm your asses down so I can have fun or I’ll take you out back make sure neither of you can so much as move, let alone fight,” Roy said calmly.
“I’m ranked higher than you, dipshit,” Michael spat at him.
“Well then, here are two things to think about. First, you never fought me, so that ranking is arbitrary. Second, Hershel is the one on the admittance slip, so he’s the one who can’t be uncovered as a Super. As far as any regulations are concerned, I’m nothing more than a public persona,” Roy said, a big grin spreading across his face as he took a sip of his drink.
“Hold on,” Nick said, jumping in from the sidelines. “You’re saying that you could tear this club down around us and they couldn’t touch Hershel for exposing his identity?”
“You’re a touch smarter than those glasses make you look,” Roy answered. “So, girls, what do we do? Do you both of you walk away right now, or do I beat you both like red-headed stepchildren?”
“I don’t need to fight,” Vince said honestly.
Michael’s response took a touch longer. His eyes lingered on Vince a while longer, then glanced at Roy, and finally took in all of the people who were casting sidelong glances at him in the area around them. Vince was better than him without abilities, and if he used them, he’d be
exposed. He took a long breath and lowered his arms.
“Another time, Vince,” Michael said, before turning and walking back in the direction of the entrance. The tall dark-haired boy accompanied him. Chad, however, lingered for a moment.
“Nice job, Roy,” Chad said. “It would have problematic to deal with the fallout from that. And as for you, Mr. Reynolds, it would be wise to remember your place at this school.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vince asked, his voice still a hair on edge from the almost-confrontation.
“It means you are weak. You have no rights to things such as pride and aggression when dealing with those more powerful than you. You would be better served to bow your head and avoid conflict,” Chad explained.
“That’s not really my strong point,” Vince shot back.
“If it were, I wouldn’t have needed to tell you that, now would I? Think about it, because the next time Michael catches up to you, he will likely be smart enough to do it without a crowd present,” Chad said. He turned and moved to catch up with the other two, sliding easily through the crowd at an oddly brisk speed.
“What a cock,” Roy said simply. “Anyway, that was fun, but time to go tell my prospects of the night about how I stopped a bar fight. Later, bitches.”
“Wait,” Vince said. “Um... thank you. For keeping Michael and me out of trouble.”
“Don’t thank me,” Roy said in a more serious tone than he had shown all night. “I wasn’t lying; I only came over because your little show was distracting my girls. If it hadn’t had a direct impact on me, I would have watched him beat you right off your high horse and never lifted a finger. We share a dorm, but we’re not friends. Remember that.” Roy turned away from them and began heading back to the dance floor.
“I don’t know about you two,” Nick said as Roy walked further from them. “But personally, I’m seriously beginning to think that he might not be the best candidates for our bff for life club. Just me talking out loud, though; totally open to other opinions.”