by R. J. Ross
“A super genius brain is something that shouldn’t be wasted,” he says, heading for the door. “Now, let’s get the kid… the kids back. I’ll call up Century and get them started on the paperwork for Shadowman’s little surprise.”
“What about Davis? Hasn’t he been pretty much declared as a norm? That’s why you’re hesitating to run right in and grab him, right?” I ask.
“That’s something we’re going to have to fix, ourselves. They’re taking too long,” Nico says grimly.
***
*Skystep the Movie Set*
Phoebe sees the looks that the cast is shooting her. They’re worried, and a bit scared, but no one’s approached her, yet. It’ll change, soon, she thinks as she sees the director heading for her. She has to come up with a lie… No, she thinks, reaching up and touching her face, if she lies, it’ll just be more obvious. She could easily see the difference in the mirror this morning, and in a world as visually based as this one, they’re going to notice it just as quickly.
“Phoebe,” the director says, “are you feeling better, now?”
“I feel twenty years younger,” she says with a little smile. He looks at her for a moment, and she can actually hear him sorting through questions, but then, to her surprise, he nods.
“Good to hear,” he says. “If you have the time, I would love to hear the name of your doctor.”
“Unfortunately I really need to get to work,” she says. “Maybe next time?”
She starts for her little trailer, her mind rushing. The little monkey on her shoulder wraps his tail around her neck, his fingers grabbing her ear for balance. She reaches up, touching him to help him out. That might be why she doesn’t notice the woman that appears behind her until a hand touches her shoulder. She turns, a bit confused to see an unfamiliar face, and is about to ask what the woman thinks she’s doing on a closed set when she’s sprayed in the face.
The woman leans forward, whispering something in Phoebe’s ear before pocketing the tiny atomizer. She walks away, disappearing.
***
*Scattered throughout Central*
Almost at the same time, three different phones ding, alerting their owners to the fact they have a new text. North is the first to inspect it. She reads the note once, twice, and then the phone screen starts to crack from her hold.
The_Professor: How’s your daughter doing? I heard that she’ll be coming into her powers soon. By the way, I would be happy to share any of the energy that you acquire from Shadowman.
Several miles away from her, South reads a line of similar content, this one mentioning her son by name. She’s not nearly as controlled as her sister. Her phone gets tossed into the sky and hit by lightning. She grows irritated with herself a second later, since she needed that to call Shadowman. Not that she can afford his rates… she’s a B-class super villain, not a headliner.
“Did you get a text from him, as well?” East asks from behind her.
“He threatened my child,” South says. “What did he tell you?”
“My baby,” East whispers. “He sent me a picture of her, said she was the prettiest thing he’s ever seen. How does he know all of this, South?”
“He’s The Professor,” North says as she approaches them. “How long have we been using his information for our own benefit? I bought my secret lair out of his sales book, for crying out loud.”
“But he’s been doing that for YEARS,” East wails. “Why is he suddenly doing this?”
“The energy,” South says. “He wants the energy, and he doesn’t want to deal with Shadowman. We all know that Shadowman’s become a lackey for the Hall. I don’t want to deal with Shadowman, either, honestly.”
“I can’t afford Shadowman’s rates,” East says. “Just for one tube he’s asking for hundreds of thousands.”
“None of us can afford it,” North says. “But we can’t afford to have The Professor hunting us down, either.”
“So what do we do?” South asks.
“We find something that Shadowman wants more than money,” North says, staring at her phone as it dings, again, “and I think I’ve got an idea of where to start.”
South looks over her shoulder. “But… he’s threatening OUR children, North… wouldn’t doing this make us just as wrong as he is?”
“There’s a difference,” North says. “It’s US doing it. We won’t hurt her! We’ll just… we’ll just use her as leverage and then give her back when we’re done.”
The sisters look at each other, grimly, and nod in agreement.
***
“So… where we goin’?” Skye asks as Papa and I fly through the sky. She’d caught sight of us and decided to follow. I think she’s bored. A part of me wants to be with the group getting Davis out, but Nico split us up. Vinny’s with him, I’m with Papa. It’s probably good for that to happen, I think, but… “Hey, hey, Rocco!” Skye says with a squeal as the shadow walker comes running out of a shadow below us. “Rocco! HI!” She dives down, tackling the poor guy to the ground with a hug. “I thought I sensed you!”
“Papa,” I say, looking at Papa. He’s got a folder of paperwork that was tossed together extremely quickly. Century had actually stepped in and declared that the child would be a ward of the Hall, so we don’t even have to claim her as Papa’s child. I’m sort of happy, since I would hate for Papa’s reputation to be tarnished, but at the same time, I would like to have a little sister! Maybe they’ll let us raise her? Oh, but it would be good if she had both a mother and a father, wouldn’t it? Papa did a good job raising me, but—
“Is it true?” Rocco asks us, as Skye dangles from his neck happily.
“Is what true?” she asks.
“Do I have a little sister?”
“I have another niece?” Skye asks, her jaw dropping. “HOW AWESOME!” she cheers. “Oh, but that means she’s whatsisname’s kid, doesn’t it? I think we should get him fixed,” she stage whispers to Rocco.
“Trust me, I was thinking the same thing,” he mutters as Papa and I land in front of them.
“You can’t get a super… fixed,” I say, sighing. “He’s not a puppy.”
“No, he’s a mangy old cur,” Rocco complains. “But is it true?” he asks, again. Papa hands him the folder. “So… we’re going to claim her as a ward of the Hall, and my old man won’t put up a resistance, will he?”
“He’s the one that sent us to get her,” I explain. “He didn’t seem to know what to do about her.”
“It is… worrisome,” Papa says. “They must realize that she is one of ours. Why have they not contacted us about her?”
We go silent for a second before Skye speaks, “I don’t like that system. They did the same thing to me!”
“Children fall through the cracks,” Rocco says, holding up the picture of his sister. “There are so many of them, and not enough of the workers, maybe. It doesn’t help that I can’t pick up on them until they start to show their powers.” He frowns, and I can practically see him thinking of something. Finally, he looks at me and Papa. “You’re one of my Hall leaders, right? Well, I want to ask you for something, but after we get my sister.”
“I am not surprised,” Papa says, only to wrap an arm around Rocco’s waist and haul him into the air. “We will go, now,” he tells us.
“Why do I always wind up being carried?” Rocco asks. “We could take the Shadowlands and get there just as fast!”
“But this way you are aired out before meeting tu hermanita,” Papa tells him. “It is not good to meet family when you stink, mijo.”
“Papa should know,” I say teasingly. “His side job is pretty stinky, too.”
“Good point,” Rocco says, giving up as we come to the orphanage. It’s a large brick building that I bet has been around for centuries. We land in front, but Skye goes still, looking a bit pale. “She’s in there?” she asks us. “Do you feel her, Rocco?”
Rocco closes his eyes, and when that doesn’t seem to work, does a little dance, goi
ng still, abruptly. “I feel her,” he says, finally, his eyes opening. We start for the door, only to watch it open and a woman step out.
“Excuse me, can I help you?” she asks.
“We are here on behalf of the Hall,” Papa says, walking up to her. “We have come to claim one of our own.”
She looks him straight in the eye, and lies. “We don’t have any super children here.”
“We have the records, señorita,” Papa says, his eyes narrowing. “We have all that we need to claim… Evelyn Jones.”
She looks panicked. I wish I could read her mind. “We… we don’t have an Evelyn Jones here,” she says. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave, or we’ll call the cops.”
“She’s my little sister,” Rocco says, stepping forward. “I can feel her in there.”
“I’m going to call the cops,” she says, again, heading for the building.
“This is Voltdrain,” I say. “Are you really going to call the cops on Voltdrain when he has all the appropriate paperwork in his hand?”
“Where is Skystep?” Papa asks quietly. We look around, not seeing her anywhere, until she walks through the front of the building carrying a little girl in her arms.
“I found her!” Skye says.
“Evie,” the woman says, reaching for her. “No, you can’t take her! She’s going to a good home! We just found an adoptive family that—”
“Send them to speak with Century,” I tell her as Rocco runs to Skye.
“But she’s not—she’s—” the woman says. “You don’t understand.”
“What don’t we understand?” Rocco asks. “This is my little sister, lady. I might not like our old man, but—”
“I don’t care what you claim she might be, she’s my daughter!” the woman snaps. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t afford to raise her, I didn’t have a job, and I knew that there was a chance she would be… one of you,” she says, sitting down on the steps. The little girl in Skye’s arms reaches for her mother, and Skye puts her down. She runs over, cuddling the silently sobbing woman. “So I put her in the system, and… I came to volunteer here, so I could watch her grow. It isn’t a bad place. She gets fed regularly, and by me being here, I’m helping other children, as well. They even put me through school to get a degree in primary education! I just… I can’t let you have her,” she whispers. “Are you going to give her to her father?”
“Not a chance,” the entire group says, almost in perfect harmony.
“This works out well!” Papa says happily. “We will just take you, as well, señorita.”
“Wh—what?” the woman asks.
“That makes us family!” Skye tells Rocco. “Oh, but she’s a norm… your mommy’s okay with it, though, so maybe she will be, too?”
“Either way, we need to leave,” I say, looking around. “The Professor knows about her, and he might have called this a ‘gift’ but I’m pretty sure it was a veiled threat. If he can find her once, he can find her again.”
“Who is The Professor?” the woman asks.
“Forget about him for now,” Rocco says, walking over. “My name is Rocco Stiltz. I’m Evie’s half brother. I’m also, ah…” he looks at us before giving her a sheepish grin, “well, we’ll get to that part later. What’s your name?”
“Ashlynn Jones,” the woman says, wiping her tears away. “But why would you take me, as well?” she asks.
“Because the Hall is starting a Cape Elementary soon,” Papa says. “We need qualified teachers. I believe that Technico will find you perfect for the job.”
“I’m not a super,” Ashlynn says.
“Oh, we have plenty of those in the school,” I say. “I like this idea. Would you want to go to work for the Hall? We pay really well, and you’d be helping kids, still.”
“And I bet we could get you the same benefits as the black suits,” Rocco says, crouching down next to Evie and digging through his pocket for a piece of candy. He stops, as does Skye, and they both look over pointedly at the wall of the building.
“Should I go beat him up?” Skye asks.
“He’s not going to do anything,” Rocco says, but his pose says he’s fighting the same urge that she’s fighting. “We need to go, though. Ashlynn, I know you don’t know me, but I’ll promise, now, that our old man won’t be a problem for either you or Evie. So will you come with us?”
“Isn’t she Skystep?” Ashlynn asks, looking at Skye. “She’s a super villain.”
“I won’t hurt my niece!” Skye says, posing dramatically. “I love all my nieces and nephews!”
“She is not here for work,” Papa says, “she is here for family.”
“I… I suppose,” Ashlynn says. “I should tell my boss that I’m leaving, the kids are going to—”
The sky starts to grow dark, and the wind kicks up, sending the trees and bushes all around us waving dangerously. I look over as Skye and Rocco turn, looks of shock on their faces. They are SO much alike, I realize as I turn as well. Before I can say anything, Rocco shouts, “E.P.B.s on, everyone! We’ve got a psychic attack coming!”
I barely manage to tap my wrist before Ashlynn starts screaming in terror. It isn’t her screams that worry me, though, it’s the chorus of screams echoing off the walls inside the large brick building. All of the children behind us are being affected, and there’s nothing I can do about that, except—
I see the cause. “Phoebe?” I say, disbelievingly. “Phoebe, stop!”
But she just keeps walking towards us, her hands out. “I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HURT ANOTHER CHILD!” she bellows.
“Can a psychic psychic up herself?” Skye asks, confused. “Wait, does Shadowman have an E.P.B.?”
Abruptly, Ashlynn’s screams are cut off and I turn, just to see the last of her pulled into a shadow no bigger than my hand. “That would probably be a no,” Rocco says.
CHAPTER TEN
“This venom is extremely potent,” Davis says, lifting what’s left of the vial up to the light. “Are we certain we diluted it enough to not kill the target? I don’t have good experiences with things left undiluted.”
“I’m sure we were extremely careful,” Walter says.
“And we’re not actually going to use it,” Davis says. “Just for legal purposes, I need to clarify that this is more for containing violent criminals, right?”
“Ah, yes, violent criminals. Well done, covering your bases, my boy,” Walter says, absently. His attention is on one of the glow sticks that he had managed to procure.
“That woman,” Davis says, knowing he only has a tiny portion of his father’s attention, “she looks familiar. Who is she? The scientists were saying something about… Maces?”
“Ah, yes, Ms. Mace,” Walter says, finally looking over. “She’s a wonder, don’t you think? A B-class teleporter who I’ve set up with a wonderful little… concealing device. It’s still in the works, of course, but once I properly finish it, none of the ‘cape finders’ will be able to find the person using it, even norms and other supers will think the wearer is perfectly normal in every way.”
“Why aren’t you the one wearing it?” Davis asks.
“Because it doesn’t work for someone above a B-class,” Walter says with a sigh. “I spent months working on that, and yet I never could get it just right.”
“How long has she been working for you?” Davis asks.
“Oh, not just her,” Walter says. “Her mother worked for me, and her father worked for my own. Someday she will be yours, my son. Use her wisely.”
“I really doubt a person can be an inheritance, Father,” Davis says skeptically.
“Pay her well,” Walter sums up. “So… how would you like to take a crack at the concealer?” he asks, holding the glow stick up to Davis. “This might help with testing the levels.”
“I was going to work on the atomic converter, next,” Davis says, looking in the direction of Richard’s office. “But how does the concealer work? I’ve heard of the power
blocking collars, is it something like that?”
“You’re quick to catch on,” Walter says. “The power blocking collar works by turning a super’s innate energy against itself, but with my system, it stores some of that energy and allows the super to access it after some time. The balance is delicate, especially for the stronger capes. Of course, at your age, it would work, wouldn’t it?” he says, looking at Davis closely. “What is your obsession with the atomic converter?”
“It’s my challenge, isn’t it?”
“I think it’s more,” Walter says, “of course I could be wrong. Tell me, Davis, what would you do with a machine that converts the atomic structure? Gold? Platinum?”
“All of the above,” Davis says. “I bet I could make some extremely interesting game systems with unlimited access to whatever materials I want.”
“Yes, the systems,” Walter says, “but what about the games?” He laughs as Davis looks away. “Oh, please, son, I would be happy to play games with you. I’ll even convince your mother that we’re doing it for your education. In fact, we’re playing a game right now, aren’t we?”
“What game would that be?” Davis asks.
“Which one of us will crack first,” Walter says, bringing out an atomizer and spraying his son in the face. “Now, my boy, tell me the truth. What did Technico ask you to do?”
Davis’s eyes go dull, and his mouth opens, slowly.
***
*The Shadowlands*
It stinks, and Ashlynn can hear things moving in the darkness. She can’t see anything, though. She hugs her daughter closer to her chest, looking around wildly for any light at all. Where she can’t find any, she digs in her pocket, pulling out the cell phone that no longer works as anything but a little tablet. She hasn’t been able to pay the phone bill for a very long time. She holds it up, turning the flashlight app on and praying that it’ll last long enough to get them out of here. “Hello?” she asks, swinging the light around wildly. She sees a hint of movement and hears a chilling sound, but when she turns the light in that direction, whatever was there is already gone. “Hello? Is anyone here? We need to get back and help the children!”