by R. J. Ross
“What in the heck were you thinking, old man?” Nico demands, only to hold out his hand to the cameras now aimed at him. “You don’t teleport to public places unless you’re in uniform.”
The onlookers try to move their phones so they can avoid the hand, but that’s not what the hand is for. They all exclaim as they realize that their phones have turned themselves off. Nico pulls out two throw-away masks from his pocket and hands one to his dad. Soon they’re standing there in jeans, t-shirts, and masks. “Ladies, gentlemen, I’d like to thank you for keeping this little episode to yourselves,” Nico says, taking to the air.
“You’re Technico, right?” a man says, excitedly. “Hey, now that you’ve got your mask on, can we take your picture?”
“Not at the moment, sorry,” Nico says.
“Who’s that? He looks familiar,” a woman says, pointing at Superior.
“He’s my body double,” Nico says. “You know, in case I want to take a break. Looks like a real person, don’t you think?” He reaches up and taps on Superior’s head with the back of his knuckles. “One hundred percent robot… and silicone, of course.”
Superior crosses his arms over his chest and glares at Nico for that one. “It’s amazing how far Technico has gotten with his robot technology,” he says, begrudgingly.
“So he’s a cyborg?” a kid asks.
“He’s an android,” Nico replies.
“But if he’s a body double, why does he have white hair?”
“I KNEW I should have overseen my fabric providers,” Nico says. “You know how ordering things online can get. Now, we really should be going. Tip your waiters,” he adds as he starts to fly away. Rochester looks at Superior, who looks back at him.
“I ah… can’t fly,” Rochester says, sheepishly. Superior stares at him for a long moment, and for the first time in a while, Rochester realizes how it must feel to be on the other side of the handshake.
“You mean you DON’T fly,” Superior says, reluctantly walking over and wrapping an arm around his waist. Rochester awkwardly drapes his arm over the larger man’s shoulders, and they take to the air.
“No, I can’t fly,” he says once they’re high enough. He tries to be discreet about not looking down, but he’s pretty sure the way he’s clinging is telling its own story. “Not in my power set.”
“We’ve argued that one, before,” Nico says over his shoulder. “The truth is that he’s terrified of heights.”
“We can fix both problems at once, you know. I’m planning on doing it to Sunny sooner or later.”
“Sunny’s already flying.”
“What?” Superior says, sounding shocked. “And he hasn’t told me?”
“We haven’t told HIM,” Nico explains, cheerfully. “I’ve got it all on video, if you want. For the last two weeks he’s been flying during his nap hour. We keep waiting for the drop to wake him up, but the earth comes up and catches him, instead.”
“Sleep flying?” Superior says. “Trust that boy to be the only super in history to learn to fly in his sleep.” He starts laughing. “Send the videos up to your mother. She’ll get a kick out of it.”
“Don’t tell him, though, I want to see him figure it out for himself,” Nico says.
“Ya’ll are strange,” Rochester says, only to accidentally get a glimpse of the ground and almost climb Superior’s arm in reaction. “How can anyone learn t’ fly in their sleep?”
“He’s a Superior,” they say, as if it explains everything. “But really, the kid is half asleep almost ninety percent of the time,” Nico adds with a snort.
“And when he’s not asleep, he’s a bit oblivious,” Superior agrees. “I’m a little worried about what he’ll be like as an adult.”
“Nah, Adanna will keep him from being taken advantage of. She’s got enough awareness for both of them.”
“They’re kids, though, it’ll be a wonder if they’re still together at that time,” Superior says.
“Annnd, here we are,” Nico says, landing in a large field. “Well, if they’re not still together by that time, I’m sure I’ll have been able to knock a bit of awareness into him. Rochester, here,” he says, and a small machine floats up to him.
“Why, ah, haven’t we landed?” Rochester asks, barely paying attention to the floating machine as he dares to look at the ground.
“I’m going to drop him,” Superior tells Nico, grabbing the small camera and slipping it into his pocket.
“Go a bit higher, from this distance he can land on his feet with no problems,” Nico says.
“Is this really the time?” Rochester asks, fighting the urge to wrap his legs around Superior’s. That would be even more awkward than—oh, forget it, he thinks, clinging as tightly as he can as Superior flies higher. “No, please, for the love of God, I don’t wanna die!”
Superior looks at him. “You’re not going to die,” he says. “I’m dropping him now.”
“Wait, can’t we—” Rochester lets out a yelp as Superior disappears from his hold, leaving him with nothing to hold onto. He starts to plummet to the ground, waving his arms and legs crazily as he pictures the mess that he’s going to leave behind. “I haven’t even gotten t’ look at the camera!” he yells just as the world goes still. He had expected an impact, he thinks as he slowly opens his eyes to look down. There, less than a foot away, is the ground. “Did… did y’ catch me?” he asks, just hovering there.
“No, I didn’t,” Nico says, standing a few feet away. “I wondered. Looks like you were right, Pop.”
Rochester drops to the ground face first. “Ooph.”
“Now that that’s settled, tell us where this came from,” Superior says. The tiny camera lands on the ground next to Rochester’s head.
“Shouldn’t… there be… some sort of celebration?” Rochester asks into the dirt.
“No time. Besides, you’re lucky we’re not pointing out how you’re almost forty and didn’t know you could do it until now,” Nico says, callously. “He’s practically the same age as me. That’s ridiculous.”
“Well, he WAS afraid of heights,” Superior says graciously. “It’s not like he’d be actively jumping off of bridges.”
“Either way, this upgrades his ranking,” Nico says. “Welcome to A-class, Rochester. Now tell me what you can find out about the maker of this camera.”
Rochester glares at him before he grabs the camera and his eyes start to glow.
***
“So… um…” I say, looking at the bookstore where the gig will take place. We’re sitting on a bus bench, trying not to stand out. It’ll get awkward if a bus pulls to a stop, won’t it? Maybe we should have had this conversation over the comm-link, but it’s too late, now. “Do you really think a bookstore is a good gig?”
“Skye likes the comic book section here,” Ariel says, but she’s got a little frown on her face. “Where IS she? She should be back by now!”
“We can go ahead and start without her,” Ruckus says from where she’s standing with Dolly beside the bench cover. She’s dressed in civvies, complete with a pair of clunky headphones and gum. She blows a bubble, letting it pop.
“I think I’d prefer not having her, actually,” Dolly says, earning dark looks from Ariel and Doris. “It’s hard to have all five of you in the dollhouse,” she explains. “It’s part of the reason it was so easy for that boy, yesterday.”
“Well… that does make sense,” Doris says, begrudgingly.
“But it’s just not as fun without Skye,” Ariel says, pouting. “Maybe we could call in and cancel, or something? Can we do it tomorrow?”
“I can’t,” Ruckus says. “I’m going to go out on patrol with Voltdrain tomorrow.”
“You didn’t tell me anything about that!” Dolly says.
“It’s our day off, so it shouldn’t matter, right?” Ruckus says a bit defiantly. “We might be roommates, but we still have our own lives, you know.”
“Yes, but this isn’t about you going out on a date
!” Dolly says. “You’re going to be partnering up with—”
“Not the time to discuss that sort of thing, you know?” Doris butts in as people walk past, glancing over at them curiously. “I’ll call Century and tell him we can’t do it—”
“Wait! Tell them to wait, Carla! I’m on my way!” Skye says over my earbud. “I slept in. It’s really easy to do up here, you know? It’s not like the sun does what it’s supposed to.”
“Wait, she’s on her way,” I say, interrupting the argument that’s brewing. “She slept in.”
Everyone groans. “Fine,” Ruckus says, “but tell her to get a move on it, we’ve got work to…” she stops, something catching her attention. “There’s a kid filming us,” she says silently. We all turn, even as she’s going, “don’t look—”
“Oh!” I say as I see a few outdoor tables at the restaurant across the street. “That’s everyone from school! It looks like they came to see the show.” I barely refrain from waving at them. “That should make this even more entertaining.”
“But he’s the one that grabbed the dollhouse, yesterday!” Dolly says, nodding at Davis, who’s filming us with his phone. “Maybe we should call it off. I’ve already got a million videos up on YouTube making fun of me for what happened.” She looks like she wants to cry over that fact. I don’t exactly blame her.
“He’s the devious smelling boy,” Ariel says, frowning at Davis. “Skye doesn’t trust him one bit.”
“Skye’s got… a bit of an issue when it comes to mad scientists. It has nothing to do with a twelve-year-old boy,” Doris says.
“I don’t…” I say, stopping myself before I say the mean things that are creeping into my mind. I don’t like being mean. I think everyone should have a chance to prove themselves, but what Cheval had said this morning is still bothering me.
“You don’t what?” Doris asks.
“I… I heard he refused to shake hands with Rochester,” I say.
“I refuse to shake hands with him all the time,” Doris says. “He can read all of your memories, right? Who wants someone on the hero side to see that sort of thing?”
“But… well, I can sort of understand that,” I admit, after thinking about it for a second. “But you’re an acting villain, right? So you have memories that he shouldn’t see, because of work, right?”
“Or because of the bikini of shame,” Ariel says, smiling evilly. I take a second to stare at that smile.
“What do you two make her do?” Ruckus asks before I can.
“Oh, nooooothing,” Ariel says.
“They make me scrub the pool,” Doris says, rolling her eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal, honestly, it’s not like anyone that matters sees me do it.”
“I matter!” Ariel says.
“As in, anyone I would be embarrassed to be seen by,” Doris clarifies. “Remember, I’ve seen you in way more idiotic outfits, and you CHOSE to wear them.”
“Eighties clothing is hysterical,” Ariel agrees, nodding to the rest of us, “so much spandex! Oh, oh, and then we dabbled with seventies stuff, too! We got those platform shoes with the fishies in the heel! Those were so much fun! But we didn’t like the idea of the fishies drowning, so we got fake fishies.”
“Can I come to your next dress up party?” Dolly asks.
“Yes!” Ariel says, hopping up and down and clapping her hands. Doris tugs her down to ground level. “Ruckus, you come too!”
“No, thanks. I’m allergic to spandex,” Ruckus says.
“Do you really think we’d buy that? You’re a super,” Doris says, only to glance over as someone comes running towards us. “There she is.”
“I brought cookies!” Skye says, waving a bag at us.
“Not MORE cookies,” Doris says, groaning. “Or did you forget the massive bag we brought home yesterday?”
“There can never be too many cookies,” Skye says seriously. “And these are SANTA cookies, all the way from the North Pole! Or, well, about two miles to the east of the North Pole, so it would be the… East-ish North Pole?”
“Northeast,” Doris says.
“No, east of north,” Skye says.
“Never mind. Everyone ready?” Doris asks the group.
“We’re ready,” Ruckus says.
Dolly takes one of the cookies from Skye, looking at it with a mix of happiness and regret. “It smells like home,” she says a bit sadly.
“We can take you there for a visit!” Skye says as Dolly eats the cookie. “Okay, girls! Let’s do this! Comic art books, here I come!”
I almost fall over. “THAT’S why you’re doing this?”
“SOME people think my comics are lacking in… visual appeal,” she says, glaring at Doris and Ariel.
“She’s a terrible artist,” Doris tells us. “No art book is going to fix it, either, but hey, I wouldn’t mind getting a few comic books while we’re here. They’re bringing out a new version of Reaper’s Tale, right?”
“Oh, I want that, too!” Skye says.
“Looks like the group across the street are already on their way,” Ruckus says with a nod to the now empty tables. “We’ll be there as soon as they pull the alarm.”
“Got it!” Skye says cheerfully.
“So the visit to your mommy helped?” Ariel asks.
“It helped a LOT! Well, other than them making me try on that stupid dress over and over again, I swear crazy-eye poked me on purpose. Joke’s on her, it broke her needles!” Skye says as they walk away. I stay where I am, watching silently as Dolly and Ruckus join me on the bench.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Voltdrain was going to take you on as a sidekick?” Dolly asks Ruckus.
“I’m not going to be a sidekick!” Ruckus says, sounding offended. “The Hall doesn’t even use the word ‘sidekick.’”
“It’s what you’ll be, though,” Dolly says. “You’ll follow him around as he does all the work, right? That’s a sidekick.”
I look down, wondering what I should say. I know why Voltdrain is doing it, and I have a good idea about what she’s going to wind up doing. I shouldn’t tell them, though, right?
“Carla,” Dolly says. I look up, and she pointedly looks down at my leg. I’m shaking it so fast that the entire bench is vibrating. I reach down, pressing on the leg to make it stop. “Is there something wrong?”
“Nope, not at all,” I lie. “I’m just excited to do our first full gig against Skye. I hope that nobody interferes this time… Well, at least the teachers won’t let him do something stupid, right?”
Dolly and Ruckus look at each other. “Dolly, do you know anything about that kid?” Ruckus asks.
“What? Why should I?”
“You’re like, Santa’s niece, or something, right? Doesn’t he keep tabs on all the kids in the world?”
“For one, I am not his niece. I just grew up in an elf family. For another, there’s a very discreet section of elves that are in charge of keeping track of who’s been naughty and nice. I wasn’t one of them, and neither were my parents. We were in the toy development section. That is a completely different part of the North Pole.”
Ruckus stares at her, and then snorts. “You all wore tinkly boots, didn’t you? As far as I can tell one elf is as bad as another.”
“You haven’t even MET another elf!” Dolly says, looking offended. “There are a lot of wonderful elves up there, and most of them have their own circumstances. You cannot judge them because they want to live out of the limelight and make the children of the world happy!”
“They never did anything for me!” Ruckus says, her eyes narrowing, her hands clenching in fists at her sides. “I was NEVER happy as a child! I was actually happier before I found out that Santa is real!”
Dolly’s expression changes to one of shock and dismay. “Oh, Ruckus—” she starts out.
“Come on, the alarm just went off,” Ruckus says, standing.
“I didn’t hear it,” I say.
“Well, if it didn’t go off, it
’s about to. I know how they work.” Just as she says that, I hear the alarm go off. We head for the little building to the side where we’d been set up to change in, change our outfits, and head into the large bookstore. In front of us are the Deadly Darlin’s, who are all sitting on the front counter, tormenting the checkout man.
“Why do you not have the new Reaper series yet?” Doris demands. “I couldn’t even find the old version! Do you know how irritating that is?”
“Who-who is Reaper?” the guy asks, looking a bit pale. “I mean, I can order it in for you, if you want, and we can call you as soon as it’s in stock—”
“We weren’t going to BUY it, silly, we were going to STEAL it,” Ariel tells him, floating over his head just so she can poke him. “You don’t order out for things that you plan on stealing. But you’re really lacking in the merchandise if you don’t even have the Reaper series, right, Skye?”
“Reaper is AMAZING! Well, not as amazing as me, but still pretty amazing! I call this discrimination!”
“But-but—” the man says, tapping away on the computer quickly. “It says here that Reaper is a Central Hall villain. You might note that we have ALL of your merchandise right over there—”
“Ooooh,” Skye says, looking over, only to be distracted as she sees us standing in the door. “Do you have any Nemeses action figures?” she asks him. “I want to stage an epic battle after I’m done beating these three like drums!”
“I find that a bit offensive,” Ruckus says, doing her heroic pose. “We can have an epic battle here and now, and then take you in. I’m sure they’ll let you have your dollies when you’re stuck in prison for all the crimes you’ve committed!”
“They’re not dollies, they’re action figures,” Skye tells her, hopping into the air and running over just to poke Ruckus in the forehead. “You should know that! You’re a super hero!”
“Whatever,” Ruckus says.
“Wait, wait, we can’t start this fight yet,” Doris says. “Go ahead and order three copies each of all the new Reaper series, would you? We’ll come and rob you again when they get in.”