Cape High Christmas: A Side Story (Cape High Series) (15 page)

"Your dad--" Max starts out.

"Oh, he's still alive!" she says before he can ask. "He's a Tactical Aircraft Maintenance Specialist--which is a fancy way of saying mechanic, he says," she explains. "But he's always going back and forth--he's one of the best! He's going to retire next year--I thought I'd ask if he could, um, get a job as a black suit," she adds, glancing shyly over at Nico and then up at the drones recording all of this. "You know, so he can be with the family all the time. He can fix ANYTHING--but I guess with you being there--"

"I'm sure we'll find a fitting place for him," Nico says. "The Hall is always in need of good mechanics."  

"Thank you," she says with a grin. Then she throws her arms around Kirsten, hugging her tightly. "And thank you, SO MUCH! That was beautiful!"

"You're welcome," Kirsten says, a brilliant smile crossing her face. "I'm just glad you liked it. Now, who wants to go next?" Kirsten asks.

A handful of hands go up.

Advent Calendar - Day Twenty-Two

"Okay," Justin says, looking at his bandmates, and then at Ace. "Man, I can't thank you ENOUGH for giving me a hand," he says to Ace, clasping hands and hauling him into a hug. "You've been working your butt off this Christmas, and I know it."

"Yeah, but hey, what's a best bro for?" Ace asks, clapping Justin on the back. He's got his simple mask on, to keep the bandmates from finding out who he is.

"You freaked out by this as much as I am?" Lonny asks Cole.

"It's a bromance," Cole says, wiping at a fake tear. "So bromantic, man!"

"I'll tell you what you can do with your 'bromance'," Justin says, turning on him.

"Don't hide it, man, don't hide the love!" Ace says, dragging him back into a hug. Justin starts laughing his head off as he shoves the super villain off of him. "I see why Freddy does it to me," Ace says, grinning evilly. "That's seriously funny."

"But anyway, I was just going to do a concert, right? But everyone keeps raising the bar--so I figured we could do a sort of Christmas Special show--we're being recorded, anyway, right?" Justin says. "Maybe they can sell it on HTV as a pay-per-view."

"If they did that, the norms will realize you're best friends with a super villain," Ace points out.

"You know... you really could have pointed that out before I signed the contract," Justin says lowly.

"YOU could have pointed out you signed a contract," Ace says. "Too late now, we've already started," he says, waving at the school sitting on bleachers in front of them.

"Live from Kansas City, the Justin Christmas Show!" his voice echoes over the area. Fake tinned clapping comes next and the rest of the students start to laugh.

"Did you seriously sign a contract with HTV?" Ace asks as the laughter calms down. "Can you imagine what the norm world would think if they knew about us?"

"Dude, we're not
 dating
," Justin drawls. "But enough of that--I'll deal with it later."

"You seriously signed a contract," Ace says in a dead-pan tone.

"I
 seriously
 signed a contract," Justin says. "Now get off the stage, it's my time to sing Winter Wonderland," he says, picking up his mic. The band heads to their instruments and Justin starts crooning the old song. Soft snow starts falling over the band--but quickly it gets heavier, until the drummer is busier shoving snow than drumming. "Hey! Hey, wait a second--we're having technical difficulties," Justin says, trying to dust the snow off of his shirt. "DRAGON!" he yells.

"What?" Ace demands, coming back on stage.

"That's too much snow! It wasn't supposed to get on the instruments!"

"Oh, sorry, I must have been too preoccupied with figuring out how to GET YOUR CONTRACT BACK," Ace yells, waving his phone in the air.

"Forget the contract! Do the show and we'll call Mr. Harrison after--"

"I'm afraid that's not an option," Andre says over the phone Ace is holding. "It's for a live show." Both boys turn, looking at the drone that is suddenly in their faces. "Say hello to the world, boys, you're on live TV." Slowly, with stunned expressions, both Ace and Justin raise a hand to the drone.

"So..." Justin says. "Well, anyway, it's time for the class to go see 'you know who,'" he says to Ace.

"Oh, oh right," Ace says, before pointing at the drone, "I'm STILL a villain, got it? This means NOTHING." And he storms off angrily.

"Sheesh, drama queen," Justin says, following him.

On the stage sits a massive chair with the back to the drones. Lined up to the side are all of the students--now in full uniform. "So what are you going to ask Santa for?" Maximum asks Cold Steel.

"Are you kidding? I'm top of the naughty list--I just want to find out for sure," Cold Steel says.

"No you don't," Maximum says, "because that's MY spot."

"I really doubt it--you're last year's villain, and 
just barely
," Cold Steel says, bringing back a fist. The large chair turns--and the entire school stops and stares blankly at the adorable elf sitting there.

"Raindrop Elf!" Max says, grinning from ear to ear.

"BEST SANTA EVER!" Divine Justice and her doppelgangers exclaim at the same time. Malina, in the perfect Christmas elf uniform, complete with curly toes (and a mask under her pointy hat), stands up in the seat that makes her look even smaller.

"OKAY, OKAY, one at a time!" she yells, her hands on her hips. "Santa's got important things to do, so I'm going to do the job this time--and unlike him, I'm not afraid of being tough," she says, pointing at Max and Jack pointedly. "Now, one at a time," she tells them, sitting down and patting her lap. "Come on, we don't have all day!"

Kid Liberty, first in line, just looks around, obviously NOT wanting to sit on her lap. "Um... I don't--"

"Well come on!" she says, patting her lap again.

"I can't sit on your lap," he says, lowering his voice. "That would be rude." The look she shoots him says, "Are you KIDDING me?" He tugs on the collar of his shirt before saying, "I could... ah... sit next to you?" he offers, trying to sit down without sitting on her. Soon they're sitting side by side in the big chair, and he's STILL looking awkward.

"So what do you want for Christmas, little boy?" Malina asks with a grin.

"I'm over six foot," Trent says, "and still growing."

"That wasn't the question," Malina says.

"Okay, um... well, I was thinking maybe a BB gun?" Trent asks, as if not sure.

"You'll shoot your eye out!" she yells. "NEXT!"

Emily and her doppelgangers tug at Trent until he gets the point and gets up. They all drop down in the seat with Malina, with one of them draped over Malina's lap. "Hiiiiii!" she says, hugging the other girl. "We've been VERY good girls!" she declares.

Trent coughs dramatically.

"And what would you like for Christmas, very good girls?" Malina asks.

"Oh, nothing much, we just wanted to see you," another of the three says, joining in on the hug. "You're the CUTEST ELF EVER!" the third declares happily.

"Okay, okay, enough smothering the elf!" Trent says, picking up two of them.

Malina rolls her eyes. "NEXT!" she says. "Come on, come on, we don't have all day!" She takes a second to sneak-hug Emily before pushing her off her lap.

"We want to know," Max and Jack say from either side of her chair, "which one of us is first on the naughty list!" Max finishes, leaning down so he's in her face.

She reaches up, pats him on the cheek, and pushes him away. "NEXT! Move along, kid, you're bothering me."

"But--" Jack says.

"I said NEXT!"

Justin steps up. "Hi," he says. "It's my turn."

"You cut in line, didn't you?" she says.

"Well--but it's my show--" he stutters.

"End of the line!" she declares, pointing at the end. He hangs his head and slowly heads for the end of the line.

The scene goes dark even for the people in it, and suddenly Justin and his band are back on the stage, singing, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." They finish that and launch into another, and another Christmas song, for a long while. After the final song, Ace heads onto the stage, waving his hands.

"I figured it out," he says. "We'll just wipe everyone's memories!"

"But the show's almost over, anyway," Justin says.

"So? What do you think will happen if people start thinking I'm not a villain? No one will take me seriously! I'll be at the BOTTOM of the NAUGHTY LIST!" he yells dramatically. "I'm not about to be beaten by those two hacks!" He waves a hand in Jack and Max's general direction.

"Then you just have to do something really, really big," Justin says.

"Like what?"

"How about stealing Christmas?"

Ace just stares at him. "It's been done," he says finally, dryly.

"Then how about you kidnap Santa Clause?"

"Pretty sure that's been done, too," he says. The credits start scrolling in the air in front of them, making them both look up. "The show's almost over, man, and I STILL haven't regained my place on the naughty list!" Ace says, rushing forward and trying to grab the credits. He jumps up, grabbing the top line and shoving it downwards. "Not yet, I have a reputation to save!" he yells, only to get shoved upwards by the floating credits. He gets dragged upwards, leaving Justin standing there with his band behind him.

"Well... uh... Merry Christmas everyone! On behalf of me and everyone at Cape High, we wish you all Happy Holidays!" Justin says, waving at the drone. The drone blinks twice.

"And we're off the air," Nico says. "Good job, Justin, kids. That should more than pay for your Spring Break, and if it doesn't, I'm sure Mastermental will, after a show like that." The group cheers.

Advent Calendar - Day Twenty-Three

"So," Zoe says, leaning against Carla's door and watching the other girl race around. "Where are you going?" The day had been Bobby's, and they'd spent it shopping for Christmas presents at the Legends. Most of the other kids are trying to hide their gifts from one another and wrap them. Only Carla is acting strange.

"I--" the blur that is Carla stops and takes a deep breath, turning to her. "I want to get ready for my day, but I couldn't do it until tonight because then people would worry 'cause I was gone and I don't want people to worry--"

"Where are we going?" Zoe asks, still lounging there, her arms crossed casually.

"We?" Carla asks.

"You helped me, I help you," Zoe explains.

"But--I--I wasn't going to ask anyone," Carla admits, looking down at her hands. "Because there's a really good chance I'll fail--and then I'll look stupid, and if I fail and you're helping me, we'll BOTH look stupid--"

"All three of us will," Malina says from behind Zoe. Zoe moves aside, letting her in. "I'm going, too. But... where are we going?" she asks.

"I wanted to go see Santa and see if he can come to school--but he's probably busy--or... or he doesn't exist," Carla says, looking at the My Little Pony backpack she's loading with food and clothing. "And if he doesn't exist, what do I tell my little brothers and sisters?" she asks them, her worry clear.

"I think he exists," Zoe says, slowly. "At least, there's a high probability--especially after we saw Ace's play. I mean, it makes sense if you think he's a cape, right? But it won't be easy. I mean, sure, we could just go ask Grandma and Grandpa--"

"If you two are my helpers, I can't ask an adult," Carla says. "And if I have helpers and I DO find Santa, I can't ask him to be my helper!" she says, groaning and hanging her head.

"Then don't ask us," Zoe says. "I'll break the rules. It's not like Dad can skip out on giving me a Christmas present, Mom would slaughter him," she adds with a wicked little grin. "And... well, I'll make yours, Malina, if you're willing," she says to Malina.

"I don't even need a gift--I'm going to help my best friend, that's WAY more important than a gift!" Malina declares fiercely.

"Thank you," Carla says, dragging them both into a hug. "But can you keep up with me on a run all the way to the North Pole?" she asks.

"I possibly could, but who needs to?" Zoe asks. "I know someone that's got a teleportation watch just BEGGING to be stolen again," she adds evilly. "Meet me outside the school security field in ten minutes--I'll make you both clear to leave." She heads off, leaving the two looking at each other with burgeoning grins.

"Make sure you bring a sweater!" Malina says. "I'm going to go get my stuff!" She races off excitedly, leaving Carla to stand there, feeling a bit shaken up. She'd never expected ZOE of all people to volunteer. And would stealing Nico's watch put them on the naughty list? It's been done SO OFTEN that it's more like checking out a library book, right?

She walks over to the photograph of her family, picking it up and looking at her brothers and sisters. This, she decides, is more important than the naughty list, because she's going to ask Nico if she can bring her siblings to her Advent Calendar day. Letting them see Santa--the REAL Santa--is more important than an entire LIFETIME on the nice list! She puts the picture down and grabs her backpack, checks her special boots--ones with heavy duty cleats that come out with a button this time! And heads out to meet Malina and leave the school campus.

They stop at the sight of Nico and Zoe standing outside, and a cold ball of ice develops in Carla's stomach. "Are you--you aren't going to punish her, are you?" she asks. "This was MY idea! If anyone should be punished--"

"Who's getting punished?" Nico asks. "I just came to wish you all good luck and hand over the watch," he goes on, dangling the watch from his fingers. "And since it's your mission, Carla, you get to wear it."

She stares at him, and he gives her the most innocent grin she's ever seen him give--"You're up to something, aren't you?" she demands.

"This close to Christmas? Even a super villain knows to behave around now," he says innocently.

"He's up to something," Zoe and Malina say, dryly. "But we aren't going to dig because we've got a lot to do!" Zoe goes on, grabbing the watch and strapping it on Carla's wrist. "Okay, Carla, all we have to do is grab on to you and you push the--Malina, grab on," she says, not even finishing the sentence. Both girls grab on tight as Carla pushes the button.