Daddy's Girl: Cape High Book Five (14 page)

He stops in the next one, looking over the history and trying to figure out why anyone would want a history overview of the last--he stops, realizing too late.

"Is there a reason you're in my computer, Nicolas?" Superior asks.

Nico turns, reluctantly appearing in the monitor.  For a long moment he just stares at his father.  "I'm looking for someone," he says.

"You've found someone," Superior says.  "Unless you're lying and using the Hall computers for your own benefit."

"Yes,
Father
, I'm breaking into the Hall computers in the middle of the day for absolutely no reason.  Would you tell me where Double M is or not?" Nico demands, feeling like a rebellious teenager all over again.  "I've got a situation on my hands and I need his help."

"You need help," Superior repeats.  "Pathetic.  I thought you were better than that, Nicolas."

"My name is NICO," Nico grits out.  "Not Nicolas--and I'm wasting time arguing with you," he mutters, turning to leave.

"Tell me what's going on.  I'll fix it," Superior says.

"You never fix anything, you just finish things," Nico practically yells.  "I don't need you--I haven't needed you in over thirty years, I don't need you now--"

"Why did you come in this way?"

Nico goes still.  "Superior," he says quietly, shoving his own emotions down.  "Have you even met my kids?"

"Of course I haven't.  I've been stuck in this room having history shoved down my throat for the past two weeks.  Hardly time to meet the family."

"Well right now my kids are in danger--my granddaughter is in danger.  I don't have time to waste on you!"

"You're wasting time right now," Superior says, standing.  "Tell me who I need to go after and the problem will be solved."

"You always--" Nico starts out, only to stop.  He hates the man, but personal feelings all too often got in the way of logic.  The problem is that even his logic is saying it's dangerous--as much as Mimic needs to be taken down before he causes more problems, who's to say that Superior won't take him down permanently? Can he really let Morgan's father be killed by his own? "Fine," he says.  "I need you to find Mega--not the man that might look like him, the REAL Mega."

"The man that might look like him?" Superior repeats.

"The real Mega is unconscious right about now, and most likely hidden in this area--I think," he says slowly, "that I have an idea of where and when it happened, too."

"And where and when would that be?" Superior asks.

"In this building, about a week ago.  I think he came up the elevator shoot," Nico says, his virtual hands fisting at his sides.  "It happened while I was here.  He was in the building and I didn't even notice.  I let this--"

"So somewhere in the vicinity is an unconscious super hero," Superior says.

"Yeah.  See if you can't reboot him."  Then he's gone, jumping to another computer and leaving Superior standing there.

"Reboot him?"

*The Future*

"You should say something."  The sentence makes Justin jerk, staring at the steel covered man that looks far more dangerous now than he remembers him being--or he would look more dangerous if he wasn't lounging in front of a massive hologram game system playing what looks like a kid's monster raising game.  They're in the "Steel Palace" as Jack calls it, which is really just a regular (although huge) house with an intimidating front view and metal walls.  Okay, not completely regular.  Morgan is in the bathroom, leaving him here alone with Jack.  Joy.

"Say what?" Justin asks, staring at the 3D dragon waiting for a treat.  "Isn't that a kid's game?" he asks.

"Yeah, it's my kid's game, but it's still pretty awesome, don't you think?" Jack says, reaching out and patting the virtual dragon.  "Zoe developed it.  But I'm talking about Morgan."

"What about Morgan?" Justin says, looking to the bathroom instinctively.  She's been in there too long.  He's starting to get worried.

"You never did in my past, you know?  Even though it's pretty obvious, looking back on it," Jack says.  "You like her."

"I thought you were supposed to keep your mouth shut about this kind of stuff," Justin growls.

"I'm a bad guy," Jack says shamelessly, tossing the dragon a virtual fish.  "I can ruin history if I want.  It's practically in my charter."

"It's not any of your business.  Seriously, I thought you'd turn out a lot different," Justin complains.  "Cooler.  Way cooler."

"Is it really cool to be one of those brooding dark super villains that aren't ever happy?" Jack asks seriously, looking over at Ace.  The black haired man is sound asleep on a couch, snoring as if he hasn't slept in years.  He probably hasn't.  "Tormented for one reason or another?  Think it's cool, huh?  Honestly, it seems more disturbing than anything else."

"What changed you?" Justin asks, looking at him closely.  "Seriously, what changed you?  You're definitely not like this in the past."

"I was starting to be," Jack says.  "Do you know who my dad is?  Not the guy whose genes I used to have.  My REAL dad."

"What, America's Son?" Justin asks.  "Like that--"

"It matters," Jack says, glancing up as the front door bursts open.

"COLD STEEL!" the bellow echoes through the entire building.  "What in the heck were you thinking, breaking into the Cape Cells??  The entire world is expecting me to drag you in, now!"

"Sup, bro?" Jack says, getting to his feet.  Justin turns, staring in shock at the man standing in the doorway.  He's huge, and looks exactly like--"America's Son?" he says.

"Liberty," Trent says, then stops, doing a double-take.  "Justin?  When'd you get back from tour?  Wait, forget that--when did you shrink?"

"Time travel," Jack says.  "Mini-Morgan's in the bathroom."

"I... does this have something to do with the Cape Cells?" Trent asks.

"That's where they popped up.  Double M sent me to fetch," Jack says.  "Justin, get Morgan and head down that hall right there, would you?  We need to make this look believable, which is a bit dangerous for kids."  He holds out his arm, making a fist.  Two spikes of steel shoot out of his forearm, well over two feet long. 

A snort sounds from the couch before Ace sits up, rubbing his eyes.  "What just--"

"You brought ACE here?" Trent yelps.  "Are you insane?"

"Well... Crap," Jack says, staring at the man in question.  "Coulda sworn he'd sleep longer than that."

***

Nico's missing, Dad stole the watch, Jack isn't Jack--but is--but--I don't know what to think.  He's got to be in his thirties, but it's hard to tell with supers, remember? 
If I'm right, we've gone eighteen years into the future, where I'm in Africa right now, doing who knows what, and when I'm in America I'm staying here in an apartment in a guy's house--the guy I can't stand the most, but am friends with--

I might be having a panic attack right now.  I mean, it's not something a super in training should have, but I can't seem to stop myself.  My head is spinning, I feel queasy, and the floor seems to be shaking beneath my feet.

Wait.

I look at the things on the counter--they're shaking too.  It's not me, I realize as someone starts pounding on the bathroom door.  The floor IS shaking.  "Morgan!" Justin bellows through the door.  "Trent is here and they're going to fight--but Ace--Ace woke up!"

The light over my head flickers, swinging back and forth before going out entirely.  It's not just the light, though, the entire room is pitch black.  I grope for something to hold onto as the room shakes in earnest.   "Is this Trent, Jack or Ace?" I bellow.

No one responds.  I run my hands over the walls, searching for something--a door handle--when all of a sudden a form appears in the restroom in front of me.  "Little girl, you shouldn't be here," Ace says.  He's all I can see, his pale white face almost glowing in the darkness.  His expression is changing, though.  At first it's a dangerous, intimidating expression, but now--now he looks plain stunned.

"I--" I start out.

"Morgan," he says, much to my shock.  His arms wrap around me, but all I feel is a cold brush of air as he hugs me.  "Morgan--"

The door bursts open and Trent (I think it's Trent?  He's wearing the same outfit, or something like it) grabs my arm.  "Let her go, Ace," he says.  "She's not from this time, she's off limits."

Ace disappears in a flash of smoke, leaving me staring up at Trent.  "Who is
Ace, really?" I ask.  "How does he know me?"

"He's..." Trent hesitates a second too long before someone slams into him, sending them both flying into the wall.  For a second I think it's Jack attacking him, but it's a funny way of attacking, since his back is to the other man. 
They both look a bit dazed after hitting, before Jack curses and gets to his feet. 

"Ace!" he bellows.  "You need to calm down, man!  CALM DOWN!"

"You have Morgan!  You have her and I need her!"  Ace's face appears all around us, large, small, floating in the air in a creepy manner.  It's like being in a house of mirrors.  "She was gone, but now she's here--"

"MORGAN ISN'T GOING TO TAKE YOUR POWERS, ACE!" Jack bellows.  The entire building starts to shake again, but this time the walls are rattling, pulling apart.  "I'm sick and tired of you trying to chicken out!  Trying to take the easy way out!  Man up, Ace!  You can still be saved."  That last line has a tinge of sadness to it, and I find myself looking at Jack's face.  He's honestly hurting right now.  "You can still be saved," he repeats.  "It isn't your powers that are out of control--"

"Jack," Trent says, touching Jack's arm.

"It isn't your powers," Jack repeats, shrugging off the hand.  "It's your mind."

An eerie laugh echoes all around us.  "You're one to talk, Jack.  You're the one destroying everything--the Cape Cells, your own home--"

"Ace," Trent says, stepping forward.  "You need help.  I'll call the Hall--"

"No!"  It's like a hurricane sweeps through the room and I can literally feel him leaving.  The room is suddenly lit again and I can see where all the walls have been distorted by Jack's powers.

"He left," Trent mutters, running a hand over his face.  "Why does he keep coming after you, anyway?" he demands of Jack.  "What did you do to him?"

Jack looks at the walls, sighing and holding out a hand.  They flatten again, returning to their original places.  "It's a long story," he mutters, glancing around.  "Where's Justin?"

"What?" I ask, looking around as well.  "He was just here--"  I start for the front room, looking for him.  "Justin?  Justin, it's over now, he's gone!" I call.

"He's gone," Trent says.

"That's what I just said--"

"No.  Justin.  He's gone.  Ace must have taken him."

"How do you know that?" I demand, turning on him.  "How can you possibly know that he's not just hiding somewhere--"

"I would hear him," Trent says.  "I've got decent hearing and this place tends to echo even the smallest of noises.  Don't worry, though, we'll get him back--and get both of you back to your own time."

"How do you know that?" I demand, feeling the faintest bit of hope and quickly shoving it back down.

"Because if you get stuck in the future you can't be here as an adult, right?  Morgan's in Africa right now, right?" Trent asks Jack.

"Yeah, she's helping out with the schooling situation and working with a special case that came up down there," Jack says. 
He pulls out his phone, typing in a short message and waiting impatiently for a reply.

"Morgan, I want you to stay here with Jack, I'll go get Justin back--"
Trent starts out.

"No," I say.  "It's my fault that he's here, all of this is my fault.  I'm the one that needs to go get Justin."

"Got my reply, she's still there," Jack says, pocketing the phone.  "And Morgan, you can't go after Justin."  We both turn and look at him as he lets out a sigh and runs a hand over his face.  "I should probably start from the beginning, huh?" he says, looking at us both.  "Why Ace hates me and why he's intent on getting Morgan--either of her."

***

*The Present*

He can't keep this form for much longer, Mimic thinks as he lands in the abandoned building in the zoo.  Nico's power is great, sure, and the shape is close enough that he isn't having a problem with it, but the memories--he can't handle the memories.  It's like being in a tornado.

"Let me go!"

It doesn't help his headache that the little girl's voice is so high pitched, he thinks darkly as he looks over at his hostage.  This empty part of the zoo had seemed the perfect choice for keeping her until he came up with a use for her, but she's more annoying than he'd thought.  "Shut up," he growls, crossing the room and glowering down at her.

"I have to use the restroom," she says in a surly tone.  "And I'm freezing.  You might not have noticed, but it's not exactly spring out there and this place doesn't have a heater."  Her teeth are chattering and she looks a bit blue.

"Aren't you a cape brat?" he demands.  "You're supposed to be tougher than that."

"I am!  I'm just--I don't have my powers yet," she says, shivering almost violently.  "I'm harmless, so let me go!"

"I don't think so," he says.  His head is killing him.  Every time he wants to say something he has two versions of it running through his head, along with a diagram of any and all machinery that he might pass by.  The watch, especially, is practically shouting at him because he's still carrying it around.

"Who are you?" she demands.  "Who are you, really?  I know you're not Technico!"

Yeah, he thinks, letting the shift fall, he can't pull off Technico.  He doesn't even notice the girl staring at him as he drops down on a rock, taking a deep breath and trying to get his mind straight.  "What IS he?" he mutters, rubbing his temple.

"Who--who are you?" she asks again, her eyes wide.  "You're--you're--"

He looks at her finally.  "Do I look like someone you know?" he asks. 

She swallows loudly and looks worried.  "Are you... um... are you Morgan's dad?"

"You know my daughter?" he asks.  Then he frowns.  "I should have brought her with me," he admits, shaking his head.  "I'll just have to go back and get her later--after I've fixed the problem in this time."

"She's my--this time?" Noelle asks, turning pale.  "Aren't you FROM this time?"

"I'm from the future," he says, as if that should intimidate her.

"My watch," she says
, struggling against her ropes as hard as she can.  "You've got my watch, don't you?  GIVE IT BACK!"

"I see," he says, things clicking into place.  "If you don't have powers yet, you got this from someone that does, didn't you?" he asks, pulling the watch out.  "And the only ones that could make something like this are the Superiors, right?  So which is it?  Nico?  Or I heard he has a daughter--what was her name... starts with a Z..." he says.  "Well, whatever, if you're important to one you're important to the other, now aren't you?  That makes you useful to me."

"My grandfather will SLAUGHTER you," Noelle snarls, jerking at the ropes that bind her.

"I've already taken care of Nico, little girl--"

"I'm not talking Nico," she says.  "I'm talking Mastermental.  You are SO DEAD--"  Her rant is ignored as he stares at her, taking in just how dangerous a bloodline she comes from.  The child of Nico's daughter and Mastermental's son--

"I see," he says, standing abruptly and walking over to place a hand on her head.  "You need to be dealt with more carefully," he finishes, holding up the watch and pressing the button.

It's like they were never there.

A few seconds later a man appears in the middle of the abandoned
area.  He looks around, curses, and kicks the rock that Mimic had been sitting on.  It shatters.  The man looks at his watch and pushes a button.

He disappears as well.