Steampunk Time: Cape High Book Seven (Cape High Series 7) (9 page)

He groans, feeling a headache come on.  He can't wait until she's come into her powers fully--then she'll have GPS.  As it is, he's going to have to risk air travel.  He just hopes Tatiana doesn't see him, he remembers all too clearly what happened when she found Superior.  Building a fake of himself during a fight seems a bit too hard to handle--even for him.

***

"So... why did we stop here?" Jason asks as he looks around the tiny gas station blankly.

"I'm hungry--and I don't want beans and hotdogs," I tell him, staring at the brightly colored donuts on display.  They look so good.  I dig in my pocket, pulling out my debit card.  Donuts!

"Are you a moron?" Jason asks, grabbing my hand.

"What?  I want donuts!"

"They might not even HAVE debit cards in this time," he hisses.  "And even if they do, they won't take yours!  It's from the wrong system--aren't you a technopath?  You should know these things better than I do!"

He's right, of course.  I just didn't get enough sleep last night to think straight.  I give him a dirty look, and then sigh.  "Fine, let's go, people are starting to stare at you."  Just as I say that the door bursts open and Sparky appears.

"Halt, in the--Noelle?" she says blankly.

"They called the capes on us?" Jason asks me.  "Wow, that's pretty rude."

"They said an obvious super villain was here," Sparky says.  "And you--look thirteen," she says a bit blankly.  "You're already a super villain?"

"We were just looking at the donuts!" I say.  "We didn't even touch the glass!  This is so wrong I don't even know where to start!"

"
I’m not thirteen, I’m fourteen!” Jason protests before turning to me.  “Wait--she's Hall, right?"

"Well, yeah," I say.  "Why?"

"We can have her show us the way to the Hall--I still really want that shower."

"Okay... but... can you loan us five bucks, Sparky?  I'm STARVING."

***

"So... is it Mimic that has her?"
Nico asks Superior, and then answers himself before the older man can.  "It can't be--Mimic can only hold one person's ability at a time and the Mimic from this time has never met me.  So... there are two of me in this time?"

"Why would there be?" Superior asks.  They're following Taurus Sr. to the house for supers so they can take a shower and get something to eat.  Nico wants to head back to his own time, but he can't until he finds out what really happened to Noelle.  Superior... he looks over at his father with a slight scowl.  He's almost positive that Superior is merely biding his time, waiting for Mimic to show up.

Something catches his eye, and he stops, stepping into the shadows and letting the other two walk on.  He watches silently as a trio of people walk down the street.  Noelle, Sparky, and a kid that looks a lot like Jack, he thinks.  They're heading in the direction of the Hall.

At least he lost Super--he turns and looks at the man standing next to him.  He hadn't even noticed Superior coming back, he thinks irritably.  "That's the girl we're looking for, right?" Superior asks
, "now's the easiest time to get her back."

"You would suggest... what, knocking Sparky out and grabbing the girl?" Nico asks darkly.

"We could distract her easily enough--we'll have the boy to deal with, but I doubt he's too much trouble."

"This is the woman you had a child with," Nico drawls, "and you're still suggesting she's that easily distracted."

"It's because I had a child with her that I know these things," Superior says dryly.  "Why do you think I wasn't bothered by you running her off when you were fifteen?"

Nico just looks at him.  "Fine," he says.  "We can at least talk to Noelle and ask about the other me."

"And you expect me to distract her, is that it?" Superior asks.

"For the first time since we came, you're actually going to prove to be a benefit, Father," Nico says, clapping him on the shoulder twice before shoving him into the light.  The hint of surprise on Superior's face is enough to make Nico fight back a laugh.

"Who are you?" Sparky demands while going on guard.  Her hands come up in fists and her eyes start sparking in a dangerous manner.

"I'm--" Superior says, looking around for a second, "I think this might be an alternate universe," he says.  "Are you Sparktastic?"

He's going to have to remember that line, Nico thinks, racing as fast as possible past the two and grabbing Noelle--the only problem is Jack's boy sees her disappear and grabs blindly, getting a hold of Nico's shirt.  He's got one hell of a good grip, Nico thinks as he pulls to a stop a few blocks away.  The boy drops to the ground, and then jumps up, his hands in fists for all of a second.  "Technico?" he says blankly.

"This isn't Grandpa--this is Grandpa--um--I mean--Darn it, Grandpa, I was about to get a shower!" Noelle complains.  "Do you have any clue how long I've gone without?  Because I don't, and it scares me."

"You can answer some questions first," Nico says, wondering why he feels the strange urge to hug her.  Well, she is his granddaughter, after all.  "You look a lot like Zoe in the face," he says, distracted.  "I guess the curls and the outfit threw me off.  Anyway, is the guy that took you from the Hall really me?"

"I am," someone says from behind them.  Nico turns, looking at himself blankly.  Longer hair, sure, but everything else looks the same, save for their clothes.  Future
Technico is wearing a dark blue super uniform that’s somewhat like the one he has back home.  "I'd shake your hand but I'm not sure touching is a smart idea, considering."

"Granted," Nico says.  "Look, this is downright cliche, so I think we should cut it as short as possible.  What are you here for?"

"Personal reasons," Technico says.  "I'm here to build the Cape Cells and find out what sort of destruction these two can do before I put inhibitors on them for school."

"Makes sense," Nico says.

"Nico--don't let Superior out of your sight," Technico says.  "It's for his sake as much as yours."

"Does something happen while we're in this time?" Nico asks.  "He kills Mimic, doesn't he?"  Then he stops, realizing, "No, that's not possible--Morgan's still alive in my time."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"He's convincing Sparky he's from an alternate dimension."

"Go make sure of that fact," Technico says.  "Come on, kids--"

"We're going with this one," Noelle says, grabbing Nico's hand
, “and getting our showers and checking in on Tatia!" she declares.  "Let's go, Jason, Grandpa Nico."

"Be back to the campsite in an hour,"
Technico says, giving in easily.  "We're going to start your training."

Nico looks at
the Technico from the future, wondering if everyone finds him as irritating as he finds the guy in front of him.  "What happens while we're in this time?" he demands.

"You mean what happened.  It won't happen this time around, not if I have a say in it."  Then he's gone, leaving Nico standing there with two kids.  Nico looks at Noelle,
and then studies Jason curiously before getting out his cell.  He scans the boy with a curious expression, looking at the readout.

"You already did that," Jason says, giving him an irritated look.

"The other me did it," Nico says, not surprised, "interesting.  I'm not surprised, actually--what's your mom's name?"

"Mom's name is Aubrey," Jason says.

"That’s not surprising, either.  She’s been in love with your dad since before he woke up," Nico says, only then noticing Noelle tugging with all her might on his arm.  "Yes?"

"My SHOWER!" she says, almost falling over she's pulling so hard.

"Ah, right.  And I need to find Superior."  He starts for the Hall--in a direction different from the way she's tugging.

***

I'm FINALLY going to get my shower!  You have no idea how happy I am right now--it's like I've won a million bucks!  I dare to reach up, touching my hair.  It's a tangled mess.  The curls I was so proud of?  They're totally gone.  It might have been the run that destroyed them.  I am definitely going to get some super strength hair spray when I get back to my own time.  The stuff I've got is clearly not doing the job.

I glance over at Justin, wondering how he feels about people knowing his information.  It's a bit intrusive, right?  I mean, I wanted to know--and Nico's my grandpa, it's not like he's going to use that information against me, but Jason--

"How long have you known Grandpa in our time?" I ask him as we reach the Hall.

"All my life, duh," Jason says.

"Then why did we never--"

There's a rush of heroes coming to the building, making me move closer to Nico and grab his hand.  "Hurry, hurry!" I hear Sparky shout.  "We're going to save the alternate universe!"

"What in the hell?" Nico says, pulling us into the shadows.  "Do either of you see Superior?"

I look, then let go of his hand to slip through the crowd and tug on Sparky's arm.  "Hey, hey, Sparky--what's happening?"

"An alternate dimension Superior showed up and said that we needed to save his universe--then he was sucked back into his dimension.  We're going after him!" she tells me.

I stare at her, then let go of her arm and calmly walk back to Nico.  "Great-grandpa Superior pulled a quick one on her," I tell him.

"I should have seen that coming," Nico mutters.  "She never was the brightest bulb in the lighthouse."

***

There's something bothering her, Mimic can tell.  He doesn't believe that Tatiana has caught on to his spying.  She hasn't looked his way once.  Or, he thinks, looking down, her way once.  Every once in a while he's changed form just to make certain she won't notice--this one is female.  No, Tatiana's bothered by something else.  She keeps flying over warehouses and pausing at windows to look inside.

He wants to talk to her.  There's something so fascinating about her, so alive.  She's more statuesque than he usually likes females, but somehow that doesn't matter.  She's... intriguing.  He looks around, a frown on his face as he thinks of how to get her attention.  His eyes fall on a cat sleeping in the sun, a little grin pulling on his lips.

***

"Hey!  Can someone help me?  My cat's stuck up a tree!"  Tatia stops, looking down at the woman below.  She hesitates for a moment, wondering what the response to a Soviet Union hero will be, then sighs and lands.

"Is there a problem, madam?" she asks the woman.  Something seems... off, she thinks, looking at her for a moment.  Possibly she has seen this woman before.  It is a small area she's been looking at, after all.

"My cat--she's up the tree," the woman says, pointing up at the tree next to her.  "I can't seem to get her to come down and she's getting scared."

Tatia looks up at the cat.  "I see," she says, kicking off the ground and floating up to grab the cat.  She lands, ignoring the way the cat is desperately trying to kill her with sharp claws.  More likely those claws are going to dull, the poor thing.  She hands the cat to the woman, who puts it on the ground.  It races away as if its tail were on fire.  "You--ah, should you go after it?" she asks the woman.

"No, she'll be fine," the woman says.  "How can I ever thank you?  Why don't I offer you lunch!  There's a nice little diner just down the street!"

"I should not--" Tatia says, hesitating.

"It's the least I could do.  I inherited that cat from my grandmother, after all--it's all I've got left of her."

And... she'd just let it run off, Tatia thinks with an inward frown.  "Well... perhaps a cup of coffee?"

"That sounds wonderful!" the woman says, smiling brilliantly.  "I'm such a fan, I have to admit.  Can I get your signature?" she asks as she leads the way down the street.  People are watching them, Tatia notices, but the woman doesn't seem to.  "Oh, I can't believe myself--my name is Marilyn.  I'm a secretary--it's not nearly as impressive as being a super heroine, right?  But I don't mind!"

She sure talks a lot, Tatia thinks as they head into the diner.  Really, she shouldn't even be doing this, but a cup of coffee sounds good after an early morning of searching for mad scientists.  "It is not as impressive as it seems," Tatia tells Marilyn.  "I am doing what I was born to do."

"That accent," Marilyn says.  "It's fascinating.  Do you miss your home?"

Tatia follows silently and sits at the table Marilyn picks.  "Sometimes, but it is not too far away, not for me."

***

"Nicolas!" I say as I catch sight of the toddler playing with blocks.  It's a bit weird having so many different versions of my grandfather around, but this one is by far the cutest.  He looks up at me and grins widely, holding out his arms.  The place is practically empty, since all of the heroes are outside trying to figure out how to get into Great-grandpa's fake dimension.  Good luck with that, I think dryly.