Super Villain Grandpa (Cape High Series Book 15) (14 page)

"Like Dad did?" Nico asks.

"Like your father did," Mastermental agrees grimly.

***

*Cape High*

"The cameras just stopped," Freddy says, poking the wall as if doing so could start the show back up. "What's going on? Come on, we need to know!"

"Century," Vinny says.

The other students look at him blankly, so he explains, "Century stops time--that's obviously what happened here. The drones must have been close enough to get dragged into it. That means he's got things under control, though."

"I swear I'm going to install power blocking systems into the com-bracelets," Zoe says, irritably, tapping on a hologram screen she's brought up. "It looks like he froze the majority of our team while he was at it."

"You can't do that, it'll ruin the show," Jack says. "I mean, seriously, if we all block each other's powers what sort of fight would that be?"

"I'll avoid putting one in yours, then," she says callously.

"Want me to grow some aloe vera for that burn, man?" Sunny says with a hoot.

"Shuddup, Sunny," Jack says, snorting.

"He's got a point, though," Vinny says. "For those of us playing the game, being affected by powers is a big part of the attraction. Think you could set it up with an on-off button?"

Zoe starts typing, only to jerk as a tiny beep goes off. She waves the file she's working on to the side and brings up a security system. "What in the world...?" she says, getting to her feet.

"What's going on?" Ace asks.

"Someone just opened the enhancement suit wall," she says, racing away. The others look at each other for all of a second before chasing after her. They come to a stop at the wall outside, where Justin is standing with a determined expression on his face.

"What are you doing?" Ace asks.

"I can't stand it," Justin says. "He's out there--he could be killing people even as we speak, and no one has done anything about it! Why haven't they caught Deathblow yet?" he demands.

"He hasn't killed anyone that we know of, yet," Zoe says. "But we're searching for him, I promise--"

"No you aren't! You're just a student, like the rest of us. You're sitting here, watching their stupid television, letting them run around chasing a guy that's not doing anything except playing with his granddaughter. I was GOING to trust them," he goes on. "I was going to wait and see Deathblow caught and--and his powers stripped. But they're taking too long and they're focusing on the wrong thing--"

"So you're going after him?" Ace asks. "You swore you weren't going into the game--"

"THIS ISN'T A GAME!" Justin bellows. Several of them cover their ears with their hands.

"Justin CALM DOWN!" Morgan says, stepping forward and reaching for him. He jerks back.

"Oh no you don't--I'm going to die WITH my powers, thank you."

"So you already know he'll kill you?" Vinny asks.

"Yes, he will. But I'm not going to make it easy on him," Justin says, turning back to the suits. "How do you put one of these things on?" he asks.

"You're not a fighter--you chose your future, remember?" Ace says. "We all know how hard it was for you when they asked you to save Kirsten, and this is a lot worse, isn't it? Deathblow--"

"Killed my father," Justin says. "He KILLED my father--the only blood relative I had. What do you want me to do, Ace? Stand here and wait for him to kill someone else I love? Malina is out there right now, Carla is out there, Negatia is out there--"

"Negatia can handle herself," Ace says. "She wouldn't be a Hall leader if she couldn't."

"What happens if he catches her off guard?" Justin asks. "Dad thought he had him beat--"

"We're all scared," Morgan says. "We're all scared, and we know where you're coming from, but you have to trust the adults--"

"Why should I?" he demands. "They failed the first time he was out there."

"No, they didn't," Ace says. "Your father caught him. That was NOT failure."

"I am working to find him," Zoe says, making the group turn and look at her. She waves a hand through the air and suddenly they see millions of YouTube videos on the wall. "Nothing goes unrecorded these days, Justin. I've gotten one video of him already, but it was too long ago for him to still be there," she adds, waving a hand and enlarging a video. "I am going to find him, and when I find him, I'm siccing every big name I know on him," she says, her hands clenching at her sides and a faint electric field covering her body for all of a second.

The group watches silently as Deathblow tries to rob a guy of his pants, only to race away as someone starts shouting for Star Spangled.

"You... you've been doing this all along?" Justin asks.

"Of course I have," she says. "Dad's busy in the field, so it's my job to do this part. Don't accuse me of doing nothing just because you can't see it. The same goes for the rest of the Halls."

"Can we help?" Vinny asks.

She looks at him thoughtfully for a moment before nodding and holding out a hand to the school. "Go in and pick a wall, everyone. We've got a lot of stupid cat videos to sort through." The rest of the group head in, leaving only her and Justin standing there for a long, silent moment.

“I want him stripped of his powers,” he says. “No, what I really want is him DEAD. If he’s dead, he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“We don’t kill,” she says. “But they can, and probably will strip him of his powers.”

“Zoe,” Jack says from the building. “What about Star Born, have they caught her?”

“Star Born never ran,” she says.

“What?”

“She stayed at the Cape Cells and patched up the wounded guards,” she says. “At the moment the Hall Leaders are letting her stay there with a collar on. She doesn’t seem to have any desire to leave.”

“She’s up to something,” he says grimly.

“She might be,” Zoe agrees. “Trust me, I’m checking in on that regularly, too.”

***

“Chicklet!” the word shocks me, especially when I have no idea when Grandma got here. I’m being hugged tightly, my feet off the ground. “Oh, sweetie, I was so worried,” she adds, pulling back to look me in the eyes. “Are you okay? The crowd didn’t hurt you too much, did they?” she asks.

“Grandma?” I ask, looking around to see what the heck is going on. Century is flying away, leaving just the two of us standing here in a world that’s completely motionless. “What happened?”

“Oh, Charles stopped time,” she says. “He always has been too quick to stop everything. We need to get you somewhere safe, Chicklet, and then I’ll go find your mother.”

“What about Emily and Carla and Grand—” I stop myself, but too late. She has a knowing look on her face.

“Your grandpa is off on a stupid mission, but don’t worry, I sent Nicolas off to stop him,” she says. “That man always was too quick to jump the gun.”

“Nico?”

“No, Austin,” she says. Her wings flare brightly and she holds onto me as we take to the air. “I’m sorry I never told you about him,” she adds quietly. “It’s hard to talk about things like that. He didn’t hurt you, did he?” she asks.

“Not too much. He did cause me to trip, and he forgot that I can’t hold my breath as long as he can, I guess, but he’s a good grandpa,” I say, defiantly. “He shouldn’t be in the Cape Cells!”

“Just because he’s a good grandpa?” she asks me with a hint of amusement. “I bet there are millions of good grandpas in prison, Chicklet, or at least ones that would try to be.”

“He didn’t KNOW there were people in the building!” I say.

“I know, Chicklet, I know he didn’t,” she says in a softer tone, “but there were. We just need to convince everyone knows that he’s already done his time.”

“Has he?” I ask after a moment.

“I would say so,” she says, her jaw tightening slightly.

“He still loves you,” I say, even if he hasn’t said it in that many words. “Do you—do you still love him?”

“It’s been a very long time, Chicklet,” she says, looking down at me with a bittersweet smile.

“But you live on the island he built!” I say. “You can’t tell me you don’t still care!”

“Time changes all things.”

“Bull!” I say. “True love is forever! At least… at least I want to believe that,” I admit a bit softer, looking down. “Someone must think that, right? What about—what about Superior and Tatiana? They were apart for as long as you two were apart, and THEY still love one another!”

"Love is important," she says, a slight frown on her face. I can tell she's trying to simplify the problem for me, but if you've got to simplify something that means you've been thinking too much in the first place, right? "I do love him--at least I love the man he once was. I don't know who he is now, Chicklet. But regardless of how that turns out, we need to make sure he gets his hearing."

"Hearing?" I ask.

"We're working to get him out of the Cape Cells," she says.

"But Carla just said they might let him stay out until the Cape Cells were rebuilt," I say, a hint of hope rising in my heart. "Is there--is there a chance we can get him out?"

"Not if he continues on in the way he's going," she says grimly, “but I think Nicolas will be able to stop him. I hope he will, at least. Is he as powerful as his father?"

"Isn't that how Grandpa got tossed into the cells in the first place?" I ask. "But I don't know... I mean, in some ways I think he is, and in other ways, well, I think he improvises?" I offer. "He's got all sorts of watches that do crazy things that I don't think even Superior can--but there's one huge difference!" I say, getting excited.

"What's that?" she asks.

"Grandpa and Nico are really good friends," I say, grinning widely. "If anyone can stop him, it's Nico! But--but we should go, too, because with all three of us he'll HAVE to stop, right?"

"Oh, honey, it's too dangerous for you--"

"I'm NOT going to lose my grandpa!" I declare, narrowing my eyes on her. "He's the best and only grandpa I've ever had and I'm going to make sure he gets to that hearing and they let him out of the Cape Cells! And then you two can get back together and I'll come to visit all the time as soon as I can fly, and then you can have babies and I'll be a niece but really more like a cousin or something, because of the ages--"

"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" she asks dryly.

"Yes, I have! And when you have another daughter SHE can become Falconess and I can be a super villain!"

"Oh no, Chicklet, you are a Falconess from the soles of your feet to the top of your head," she says, picking me up and taking to the air.

"I am NOT! I'm going to be a villain!"

"Which is exactly why you're a perfect Falconess," she says. "Now quiet, little one, we don't want people to notice which direction we're going."

"Which way are we going?" I ask.

"The same way your grandpa went," she says. "We're going to do exactly what you suggested. We're going to team up with Nicolas and stop him with love."

"YEAH!" I cheer.

***

A hand touches Trent's shoulder and he jerks, looking around a bit wildly and then up slightly to look Century in the eyes. "Go on with what you were doing, son," the South Branch leader says. "I'll deal with the paperwork later."

Trent looks around. "Did you stop time?" he asks.

"It's what I do," Century says before flying away.

"Did you unfreeze my girlfriend?" Trent yells after him.

"She's next!" Century calls back. Trent takes to the air, floating over the frozen norms and taking in the situation. There are other supers racing through the crowd, accompanied by black suits. They're busy picking apart crashes and saving the ones being trampled. It's creepy, Trent decides finally. He knows all of the people are living, but they look like wax statues at the moment.

Trent heads into the crowd, helping the others with the job at hand. "Never going South," he mutters under his breath. "Never, ever, EVER going South."

"Why's that?" Emily asks over his earbud. He almost jumps before grinning with relief.

"We're sorting out norms like they're puzzle pieces," Trent explains. "This is creepy as all get-out. Is Max unfrozen yet?"

"I have jet lag," Max says. "My sense of time is completely off. Is everyone else having this problem?"

"It was only for a few minutes, though, right?" Emily asks.

"How should I know?" Trent asks. "Someone back at school, can you tell us how long we were out?"

"Three minutes," they hear Zoe say. "It shouldn't be enough to give you jet lag, Max," she scolds.

"But it did," he says.

"Remind me to never take you on an oversea vacation, then," she says.

"I'm perfectly fine!" Emily says. "You and I will go on vacation, Zoe!"

"Hey, now, I never said I couldn't handle it!" Max protests. "Don't go throwing away my vacations!"

"Emily and I will go overseas and take pictures of castles and things," Zoe declares cheerfully. "I'm sure it'll be awesome."

"Let's do it!" Emily says.

"Your girlfriend is ditching you, too, Trent. Shouldn't you speak up?" Max demands.

Trent pulls a small child that was frozen mid-trip off the ground. The look of terror frozen on the boy's face rips at his heart.

"I never said I wasn't going with them," he says, trying to focus on the banter as he works. He places the boy on an empty bench to the side. "Aubrey? Have you been freed?"

"I'm here," she says.

"I'll see about getting all of the injured in one place so you can patch them up. Hopefully you can get it done before the time stop runs out," he says. He motions to Voltdrain. "Can we set up an area for the injured? We've got Aubrey here."

"Sí!" Voltdrain says, his grim expression lightening into a smile. "That would be good. We will have it in the playground." He touches his own earbud and explains it to the South Branch people. "Tell Senorita Aubrey that it is in the area made of props, por favor," he says to Trent.

"Thank you, Voltdrain," Trent says.

"I'm on it," Aubrey says.

"Wait, where's Keliah?" Emily asks after a moment. "We need to make sure she's safe!"