The Betrayal of Renegade X (Renegade X, Book 3) (29 page)

That’s why she put Amelia on Riley and Mason’s team? Because she was
benching
me? “So, what, I only get to do the research part?”

She shakes her head, still giving me that pitying look, which is really getting on my nerves. “You’ll be given an alternative assignment.”

“Alternative.” That sounds bad. And like it definitely doesn’t involve capturing pirates. “Like, what? A computer simulation?”

“No.” She goes over to her desk and picks up a gigantic three-ring binder full of paper. It looks heavy, and when she drops it on my desk, it lands with a loud
thud
. “You’ll spend the rest of the semester completing these worksheets.” She opens the binder to the first page.

Think of a time when you did something for someone else without expecting or receiving a reward. How did that make you feel? Name three selfless acts you can complete on a daily basis.

“You’re not serious.”

Mrs. Deeds looks down her nose at me, her mouth stretching into a thin line. “We take the reputation of this school very seriously. You’ve never done anything but tarnish it, despite being given multiple chances to clean up your act, and you should count yourself lucky that you’re getting an alternative assignment at all. You can thank the dean for that. I would have been happy to fail you.”

I look down at the binder again, thinking maybe it won’t be that bad. But then I turn the page and see this:

Imagine that a supervillain moves in next door to you. He laughs maniacally at all hours of the night and has been using the mailboxes on your street for raygun practice. The rest of your neighbors are getting worried but are afraid to confront him. As their resident superhero, they ask you to handle the situation. Describe in at least three paragraphs how you would deal with the villain and make the neighborhood safe again.

Mrs. Deeds gives me a fake smile. “Is there a problem?”

I flip the binder closed and give her a fake smile right back. “Nope. No problem at all.”

“Good,” she says. “You can work on it in the library. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to join the rest of the class in the computer lab. We’ve got an important assignment to work on.”

A
lex finally agrees to hang out with me again on Wednesday afternoon. I’m at the dining table, staring at my stupid worksheets, when he comes home from school. The worksheets are just about the most boring, tedious assignment I’ve ever had, and thinking about them is giving me a headache. So I look up at him and say, “Do you want to go to the park?”

He stands there for a moment, like he’s considering whether or not he’s still mad at me. But then he nods and drops his backpack in the middle of the floor. “I have homework I’m supposed to do, though.”

“Yeah, me, too. I won’t tell if you won’t.”

He grins, despite the fact that I can see he’s trying not to.

On our way to the park, I text Sarah to see if she wants to meet us there, since she’ll probably be walking Heraldo anyway. Alex is totally in love with Heraldo, after playing fetch with him for the first time a couple months ago. He would throw a stick and then they’d both race to get it. For some reason Alex enjoys throwing sticks covered in slobber and getting muddy dog prints all over himself.

“Sarah’s coming, too,” I tell him when she texts back.

His eyes light up, and I’m glad his hands aren’t muddy, because he’s got that excited look Heraldo always gets right before jumping on me. “Does that mean Heraldo’s going to be there?”

“She said she’s bringing him. And some treats you can feed him,” I add, when another text comes in.

Alex says, “Oh, my God!” and looks like this is the best news he’s ever heard. Then he suddenly gets this serious look on his face. “Did you ask her?”

He means about getting a puppy if Heraldo ever has kids, something he made me swear I would ask Sarah about. “I already told you. Boy dogs don’t have puppies.”

“I know that.” He rolls his eyes at me, like I’m the one lacking in sex education. “But he could have puppies with another girl dog.”

“He’s fixed.”

“Can’t he get it reversed? Sam’s dad got fixed, but then he got it reversed so they could have Sam’s little brother.”

“It doesn’t work that way with dogs.”

“Oh.” He kicks a rock so that it goes skittering ahead of us on the sidewalk.

“Besides, Gordon and Helen wouldn’t let you have one anyway.”

“I could convince them.”

I hope not. Not that I have anything against Heraldo, but... he’s kind of gross. And gigantic. And I enjoy not living with him or any of his hypothetical offspring.

It’s a nice day out, even though it’s still really cold, so there are a bunch of people at the park. People are out jogging, or walking their dogs, or just sitting on benches, talking.

Heads turn when we go by, which isn’t necessarily unusual, but it feels different this time. The hushed whispers sound more on edge than excited.

Alex picks up on it, too. “Everyone’s looking,” he says, keeping his voice quiet.

I guess that’s what happens when you appear on TV and cause yet another scandal. “Ignore them.”

“It’s because you’re a villain.”

Does he think I don’t know that? “
Half
villain,” I correct him. “And it’s because they think villains shouldn’t have rights.” I say that part really loudly, and several people glance away.

Alex shoves his hands in his pockets and walks faster. “Why did you have to say that?”

“Because they were being letterist douchebags.”

“And when you were on TV? Why did you have to say
that
?”

Man, I really wish Sarah would show up right now. I look around, just in case, but don’t see her. I think about all the things I could tell Alex, like that I didn’t know I was being filmed, or how no one was meant to hear it, but none of that makes it any better. “Someone had to say it.”

“No one at school wants to play with me anymore. And Joey asked for his birthday invitation back. I thought you were a hero now.”

“I am.” I’m trying to be, anyway.

Alex takes a breath and holds it for a second. Then he looks up at me and says, “Do you like your villain family more than us?”

“No, of course I don’t. But it’s not about that.”

There’s the sound of heavy footsteps running toward us. Two guys. One’s holding a raygun, and the other has his hand out in front of him, like it’s a weapon. They’re dressed in everyday clothes—business casual—but they must be superheroes.

“We’re with the League! On the ground!” the one with the raygun shouts.

At me.

I actually glance over my shoulder, to see if there’s some serial killer standing behind us or something, but there’s no one. Just me and Alex, and somehow I doubt they’re this afraid of a nine-year-old kid.

“Hey, I didn’t
do
anything.”

“I said
on the ground
!” He waves his raygun at us.

Alex whimpers and moves closer to me. I start to reach for his hand, but the guy who doesn’t have a raygun—because, presumably, his superpower is something way worse—shouts, “Step away from the boy!”

“What the hell? He’s my brother!”

The two heroes exchange a look, like
Yeah, right.
One of them jerks his head toward us and the other nods.

Raygun guy makes a grab for Alex, jerking his arm and dragging him toward them. Alex shrieks.

Adrenaline rushes through me. I feel like someone just dumped a bucket of ice water down my back. Lightning surges in my hands. “Don’t
touch
him!”

Alex tries to fight against his captor, but of course he can’t. Tears well up in his eyes. “He didn’t do anything!”

“He’s a villain,” raygun guy explains. “That’s enough.”

“But he goes to hero school,” Alex says, his voice really small.

“It’s new League policy. All villains are to be considered armed and dangerous,” the other guy tells him. He looks at the electricity in my hands with this self-satisfied smile on his face, like I’m proving that villains really should be thought of that way. “His presence on public property is disturbing the peace. We have to bring him in.”

Alex’s face is wet. More tears slide down his cheeks. He looks so terrified. And not of me, like these douchebags want him to be, but of
them
. Of this whole situation.

“Let him go!” I shout. Electricity crackles uncontrolled across my skin. It’s like Homecoming all over again, and if they don’t let him go, I don’t know what I’m going to do. There’s no ceiling to blow up this time.

Raygun guy, who still has a grip on Alex, leans over and tells the other one, “Shoot if you have to.”

“No!” Alex screams.

I’m shaking all over. I feel like I’m going to be sick. I don’t know what the hell’s going on, only that it’s
bad
. “I’ll go with you,” I tell them. “Just leave my brother alone!”

“We can’t leave a minor unaccompanied. Stop using your villain power and come quietly or I’ll be forced to shoot.”

I can’t. I try, but I’m too freaked out, and I don’t trust them. I’m pretty sure they want to shoot me anyway, whether I stop using my power or not.

And then Sarah’s voice says, “
Stop
.” At first I think she’s talking to Heraldo, who lets out a couple deep barks, but then I realize she means the heroes who are holding me at gunpoint and practically kidnapping my little brother. She tells Heraldo to stay, then steps in front of them, so she’s between them and me. “You can’t do this.”

Heraldo growls in agreement.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see him in my life.

“Get back!” the second hero shouts, holding up his palm.

“He’s a known villain,” the raygun guy says. “And he’s using his dangerous villain power in a public place.”

“He wasn’t before you pointed a gun at him.” She wasn’t here for that, but she knows me well enough to know what must have happened. Only a few months ago, we were in this same situation, only she was the one pointing a gun at me. “That’s against League rules.”

“Not anymore. Any known or suspected villains are now considered armed and dangerous and should be viewed as the threat that they are. Now, I’m going to have to ask you again to get out of the way. For your own safety. Otherwise, we’ll have to bring you in for obstructing justice.”

I can’t see Sarah’s face, but I still catch the moment of shock when she hears that stuff about the new League policy.

“I’ve asked you nicely to stop,” Sarah says, sounding annoyed. “So this is really your fault.” Then, before anyone thinks to do anything, she whips some gadget out of her coat pocket. There’s a loud whirring sound, then a
pop
. And suddenly the superheroes get this confused look on their faces. Their arms go slack, so they’re no longer pointing any weapons at us.

“Come on!” Sarah shouts. “I don’t know how long it will last!”

She grabs Alex’s hand and takes off running. Me and Heraldo chase after her, though he’s faster than me and is soon in the lead.

“What was that thing?!”  I ask her.

“Stupefication gun! But it’s still in the early stages, and... damn! It happened again.” She holds up the gadget, which looks kind of like a tiny megaphone, except there’s a hole in the side of it, like something in it exploded.

“What do you mean,
again
? Who have you been testing it on?!”

She makes a gesture to indicate she’s too out of breath to answer that. Conveniently.

The four of us keep running until we’re sure no one’s following us. Maybe Sarah’s gadget stupefied them for longer than she thought, or maybe they decided it wasn’t worth it to come after us.

“Short-term memory loss is one of the possible side effects,” Sarah explains when I bring it up. “That’s another issue I’m having with it, which is why it’s still a work in progress.”

“Again, Sarah.
Who
have you been testing it on?”

“Don’t look at me like that. Dad volunteered. He’s excited that I’m getting back into inventing stuff again.”

I can’t imagine why. Her gadgets have so far gotten him kidnapped and tortured—by my mom and Taylor, no less—and turned her into a crazy, villain-hating vigilante who tried to commit minor genocide. Not that I’m not glad she’s making gadgets again, but at least I know better than to volunteer.

“Are you okay?” I ask Alex.

He shakes his head, then sort of crumples and throws his arms around my waist. He buries his face in my stomach and sobs loudly, his whole body shuddering with each gasping breath.

I put a hand on his back and exchange a look with Sarah. What happened back there was so messed up. And that’s League policy now? Attack any villains, or suspected villains, you see on the street, even if it means endangering and kidnapping a little kid?

“I wouldn’t have let them take you,” I tell him.

But that just makes him cry harder, and in between sobs he says, “I—want—to go—home!”

“Okay.” I try to take his hand, but he refuses to let go of me, which kind of makes it difficult to go anywhere. Then Heraldo slurps the side of his face, and he calms down enough to start walking. Sarah and Heraldo accompany us, and Alex clutches my hand with a death grip the whole way home.