The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus) (16 page)

He hesitates and I feel my hands going clammy.  "I'm afraid he's still in a deep coma," he says finally.  "It's... questionable of whether he'll recover or not.  The metal spread to his brain, as well--I--I'm sorry, Zoe."

"Is there any way to turn him back?" I ask.

"As of now, no.  We have several of our scientists looking into it, though."

I nod, blinking back tears as Dad tugs me into his arms, hugging me.  Not even a guy I hate deserves to wind up like this.

"I've been told, though, that what you did on the field might very well have saved his life," Mastermental says gently.  "Perhaps with work and time, you and your father can... help."  I nod against Dad's chest, not able to look at the leader of the Hall just now.  "But I cannot make any promises."

"Do you know who did it to him?" Max asks.  "Even if he's in a coma, you can read his mind, right?"

"No, I'm afraid I can't," Mastermental says.  "The changes to his DNA and the metal lacing his brain makes it virtually impossible.  Regardless, we are still looking for answers.  We will find them.  Why don't you all go home for now?  I'll send America's Son with you to help secure the area."

"This conversation isn't over," Dad says quietly.  "If someone comes after my kids, I will not hesitate to retaliate."

"Understood.  Believe me, Nico, the entire Hall feels the same way."

***

"So we're moving?"

"Yes."

"And we're taking the pretty lady with us, right?"

"Of course.  Without her, we don't have an elemental
ist."

"Why are we moving?  I was comfortable here."

"Because if Mastermental reads the boy's mind, they'll know where we are."

"Oh."

***

We can't go to church.  Dad says that if we take one step outside the apartment without him he'll force us to work construction for the rest of our lives.  He told Ken that last night, while Ken helped guard as Dad set up a brand new security system for the apartment building.  (I'm almost positive that there are way too many lasers in the system to qualify as legal, but I'm not going to say a word.)  Honestly, after everything that happened yesterday, I'm not really in the mood to meet new people anyway. 

I want to go see if I can help Jack more.  I mean, in a twisted way this is my fault, right?  Instead I'm just sitting here on my bed, hugging my legs to my chest and wishing that my mom was here.  I miss her.

A knock comes at my door and it opens before I can respond.  Dad steps inside, looking a bit haggard.  "Look," he says, crossing over to the bed and sitting on the edge.  "It isn't your fault.  He chose to do what he did, now he's where he is--"

"He did it because of me."

"He did it for himself," Dad says.  "He thought by changing himself physically he could get your attention from Max.  You knew him a lot longer than you knew Max, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then he had all the opportunity in the world to try and get your attention.  He failed.  But--I'll make you a deal," he says before I can argue.  "I'll see if I can help him, since you did seem to have a tiny impact, and in exchange you start your training by helping me design the school's defense system."

"You will?" I ask, my heart stopping for a second before pounding with newfound hope.  "You can help him, right?"

"I don't make any promises--but I'll see if I can't figure it out," he says.  "So will you?"

"Yes!" I say.  "Absolutely!  I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'll definitely try my best.  Can you go see him now?"

"Yeah--Max is here to act as guard while I'm gone," he says, looking a bit awkward over my enthusiasm.  "So don't go running off like you did last time.  If you do, I'll stop trying to help, got it?"

The threat sobers me up and I nod, looking down again.  "I'll... I'll talk to him," I say.

"Good," Dad says, reaching up and pushing my hair behind my ear.  "Make it hard on him," he adds evilly, getting up.

"Don't you mean go easy on him?" I ask.

"Nope.  Not at all."  Then he's gone, leaving me to wonder what, exactly, he thinks is going to happen.  For a long moment there's only silence.  Then, to my utter shock (and offense) the television flips on without Max even coming in to talk to me.  I jump to my feet and head into the front room, moving to stand right in front of him.

"You're blocking the screen," he says, looking a bit too smug.

"What happened to talking?" I demand.  Sunny's sitting on the couch as well, munching on potato chips.  He doesn't seem nearly as traumatized over Jack's problem as I am, I think, giving him a dirty look.

"What?  I was here first.  If you want to fight with Max, go to a different room--you being here risks the big screen," Sunny says, eating another chip.

"So you want to talk now?" Max asks.  "Cuz I'm willing to wait.  Every time I try pushing the issue you run screaming."  He steals the bag from Sunny, grabbing a handful of chips.

"Yes, I want to talk now," I say.  "Come on, let's get it over with."  I start for my bedroom, only to turn and glare at him as I hear more chips being eaten.  "Max!"

"Okay, okay," Max says, getting to his feet and handing the bag back to Sunny.  He follows me into my room with a bored expression on his face, one that really makes me want to slap him, then closes the door behind him.  "Although, seriously, Sunny can hear every single word we say even with this," he says, knocking on the door.

"You're right, I can," I hear Sunny say from the other room.

"Pretend that you can't!" I tell him.  "Look--Max--"

"You want to dump me because you think it's safest for everyone because you getting worried and stressed out can take out several blocks of electricity," Max says.  "Because you think you can't trust me--which is the one part I don't get," he goes on, frowning now.  "If anyone in this thing should be worried, it should be me, right?  I mean, it's bad enough that Trent likes your cooking--and the kid's a walking trash disposal, we all know--but here you are, obsessed with Jack getting better on top of it.  I would say that's serious cause to be worried."

Er... put that way...

"I know for a fact that you're going to be running off to see if you can do anything to help the first chance you get--which would give the guy some big ideas if he was conscious enough to notice," he goes on.  "But honestly, I think you should leave it to your Dad.  He'll figure something out and when Jack is back, well, we'll deal with that problem then."

"I don't know why Jack would be a problem," I admit.  "I just... feel guilty, is all."

"That's why he'll be a problem.  Unless he dies, that is--actually that might be an even bigger problem," Max says.  "Either way, this conversation," he goes on, placing his hands on my shoulders, "isn't going to end the way you want it to.  I'm telling you that right now."

"I don't want to hurt people, Max!  Why can't you get that through your head?"

"Then stop hurting me!" Max snaps, dropping his hands from my shoulders.  "I like you, Zoe.  I have no freaking idea why, you're hot, you're cold, I have no clue what you're thinking half the time, the other half of the time I know but it doesn't make any sense!  You get mad at me and run off all the time, to who knows where--because you don't, and you're so intent on martyring yourself that I could punch something!  Yes, you want to be good--I don't mind that, okay?  I like that--that sweet part of you, but there's limits, okay?  Don't give up on something that's only just started just because it might possibly create problems later.  That's being a coward."

I stare at him.  All that smoothness?  It's completely gone.  He's saying exactly what he's thinking.  It hurts.  Him calling me a martyr and a coward hurts.

"If I'm such a martyr and a coward and confusing then doesn't that make you an idiot for liking me?" I demand.

He stares at me blankly for a moment--then bursts out laughing.  "I am!" he says.  "I'm a complete idiot--look at me, Zoe, I got my G.E.D. at fifteen, I'm a certified genius, and I'm a complete moron over you!  You've got me so tied up that I can't even see straight and you did it in less than a week.  The longer I know you, the worse it gets, too," he says.  "Your dad's using me as a lackey because he knows how much power you've got over me--why can't you get a clue?"

I look away.  "I--"

"Give me a chance, Zoe.  All I'm asking for is a chance.  Let me prove that you can trust me, if I still haven't yet.  Let me prove that..."

I glance up at him, shocked at the vulnerable expression on his face.  "Prove what?" I ask.

"That I love you," he says quietly.  "Wow, that definitely wasn't how I was planning on saying it the first time," he mutters, running a hand over his face and looking away.  "During a fight over you wanting to dump me... seriously!"  He points at me, rather a bit too dramatically, and says, "Take responsibility for me becoming a dumbass!"

In the other room, Sunny starts laughing his head off.  I'm going to ignore that fact for the moment.  Okay... no... seriously, Max's still holding that dramatic pose.  I feel a laugh trying to escape.  He grins at me, as if he can tell by my expression.  "I got you," he says smugly.

"You--you do--" I can't even finish it.  I want to say "not" but I can't.  "Okay!  Fine!" I say, throwing my hands in the air.  "But--but you can't cheat.  You have to be serious, got it?  The moment you cheat is the moment I ask my Dad to kill you."

"Who else would stay right here after hearing that threat?" Max asks bluntly.  "And I should say the same thing goes for you, too.  No cheating, right?"

"Yeah..." I say, flushing because I can't think of a single man alive that I'd cheat with.  I can't tell him that, though, his ego's big enough as it is.  He's heading forward, draping his arms over my shoulders and tilting his head--oh lord, he's going to kiss me--what do I do?  I've never been kissed before--

His lips press gently against mine for a moment.  "Hey, let's go watch that movie I was promised," he says.  I nod, dumbly, because my lips are tingling and I'm pretty sure this is what you call "dumbfounded."  When he tugs me back to the front room I follow by instinct, sitting down when he sits down and staring at the television.

This... definitely hasn't wound up the way I'd planned.  I'm still reeling--that's why I'm not saying anything as his arm goes over my shoulder.  Yeah.

Wait, wasn't there a reason I'm not supposed to watch TV?

BOOM!

"ZOE YOU KILLED THE TV!" Sunny bellows.

Whoops.

by

R. J. Ross

My name is Trent Styles.  I'm sixteen years old today, and the only visitor I've got at the moment is a white haired super hero called Firefly.  No, she's not here to do the entertainment, before you ask, she's here to grill me again.

"So... he's not even mentioned me?" she asks, sitting on my desk chair backwards, resting her chin on her hands and pouting like a child.  She's got to be somewhere around thirty--which you can't really tell.  I figure she'll look like she does until she's well into her hundreds or something, I know Mastermental does.  "Not a word?  You're best friends with his kids, he should talk to you, right?"

"He hasn't said a word," I say, lounging on my bed and staring at my cell phone.  I want to call Sunny.  "And I'm best friends with Sunny, not Zoe.  Max would kill me if I claimed his girlfriend as my best friend," I add, tapping on the screen to check my email instead.  Maybe Sunny sent me something again.  He still hasn't gotten a phone yet, but they've got a computer!

"But you go over there all the time, right?  You're even coded into the security system," Liz says.  Yeah, Firefly's name is Liz--Liz Masters.  She's the half sister of Sunny's dad, an ex super villain called Technico.  Technico got out of the Cape Cells a few weeks ago.  The Cape Cells is a high level prison created by supers for supers.  It specializes in keeping dangerous people with powers off of the streets.  While Technico was stuck there it seems his girlfriend had twin kids, and almost two years ago she disappeared, leaving the twins in a foster home until Technico claimed them.  Sunny's one of those kids. 

Long story short, Liz wants to know about her brother.  She hasn't seen him in fifteen years or so.  My question is, though, "Why don't you just go talk to him?  I really doubt he's going to jump down your throat or something."

She looks at me, then looks down.  "I can't," she says in a childish tone.

"Why can't you?"  And stop wasting the first birthday I've had with actual friends, I add silently.  I blink as I see I've got a new email, opening it with a slight grin.  "Zoe killed the microwave," I read aloud.  "That's a new one.  Usually it's the TV," I add with a laugh.

"Did she really?" Liz asks, hopping off the chair and onto the bed next to me to steal my phone.  "Man, I wish I could see that.  Nico used to blow up all sorts of stuff when we were kids--it was hysterical."

"I bet if you go now you'll be able to see its remains," I tempt her.  She gives me a dirty look and hands the phone over.

"Even if I could go over there, I couldn't get in," she says.  "I took a look at the security system he's tossed up.  It fried three pigeons and a gnat.  He's really serious about keeping his new place safe.  And knowing him, he's set it up against wiretripping."  Wiretripping, as she calls it, is her traveling along the wire as electricity and exiting through a plugin.  She can get in anywhere, except, possibly, her brother's apartment building.

"It's cuz Zoe was in the newspaper," I say.  "He's paranoid because the twins are just now coming into their powers."

"You can get in, though!" she says.  "So why don't I hook you up with a mic and a camcorder--"

"Do you want to come with me?" I say, ignoring her strange plotting.  Liz tends to go about things in the most cockeyed manner you've ever seen.  She will never say or do something straight forwardly.  It's amazing that she can even became a hero with a personality like hers.

"I told you I can't!" she says.

"Then you can stay here," I say, pocketing my phone and heading for my door.  She's up and behind me the second I take a step into the hall.

"You're going over there?"

"It's my birthday, I can probably talk Technico into making me something," I say shamelessly.  Her arms wrap around me from behind--no, she's not hitting on me, don't go thinking strange things--and she flips over, suplexing me onto my own floor and pinning me there like a wrestler.

"You can't go over there!" she tells me.

"Leggo."

"If you go over there Technico will ask about me and then--"

"Liz, honey, can you stop manhandling my son?" Mom says in an amused tone.  I'm let go of, thankfully, as Liz hops to her feet and looks at her best friend--my Mom.

"He deserved it," Liz says, as if she hadn't just killed me.  "It's not fair going off to see my family without me!"

I'm not hurt.  As the son of America's Son and Star Spangled, I'm pretty tough.  My powers are simple enough, super toughness (almost invulnerable--not quite, but pretty up there,) strength, speed, agility, hearing, and I'm learning how to fly--but they're extremely super.  Of the four of my group, I would probably be considered the tank.  Needles break on me, getting hit with a mac truck would probably break the mac truck before it broke me, and I could probably punch down a building if I tried.  Sounds cool, sure, but it's not as cool as what the others do.  Zoe's a technopath, Max's got gravity powers, and Sunny--Sunny's an elementalist.  He controls plants and possibly the earth itself.  In other words, I could be considered the boring one of the group.  I still haven't told them what I can do, simply because of that.  I think Max has a few clues, though.  Max seems to know everything.

"Trent, take Liz with you," Mom says, jerking me back to the present.

"I would, but she tries to hurt me when I offer," I say, straightening my clothes and standing.

"Well then I'll bring her with us when we come later," Mom says.

"What?"

"You can't have a birthday party without your guests, can you?  And since Nico's being paranoid about letting the kids out of his sight, I thought we'd bring the party to them," Mom says.  Since when has she started calling Technico by his name?  Has she even met him yet?  It's probably Dad's fault.  Dad's practically strong-armed Technico into being his friend, and in Mom's mind a friend of Dad's is a friend of hers.  I wonder if Technico realizes that.

"So we're going to throw a party over there?" I ask.

"Of course!  I want to meet the twins!" she says.  "I've got the cake baking and everything."

"Has anyone told them that?" I ask.

"Oh, I told your father when he went to work on the school this morning," she says.  Whether she's heard back from him or not, I have no clue.  I doubt it.

"I'm going to go tell the twins," I say, rather than delve into that.  The moment I take another step, though, Liz has her arms wrapped around me.

"You can't go!" she protests.

"I swear I won't say a word about you, even if they torture me," I drawl.  "You need to get the guts up to go see him yourself.  He's your brother, right?"

"Yeah... but I went behind his back and joined the Hall," she says.  "He'll never forgive me!"

"Oh, honey, Nico's a Hall member himself, now!" Mom says.  "Didn't I tell you that?"

"He is?"

"Of course!  He's going to be the new school's principal!"

***

She's literally bouncing I notice as I step to the tiny rock in front of the abandoned looking apartment building.  The rock shoots up, revealing that it's the top of a highly advanced panel.  I press my hand to the screen, then tap on the "Talk" button that appears.  Nico's face appears on the screen.

"Hey, um, Technico?" I say, feeling a bit awkward.  "Can I bring a friend up?"

"Who?" he asks.

"Your sister?"  Liz pushes me out of the way.

"Nico?  Can I come in?" she asks, looking serious.  "I want to meet my niece and nephew and--"

"Where the he
ll have you been?" Nico demands.  "I've been out for weeks!  And you're already programmed into the system so just press your hand to the screen," he says.  The screen goes blank and Liz stares at it for a second before pressing her hand to it.  A line of code flashes, then first my bio then hers appears on the screen.  Glowing footprints appear on the concrete in front of us, lighting the way into the apartment building, and I make sure to step on them.

"Step on the--"

"Oh, I know," she says, already following me.  "Nico tends to be a bit showy like this."

Don't go telling people I said this--norms don't need to know, but the stronger a super is the stranger they tend to be mentally.  Nico and Liz's dad?  He was Superior--a legend among heroes, and even though he's dead now he still gets movies made about him.  So if they seem a bit strange in the head, well, that's probably why. 

The door swings open and Sunny leans against the frame, holding a pop.  "Dad says come on up," he says, taking a drink.

"You're Sunny?" Liz asks--then promptly drags the poor guy into a bear hug.  I grab his pop before he drops it from flailing and take a drink.

"I'm going ahead!" I say cheerfully as he makes muffled sounds of distress.  He's probably going to get revenge for this, I think as I finish off his drink, but he's got to fight off an overly touchy aunt right now, so I'm safe for the moment.  I knock once and the door swings open on its own, revealing Technico.

"So?  Where is she?"

"Downstairs squeezing your son to death," I say, not surprised as he heads past me and down the stairs.  "He might survive!" I add.  "Possibly!"

"You mean Firefly is here?" Zoe asks from where she's sitting on the couch.  "I want to meet her!" she says, rushing past me and after her dad.  That leaves me alo--

"You seriously brought Firefly over?" Max asks from the kitchen.  He comes out with a pop in his hand.  "Why?"

"Because she suplexed me," I say, heading for the fridge as well.  Yes, it's impolite to raid strangers' fridges, but this isn't a strangers' fridge.  I've spent most of the last week hanging out here whenever school gets out--until I have to go home for dinner, that is.  I grab a Fanta, knowing that Zoe got them only because I like them, and head into the front room, dropping down in front of the couch in my usual place.  Is it awkward being alone with Max?  He's a super villain, I'm a super hero in training--

He drops down on the couch and kicks his feet up into the chair behind my head.  "So, when are you transferring?" he asks.

I’ll get back to you on that awkward thing.  "You sure you want me to?" I ask.  "If I'm not there you get more time trying to talk the twins into becoming super villains."

"It's not a party without a tank," he says.  I glance at him, since he just bluntly admitted that he knows what I am.  "What?  With America's Son as a dad and Star Spangled as a mom, what else could you be?  Or are you a dud?"

"I'm a tank," I admit, shrugging my shoulders.  "No super cool powers like gravity or anything, just good old fashioned power.  Or at least I will be," I add.  "Dad says I'm still pretty breakable."

"Maybe for him," Max drawls.  "You're probably the one they'll send after me when we're older, aren't you?"

"Really hard to crush a tank," I agree.  Then I look at him, knowing that we both realize I'm the most vulnerable I'm going to be right now.  He probably could beat me, and I think we both realize it.

"I wonder if they've thought of that already," Max says.  "I'm surprised we don't have adults panicking over me knowing you."

"Are you going to kill me?" I ask.  "Right now's probably the best chance you're going to get."

"Why would I?" he asks.  He doesn't bother pretending to be shocked, though.  I appreciate that fact.  "There's several reasons I'm going to keep you around," he goes on.  "One, you're one of us.  Two, you keep Sunny busy so I can flirt with his sister, and three--don't you think the massive battles are going to be awesome?  Man, I seriously can't wait until you're in the air!  Have they set you up with a uniform yet?"

"You're looking forward to it?" I say blankly.

"Heck yeah," Max says.  "We should practice the really dramatic stuff, you know where I try and crush you and you toss it off, I want to make sure I don't over-do the weight, at least not until you're older.  Maybe we can get a special class when the school opens up properly.  Have you figured out your name?"

I... honestly didn't expect this reaction.  Let me explain.  Max?  He's a super villain at seventeen--he's smart, sly, and extremely capable of being devious.  Thing is, more often than not, I'm pretty sure he's an open book.  It's sort of unsettling, knowing that behind the mask of the guy that once held an entire super bowl for ransom is a guy that I'm slowly starting to consider a good friend.  And he treats the whole super hero/villain thing like a football game.

"No, I just don't want to be called America's Grandson," I say.  "All I really want is to be able to play football, actually.  I'm not even thinking huge battles and tights," I admit.  "You know how much it sucks not being able to play sports when you're... me?" I ask, glancing at him.

He's looking at me curiously.  "You're going to spend your entire life trying to knock other guys down," he says after a moment.  "Pulling cars up from them going off cliffs, saving school buses from flipping, all the good stuff, and you're worried about a bunch of idiot norms in helmets?"

"I'm sixteen," I mutter, feeling like an idiot when it's put like that.

"You just need a girlfriend," Max says.  "You can't have Zoe, so we'll just have to find you another super girl."