The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus) (30 page)

"She's the music teacher."

"Seriously?" I say.

"According to Double M himself," Nico says, taking another drink of coffee.  "I'm not sure my kids can carry a note in a bucket--I know Zoe can't, haven't heard Sunny try, but Double M insists."

"That's Taurus," I say, my eyes catching on a huge minotaur man sitting on another roof.

"He's the gym teacher," Nico says.  "Which is why he's the only fully acting hero we've got.  He'll be joining Central Hall, too."

There's others, I notice, about six in total, all names and faces that I recognize straight off--we're talking the big names of the past few centuries, ones that have done their civic duty a million times over and survived.  I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit speechless.  And Mom and Liz aren't even here yet--I think they're going to show up when Nico decides when their class will be.

"You can close your mouth," Nico says.  "One of the major reasons they're so willing to sign up was because they're ready to take me down if need be."

"Could they?" I ask.

"Together?  Absolutely," Nico says.  "Doesn't matter, I've got enough on my hands to deal with.  So, first day of school with your cute little girlfriend, huh?"

"What?" I ask, jerking.  I just passed Sunny--who's half asleep on his feet, soaking up the sun again.  I'm tempted to go in a large circle around him, but I'm too late.  He grabs me.

"Carry me," he says dramatically, wrapping his arms around my chest from behind and dragging along behind me.

"Oh for pete's sake," I mutter, stopping.  "Get offa me you lazy punk, otherwise we'll both be tardy."  Unfortunately he seems to have misinterpreted what I just said, because he's climbing onto my back again.  "No--no--this is definitely not how a super hero goes to school on the first day!" I protest, trying to get him off.  It's like trying to remove a superpowered vine.  Once I move one arm it latches on somewhere else.

"Are you two dating?" Emily asks, looking back at me.

"No!  Absolutely not!" I say, absolutely appalled at that question.  "I like--" can't say "you" in this situation, can I? "girls!  He's just a friend!  He's--he's--I'm going to kill you, Sunny," I mutter as she snaps a picture of us with her cellphone.

Sunny snores again.  But that's not nearly as embarrassing as the sound of the supers above us laughing.  "He's solar powered!" I call up to them.  "Stupid elemental
ist."  And that just makes them laugh harder.  "Zoe, he's your brother, you carry him!" I call to Zoe.

"Heck no, I don't care if he's tardy!" she calls back.  "Just drop him on the concrete, he'll wake up in a few hours!"

Nico is laughing.  "Nico, he's your kid!  You carry him!" I call out.

"I agree with Zoe!" he says.  "But I might give you both detention if he's tardy too many times, so think it through!"

"Why would I get detention?" I demand, reluctantly carrying the sleeping plant boy to the school.

"Because you're a working hero now, Trent!  Saving people is part of the job--so save Sunny from detention!"

"Oh for crying out loud," I complain and keep walking.  I can't help scanning the sky, though, wondering if someone or something is going to happen--but I should have been looking at the school.

A poof of smoke appears right in front of Death Canyon and dramatic laughter echoes in my ears.  The supers above all turn, ready to fight as a large black man in a dramatic African outfit appears, holding a staff in his hand.  "Heroes of Central Hall," he proclaims in a voice that carries.  "I have come!"

"Black Panther, you dare to--" Banshee starts out, only to stop as Nico raises a hand.

"This one's mine!" Nico calls up to them, still holding his coffee cup as he saunters lazily towards one of the most famous super villains around.  For a moment it almost looks dramatic--then Black Panther lets out a laugh of joy.

"Nico!  My old friend, when did you get out?" he asks, throwing his arms around Nico in a hug.  Nico starts laughing, hugging the big man back and pounding him on the back.

"Not too long ago--I've been busy or I would have called, honestly," he says, pulling back with a wide grin.  "How's Amara?"

"She is well, as beautiful as ever--and twice as demanding," Panther says dryly, grinning from ear to ear.  "Are you involved in this school?"

"I'm the principal," Nico says.  "I heard your girl's going to be joining us, right?  Is she as pretty as your wife?"

"She is her spitting image at that age," Panther says, turning to the silent teenager that I hadn't even noticed until now.  "Adanna, come, meet my old friend," he says.  She's tall for a fourteen year old girl, as tall as Max, at least, and thin.  She's wearing a baseball hat and baggy clothes, but she moves like a dancer.  If she's trying to hide the fact that she's a girl, she's failing.

"Sunny," I say.

"Five more minutes," he mumbles.

"Sunny, you really need to wake up," I hiss.  "Seriously need to wake up--not even kidding here."

"Huh?" he says, managing to open his eyes.

"Remove the hat, Adanna," Black Panther says.  The girl reluctantly tugs off her baseball hat, revealing her black hair is braided tight against her skull and stops at the top of her neck, and her face--she looks like a model.  That's the face you see on those teen magazines aimed at girls in line at the super market.  Her eyes are yellow gold in color, a striking contrast to her dark brown skin.

"Holy crap," Sunny says.

Not the most eloquent of reactions, but I totally get where he's coming from.

"Zoe, get over here, kiddo.  Sunny, you too," Nico calls.  Sunny hops off my back and heads forward, completely awake by now.  It figures that a pretty face would do it, I think with amusement.  "Pan, Adanna, meet my twins, Zoe and Sunny," he says, dropping a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Hi," Sunny says, holding out his hand.

"You look very much like your father," Pan says as he takes the hand.  "Is your power the same?"

"No, he takes after his mom," Nico says.  "Zoe here takes after me."

"I see," Panther says.  "And your powers are, Sunny?"

"Plants, and maybe earth, I guess?" Sunny says, covering a yawn with his free hand.  "I'm an elemental
ist."

There's a look of surprise on Panther's face, mixed with a hint of wonder as he lets go.  He looks at Nico.  "So you have both a technopath and an elemental
ist child?" he says quietly.  "Will they become villains?"

"It's up to them," Nico says.  "But honestly I'm trying to talk Zoe into it and Sunny out of it."

"I see!  You will make a wonderful super villain," Panther says, shaking Zoe's hands.  "Your father was a true credit to our side."  Is it just me or does he seem relieved at that statement?  Maybe the idea of an elementalist as a super villain is even off-putting to super villains.  I know it scares me.  Thankfully, Sunny's too lazy to get into the whole "causing havoc for havoc's sake" sort of thing.

"Um... thanks, I think?" Zoe says.

Sunny's taken advantage of this and moved towards Adanna, his hand held out and a grin on his face.  "Hi, I'm Sunny," he says.

She looks at him, not offering her hand.  "You are lazy," she says coldly.  "You should walk to school on your own power or not come at all.  You are not fit to be a proper super villain."

Ouch.  Doesn't help that she's taller than him, either, I notice.  Poor guy.

"That's fine, I'm not going to be one," Sunny says, letting his hand drop.  He looks around, then heads back to where I'm standing, discreetly elbowing me in the gut.  "Thanks for waking me up," he drawls sarcastically.

"Hey, she's got a point," I admit.  "You're lazy in the mornings."  Even as I say that he's tilting his head back and closing his eyes as he holds out his arms, soaking up the early morning sun again.  After a second he growls something incomprehensible and tugs his t-shirt off, revealing a thin white tanktop.

"I dunno why, but I think I'm not getting enough sun, or something," Sunny says.  "It's weird."

I glance up as Max pulls to a stop behind us, wearing civvies.  "What I miss?" he asks me, glancing around.  "Hey, is that Banshee?"

"Black Panther and his daughter showed up," I say, nodding in their direction.  "And the daughter shot Sunny down straight off, told him he's too lazy to be a super villain."

"He is," Max says, looking at her, then looking at Sunny doing his sun thing.  "Is it just me or does him doing that make you nervous?" he asks quietly.  "Why'd he take his shirt off?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm right about him being solar powered," I admit.  "More than likely he's going to start getting taller pretty quick, or something."

"Like a plant," Max says dryly.

"You laugh, but I'll lay odds on it," I say.  "Maybe you should stand in the sun more often."

"Ha ha," he says.  "Very funny."

"I thought so!" I say.

Zoe's stepping forward, offering her hand to Cub at this point, so I stop joking and listen in intently.  "Hi," she says.  "I'm Zoe."

"I am Cu--Adanna," Adanna says, shaking the hand that's offered.  "It is good to meet a fellow villain."

"Well, I actually haven't decided yet," Zoe admits.  "But I'm dating one?"

"That's my cue," Max says, heading for the two girls.  I'm actually not that surprised as Emily takes his place, standing close to me with a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" I ask, dropping an arm over her shoulders.  She leans in unconsciously, a sure sign that she's not paying attention.

"I don't think she's going to like me," she whispers, looking as if the world has already crashed around her.

"Hey, you don't know that for sure," I whisper back.

"But I'm not going to be a villain," she says.  "You aren't, either.  So she won't like either of us, right?"  Adanna is looking past Max and straight at us, making me realize that there's a very good chance she's listening to everything we say.

"Maybe," I admit.  "But just because they're on the same side doesn't mean they've got to like each other in their private lives, right?  And just because they're on the opposite side doesn't mean they've got to dislike each other in their private lives, either.  You just be you," I tell her.  "No point in worrying about the rest of it."

She nods, but the way she's being clingy tells me she doesn't really believe it.  The heroes are landing all around us, talking among themselves.  Taurus, though, heads straight for me as he shifts into his human form.  As a human he's a tough looking black man with a short cut goatee and long dreadlocks pulled up in a ponytail--his minotaur form is three times larger, but his human form is as big as my Dad is.  "I'm thinking that you're Kid Liberty?" he offers.

"You're right," I say with a grin, taking the offered hand.  "Trent Styles.  This is my future partner, Emily Dreyton," I add.  "Emily, this is Taurus, one of the heaviest hitters out there, in his shifted form.  Dad's a big fan of his, he's got at least three of his T-shirts."

"America's Son is a fan of mine?" Taurus asks.  "I'm honored."  He offers Emily his hand, who takes it shyly.  "It's a pleasure to meet a future Liberty girl," Taurus adds, grinning at her.

"Thank you," she says.

"Is it too early to ask your abilities?" Taurus asks.  Ditto poofs into existence on my right side, rather than Emily trying to explain.  The startled look on Taurus's face changes to a laugh as he looks at her.  "A duplicator!  I never thought I'd get to meet one," he says, shaking Ditto's hand as well. 

We've got a crowd by this time, since the heroes all want to talk about the fight from yesterday or examine Ditto curiously.  The more people that approach her, though, the closer Emily and Ditto move to me.  They're practically hiding under my arms by the time Nico whistles loudly.

"It's time to offend all the heroes!" he says cheerfully.  "So if you'd line up I'll scan you and input you into the security system, otherwise you won't be able to enter--at least in one piece."

"Really, did he have to put it that way?" Taurus asks me.

"It's one of the perks of the job," Nico calls over to him.  "But I promise not to tell what classes you're all ranked as--although we all know they're either A or the rare S class since Double M handpicked you, so really it's not that big of a threat.  Shame, that. Panther, I'm afraid I can't allow you access--you know that, though."

"I'd be offended if I was trusted enough for that," Panther says.  "But if it were anyone other than you, there would be problems."

"Of course," Nico says.  "Why don't you and the family come over for a barbecue sometime?  You can meet the rest of the gang."

"I'd be happy to."  He turns, pulling Cub forward.  "Adanna, you will train under these people.  You will learn how heroes operate, and you will learn how to be a better super villain because of it," he says.

"Yes, Papa," Cub says.  She flushes as he pats her on the head before taking off at full speed.  For a second there's a slightly panicked look on her face as the heroes move past her, and she takes a step back.  I can practically hear her thoughts.  She's completely surrounded by the enemy, and not just any enemy, enemies that all outclass her by a mile.