Life Light

by R. J. Ross

  “Divine Justice’s nemesis--or so she calls him--had an unfortunate moment in his last school,” Trent says willingly. “He was being bullied by a norm at the time--and the norm punched him in the face.”

  The looks of horror mixed with amusement are hysterical. “Who would be stupid enough to bully Dragon?” I hear someone in the crowd mutter.

  “Oh, a few people at our school do,” Trent says with a grin, “Cold Steel tries, Maximum tries--they’re out to show who’s the biggest super villain in the school. But a norm trying, well, that’s a different thing entirely.”

  “Did he kill him?” a girl asks.

  “No, but the guy broke his fist on his face,” Carla says with a huge grin. There’s a little part of all of us that still enjoy that fact too much.

  “But this isn’t a threat,” Trent says in an earnest tone. “We don’t want to hurt people, especially those of us that are hiding. We just want to survive high school, like the rest of you. We’re human, well, most of us are. We laugh, we love, we get scared, everything you go through, we go through, too. But unlike your pizza delivery, or grocery bagging, or whatever it is you do, my part time job involves a maniac super villain that brings his own mic to work,” he drawls with a shake of his head.

  “Are you really dating Divine Justice?” a girl asks, waving an arm in the air.

  “I am,” Trent says.

  “Can I get her autograph?” she asks. “She’s awesome!”

  “I’ll ask her, but she’s out on a mission a lot like this one,” he says. “One more thing, before we let you get back to your classes. If you do know a hidden super, or even ARE a hidden super, we’re going to leave some cards with your teachers. Teachers, I’d appreciate it if you put them somewhere people can get them without drawing attention to themselves. We’ll happily interview you or your friend for entrance into Cape High,” he finishes, looking over the crowd. He turns, looking at Nico. “Want to add anything?” he asks.

  “You did just fine,” Nico says. “Thank you for your time, everyone,” he says as we grab onto him. Even Trent comes back, laying a hand on Nico’s shoulder.

  We teleport away.

  ***

  Isotonic rubs the bridge of his nose as he walks through the North Branch Hall. It had been a waste of time going up North--the only things he’d gained were the knowledge that Superior was kicking him out of a part of his territory, and that Cape High was aiming to train a bunch of healers from his branch. Of course, in order to get those students back, he needs to negotiate with them and actually have them JOIN the Hall--

  That relaxed feeling he’d had when Aubrey healed him is completely gone. How is he going to explain that to the U.N.? No, he thinks just as quickly, he just WON’T because they’re so far up north only the polar bears will know, anyway. If a norm does find out, he decides, he’ll just let out the rumor that Santa really is real--and it’s not Superior or Cosmic that they saw, but the jolly old man, himself.

  “I’m running away.”

  “That’s nice, honey,” he says idly, still stuck on trying to talk the two into wearing red. Tatiana would make a great Mrs. Clause from a distance, right?

  “I’m going to join a circus.”

  “Make sure they have a good reputation,” he answers automatically. Wait. He looks up, finally realizing that Olivia is sitting on his desk, her arms crossed, her expression downright mutinous. “Weren’t you supposed to be staying with Hard Knocks?” he asks.

  “Those irritating brats of his spent an entire night shoving things at me!” she declares angrily. “I spent TWO HOURS made out of RED PLASTIC, Dad! They thought it was hysterical! Their Dad threatened to spank them, but you know how heroes are--he got called off to some stupid crime, leaving their mom--who only took away their dessert! So I slept on your couch just so I could tell you to your face that I. Am. Running. AWAY!”

  His headache comes back with a vengeance. “But honey, circuses just aren’t that... good for your education. How about something else?”

  “I tried the zoo, they don’t take supers,” she mutters.

  “Well... How about a different school?”

  “I’ll still be stuck here with those two little brats bugging me!”

  “How about Cape High?” he reluctantly offers. It’d been on his mind even before meeting the principal--and his extremely impressive family. “Of course we’d have to talk your mom into it, and God only knows how that’ll go--”

  “YESSS! YES YES YES!” Olivia shouts, jumping off the desk and doing a victory dance. “Cape High!” she squeals, hugging him. “Did you see the YouTube video where Kid Liberty visited the high school? I think it happened either today or yesterday--it was amazing! And they had all these students behind him in uniform and everything! Maybe I’ll actually get some fieldwork! Maybe I’ll get a BOYFRIEND!”

  “Aren’t you a bit young for a boyfriend?” he asks, feeling dread sink into his bones.

  “I’m thirteen and a half!” she declares, as if that was an impressive number. He’s quickly creeping towards seventy, himself, and he knows for a fact he’s one of the youngest Hall leaders around. Negatia might or might not be younger, she’s never told. “Do you think Fire Hazard has a girlfriend? He goes there!”

  “He’s too old for you, even if he doesn’t,” Isotonic says--only to inwardly scold himself. That’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull. “Why don’t we talk to your mother--wait, they visited a school?” he asks, his mind catching up with his mouth.

  “Yeah! Here, I’ll show you!” she says, hopping over his desk and grabbing his mouse.

  The video plays and he stays silent, a slight frown pulling at his lips as he realizes what they’ve done. On one hand, as a super, he totally agrees. The hidden capes in school should be allowed the opportunity to step out. On the other hand, as a Hall Leader and one that deals with norm relations on a regular basis, he realizes just what a big can of worms could pop open over it.

  Maybe he should hunt down Aubrey again--he could definitely use another stress fix.

  ***

  “We teleported a block away,” Trent says, looking at Nico.

  “Don’t complain, it’s Dairy Queen,” Nico says. People are staring and taking snapshots, some even ask for signatures, but he’s just happily lounging at an outdoor table, eating an ice cream cone. “Besides, there’s a chance the healer boy will come looking for us--whether or not he actually talks to us is another thing entirely. We need to look approachable.”

  “Be honest, you just don’t want to go back to the Arctic Circle just yet,” I say, happily eating my cookie dough blizzard. These things are amazing.

  “That too,” Nico says, only to nod slightly in the direction where Keliah is sitting as far from the group as possible. “Keliah,” he says, making her jump, “you did good.”

  “I shot the tire out,” she says, not looking at him. “I’m the one that deserves a detention--they didn’t even think about it.”

  “I could make you pay for the tire,” he says thoughtfully. “Or I could put you to work doing something else--what do you say, Trent? You're her team leader, you get the final say.”

  “I think she needs to help Aubrey with her work at the ER for a week,” Trent says. “After you’re back from up north, that is," he says, looking at me.

  We both jerk. I look at Keliah, who looks at me with a strained expression. Working with a girl that has a crush on my boyfriend for an entire week--I sigh silently. I hate confrontation! He’s pretty much just THROWN the poor girl at me, and he knows it! I give him a dirty look, only to get a shrug in return.

  “Can’t I work with ANYONE else?” Keliah demands.

  “How about Emily?” Trent offers evilly.

  “NO! Anyone else except for her!”

  “Your punishment’s already determined,” Nico says. “I suggest you be polite to your future boss, maybe she’ll go easy on you.”

  “Yeah, right,” she mutters, looking down at her ice cream wit
h an obvious pout.

  “I’d like to work with her,” Alyssa offers. “What’s wrong with working with Aubrey?”

  “She’s--she’s DATING--” Keliah starts out, pointing at me.

  “I’m dating her crush,” I say calmly. I'm the almost-adult here, I need to take the high ground, right? “Which means we have similar taste in boys--maybe we have more in common.”

  “That’s not a common interest!” Keliah protests. “That’s--that’s a reason to hate each other!”

  “I don’t hate you,” I say, a bit shocked that she thinks that. “I don’t appreciate you luring him with food--he’s a bit stupid when it comes to that, but I don’t hate you.”

  She has this look on her face that has me instinctively getting up and moving to her side. “Listen,” I say gently, “you’re thirteen--he’s almost eighteen. You know that, right?”

  “We’re supers, age doesn’t matter.”

  “When you’re grown, it doesn’t matter--right now, though, it does,” I tell her. “But I'm not letting my boyfriend be stolen, regardless of how cute or talented the girl might be. Jack is mine, see?” I say, pulling my necklace out and showing her the rose.

  She blushes, a look of shock crossing her face. “I’m—I'm not talented," she mutters, "I’m just starting to be able to use my power.”

  “You’re thirteen and you’re already forming weapons that actually work,” I tell her. “I didn’t even realize I HAD abilities until I was almost fifteen. You’re amazing, Keliah, you have such a promising future ahead of you, regardless of what side you choose. You’ll be a great super villain, or a great super hero,” I praise her. It seems silly, praising a girl that’s after your boyfriend, but she’s just so--so young. There’s a vulnerable look hidden in her green eyes, one I saw in the police bus, and that showed up again the moment I called her cute. She's CARLA'S age, I remember abruptly. She's just a kid! What she really needs right now isn't a boyfriend—it's affirmation. I'm good at giving affirmation.

  “The arrow thing was REALLY cool!” Carla says, popping up behind Keliah and hugging her. Keliah lets out a shocked yelp. “I really, really wanted to go down there and give them a piece of my mind, but you did that! Thank you!”

  Keliah’s so red that I bet you could cook something on her forehead. Carla is completely oblivious as she drops down on the bench next to us.

  “And even though you’re amazing, I still won’t let you have Jack," I tell Keliah firmly. “Let me introduce you to Lance, he’s closer to your age! Or Brandon wouldn’t be bad--he’s already lined up to be Jack’s right hand man!”

  “Lance is cuter than Jack is, anyway,” Carla says, stealing a bite of Keliah’s ice cream when she’s not looking. "Actually, Brandon is pretty cute, too, don't you think?"

  “Hey, that’s mine!” Keliah says, jerking her dish away.

  “But I already finished mine and yours is melting!” Carla says, trying to reach around the other girl and get more.

  “You eat too fast--don’t you get brain freeze?” Keliah demands. “And I can’t date an invisible boy, people would think I was crazy whenever we walked down the street.”

  “She’d be talking to her invisible boyfriend!” Carla says, laughing her head off.

  “That’s our brother you’re talking about,” I say.

  “But it was still funny,” Carla says, another spoonful of Keliah’s ice cream in her hand. “And Brandon needs a haircut, or at least a trim,” she tells me.

  “Oh, I knew I was forgetting something!” I say. “Nico, can we go to Jack’s team before going back to Grandma’s? I want to give Brandon a haircut.”

  “I want to go! I’ve got more experience with his type of hair than you do,” Carla tells me. “I used to cut my brothers’ hair all the time.”

  “Sure, but we’ll have to drop Carla off--” Nico stops as someone approaches our table. “Aubrey? You’ve got a visitor.”

  I turn, looking at a somewhat stout teenage boy standing behind me. I know him—he was in my dream! He looks nervous, in fact I can feel the tension rolling off of him. “Are you the one?” he asks me, his voice low. He seems to have picked up on our whispered style of talking. "When it happened, I think I heard your voice. I know you."

  “I’m sorry,” I say, getting up. “I didn’t mean for it to happen--” I let out a little yelp as he throws his arms around me. I feel him shaking, and to my shock I realize he’s crying silently.

  “This is sudden, I know, but—" He takes a deep, shuddering breath, "please take me with you,” he begs. “I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t touch anyone in the halls, I can’t do sports, I can't join clubs, everyone treated me like a freak even BEFORE I started floating--”

  Before I can reply, I see a green light flicker over him. I look at Nico, who’s staring at his phone. “We'll take you,” Nico says. “But we’ll have to go through all the paperwork and talk with your parents. I’ll send one of my teachers to do that.”

  The boy pulls away from me, looking flustered. “Don’t you have to do tests before letting me in? Or at least check my IQ? It's a private school! They're supposed to be hard to get into, right?”

  “IQ?” Nico repeats. “Does anyone in our community care about IQ?” he asks the group at large.

  “Depends on their super powers,” Trent says. “We expect the bad guys and the leaders to be smart, the rest of us usually get by with a bright smile and a good gimmick. And bad guys like Jack can get away with just having a really shiny ability.”

  “Trent, you know that’s not true!” I scold him. He looks at me, completely straight-faced for a moment before a grin pulls at his lips. “Okay, that’s not ALWAYS true,” I concede. I look at the new healer. “What’s your name?”

  “Bobby,” he says. “Bobby Nett.”

  “Well, Bobby, welcome to Cape High,” I say, shaking his hand. I jerk as my power kicks in. I feel my eyes start to glow and my hair try to stand under the hood of my snow suit. I feel his power, and it startles me. I can’t help but show the excitement I feel. “He’s a temporal healer!” I say, turning to the others with excitement.

  “What?” most of the group says blankly.

  “I’m a biological manipulator,” I say, moving closer and lowering my voice even more. “That means I can manipulate peoples’ bodies and organs to heal them. Alyssa is a wound transferal type healer, which means she transfers their problems to herself--she also has regeneration, which allows her to heal, although in theory she could transfer those wounds to someone else. But Bobby is a temporal healer--that means he can return the body to what it was BEFORE it was wounded. This is amazing!”

  “She’s geeking out,” Carla says, patting me on the shoulder, “but it’s okay, we still love you, Aubrey.”

  “Thank you,” I drawl.

  “We need to get going,” Nico says as I hear several cameras make tiny bleeping sounds. “I can only delete so many pictures of Bob, here,” he adds as he stands. “Everyone grab on, we’re taking the short cut.”

  We grab on, and teleport out of there.

  ***

  *Texas*

  “I’m not saying I don’t see your wife’s point of view,” Century says as he flies over the national forest, his eyes scanning the territory. He’d put this little visit off for too long--Emily is going to yell at him, he’s sure, but there’s more to running a business AND a Hall than the girl realizes, including dealing with other Hall leaders, like he is now, “but I sent Voltdrain’s daughter to the school, and she’s doing just fine. Why don’t you take your wife--”

  “Ex-wife,” Isotonic says.

  “Well you can take her, too, if you want--”

  “I’m single.”

  “You’re not getting any younger, son, I don’t see why you’re waiting!”

  “You’re older than I am and still single,” Isotonic points out. “You’ve got no right to lecture me.”

  “I can settle down any time I want—I've got time abilities. But that’s not the
point of this conversation.”

  “Why haven’t you married, Century?” he asks.

  “Now, see, you just assume I haven’t,” Century says. “I did marry, once. It was the best twenty years of my life.” His voice is softer. “I still visit her grave every Sunday.”

  “No children?”

  “Unfortunately, no. It’s hard to love a norm.”

  “It’s hard to love another hero, too.”

  “Well, regardless--take your ex-wife and your girl down to tour the grounds,” Century says. “Just call Mastermental and tell him you’re interested. I’m sure they’ll roll out the red carpet. I’m a bit surprised you called me, though.” The unspoken fact that they didn’t always see eye to eye is thick in the air.

  “I can’t call Mastermental--he’s biased in this case, Cape High is a part of his branch.”

  “True,” Century says as he heads for the trap door that leads into Skye’s place. “You don’t mind me hanging up, do you? If Skye catches me breaking into her place, I’ll need my complete focus.”

  “Isn’t she still up in the Arctic Circle?”

  “She is? That girl,” Century mutters, “she never DOES tell me where she’s going.” He opens the trap door and heads inside, not bothering to be cautious. “Sorry about the territory intrusion--if it were any of my others, I would have an excuse.”

  “I met her--she’s intent on calling me a drink.”

  “Gin and Tonic?”

  “Exactly.”

  Century starts to laugh, only to stop as something jumps out of the shadows, tackling him to the ground. “Well, found the roommate,” he says almost casually, even though sharp claws are pressed hard against his throat. “Hello, little Devil, I’ve been wondering if you would show up.”

  The beast-like woman opens her mouth, about to scream. She stops completely as he touches her hand and stops her physical time.

  “Doris! Doris!! Want to help me look for dinosaur bones? Liz says it's my part of the job—she's setting up the robot parts!” he hears Skye yell from the surface. A second later Skye slides through the ceiling with a brilliant grin of excitement. That grin turns into a dark look as she sees what he did. “Century! Get your hands off of my roommate! And turn her time back on right this instance, mister!”