Life Light

by R. J. Ross

  “Doris?” he hears Isotonic say a bit blankly. He ignores it, pushing the still-transformed Jersey Devil off of him. His attention is fully focused on the enraged looking Skye.

  “Now honey--”

  “Don’t call me honey!” Skye says.

  “Now, sugar,” he says, getting to his feet and holding up his hands, “I was just following Emily’s orders!” Because if there’s one person Skye will do ANYTHING for, it’s Emily, and he’s shameless enough to take advantage of it. “She was worried about you living with a complete stranger, so she asked me to check up on you.”

  Skye scowls, and then pouts, and then looks cynical. After all he’s done to keep her out of the cells, he thinks with reluctant amusement, she’s STILL a conspiracy theorist when it comes to him. Well, okay, some of what he does could be considered a conspiracy from her point of view--but this one isn’t! Well... it isn’t exactly.

  “I’m perfectly fine with my new roommate! She’s adorable!”

  Century looks down at the rather vicious looking beast woman, raising an eyebrow. “Well...” he says, letting it linger too long. He knows he has when she gets right up in his face. “Regardless of how she looks, she’s dangerous--” wrong word, his brain shouts, abort! Abort! “No, dangerous isn’t the right word--”

  “I’M MORE DANGEROUS!” Skye bellows, clearly offended.

  “Of course you are,” he agrees quickly. He hears Isotonic trying not to laugh. He turns the com-link off. “I just mean she’s an unknown--she needs to be brought up to code in the system. How about this,” he offers, “we take her in for just a little bit, we get her evaluated, and trained to be your fellow super villain. A pair of dangerous female super villains will be a real crowd pleaser!”

  “Like partners?” Skye asks in that little voice that tells him he’s found a weak point.

  “Exactly like partners,” he agrees, knowing he’ll regret it.

  “I can train her!” she declares.

  “But weren’t you going to go find dinosaur bones?” he asks.

  “Oh... That’s true, it might take me a while to find a triceratops,” she says, frowning slightly. “And if I make Liz wait too long, she might find someone else to make her dinosaur with...”

  Liz? His face is blank for a moment before he remembers--”Firefly is helping you make a dinosaur?” he asks. Somehow her getting along with Firefly is more worrying than that time he heard about Firefly almost killing her.

  “But I CAN’T!” Skye abruptly wails. “You’re just going to toss her into the Cape Cells and then I would have to break her out, and my new family will get mad at me for it, and--”

  “She’s done nothing to get tossed into the Cape Cells,” he says almost blankly. She just automatically jumps to the Cape Cells, he thinks with an inward sigh. “In fact, only you, me, and a few others know about her.”

  “What others?” Skye demands, her eyes narrowing.

  “Well... Technico, for one,” he admits, foreseeing a giant blow-up any second.

  “He does?” she asks, her eyes widening. “That’s PERFECT!” she declares with delight. “HE can train her! He’s a big-wig super trainer!”

  He stares at her, his jaw dropping slightly. He’d thought it’d be a knock-down, drag-out fight-- “Sugar, how exactly do you know Technico?” he asks, instead. He idly notes that she hasn’t protested being called “Sugar” at all.

  “He’s my new brother! But enough changing the subject, let Doris go!” she says. “I want to tell her she’s going to meet my big brother!”

  He wonders if he should call Nico first and make him deal with this decision. No, he decides, Nico deserves it after all the crap he’s put him through. He moves to Doris, crouching down next to her and looking her in the eyes. They’re black where they should be white, with glowing blue for irises. He really wonders if he should just stop Skye’s time and drag the girl away--she’s a possible threat, and he can’t always be here, guarding Skye. But Skye IS dangerous, he reluctantly admits. Very few capes can even touch her if she doesn’t want them to, and apparently she’s adopted the Superior family and gotten away with it. Both factors make her almost impossible to mess with. He sighs and touches the girl’s shoulder, stepping back as she jerks back to life.

  “Doris, it’s okay!” Skye stops as Doris lunges at him again. “He’s not here officially, he’s just being nosy.”

  “He’s an intruder,” Doris snarls as Skye grabs her.

  “He is, but it’s not a work day,” Skye says with a shrug. “I’m back! Did you miss me?” she asks.

  The Jersey Devil girl looks at him for a moment before shifting into a woman’s form. She’s wearing Skye’s uniform, he notices--it looks too tight in several areas, since Skye is skinny and this girl is muscular. It’s also pretty tattered. In fact, he thinks as he turns away politely, it’s got a few holes in inappropriate places.

  “We’ll get her an outfit that shifts better with her form,” he says as Skye drags her down the hall. “Don’t forget to tell her about Technico--”

  “Century, we’ve got a problem,” Isotonic says, over the com link.

  “What’s that?”

  “Find a television, you’re going to want to see this.”

  He starts after the girls, only to hear a scream that could shatter glass.

  “Doris, you killed the television!” Skye complains.

  “HEROLD!” Doris roars. “I’LL KILL YOU!”

  CHAPTER NINE

  *Missouri*

  There's only one person that knows how to find him like he did, Shadowman thinks. Only one person that would even bother, actually… at least, that's the only thing he can think of. The question is, why now? He steps through the shadows, appearing on the street corner of downtown Kansas City. A son. The very idea is messing with his head, and honestly he wonders how it happened. Well, not the basics, of course, but—

  If someone had a super kid, wouldn't they just hand the kid over to the Hall the moment they got the chance? He would have! Well, okay, no he wouldn't, but if he wasn't a wanted super villain he would have! Super kids are nothing but trouble! And if the kid has HIS powers (which is most likely, since he never did like super women,) then he is way too much for a norm to handle. Who knows where the kid gets to when the mom isn't looking?

  "Excuse me," a man says, making him glance up. While he'd been thinking, he'd been surrounded by people. "Are you—" there's a look of confusion on the man's face, because he doesn't recognize him. Not many people do, Shadowman thinks.

  "Sorry, you don't know me," he says, starting to walk through the group.

  "Shadowman," the man says. Shadowman goes completely still, a bit shocked at hearing that name from a complete stranger. "Mother wants to speak to you," the man goes on.

  "Who?" Shadowman asks.

  "Mother. She's got an… offer you can't refuse."

  ***

  “So how long will you be on the road?” I ask Jack and Jeanie. We’re in one of the hotel rooms they rented for the night, sitting on one of the two beds. To the right Brandon is sitting on a chair, a towel draped over his shoulders as Carla cuts his hair. She’s really good at it. The biggest problem is keeping Brandon visible--she keeps having to scold him over that.

  “Well, we’re not sure where our target really is,” Jeanie admits. “We know he was at a mall in Kentucky, so we’re going to start in that general area and branch out. But don’t worry, I make sure they get their class assignments! That online system you set up is great, Nico! They can talk with their teachers over their arm panels and everything.”

  “I set up what?” Nico asks.

  “You didn’t?” she asks.

  “Must have been Zoe,” he admits. “She’s been playing with website design during her self-study time lately, she probably thought it’d be good to keep everyone on track.”

  “Yet another reason to find her annoying,” Jack says, flipping on the television.

  “Zoe isn’t annoying, she’s looking
out for our greater good,” I say, although I haven’t even thought of homework since all of this started. Whoops.

  “This is an outrage,” the man on the screen says. He’s clearly a politician, since he’s standing at a podium. “Supers have their place, I agree--” I grab Jack’s wrist before he changes the channel, “and that place is NOT in our schools. There’s no reason for battles to take place anywhere near our children. They have clearly overstepped their boundaries, and I, for one, am willing to make sure it never happens again!”

  “It wasn’t a battle! We just shot out a tire, for crying out loud!” Carla bellows at the television.

  “Senator Herold! Senator Herold!” a news reporter calls, “Isn’t it true that it was merely a publicity stunt so Kid Liberty could talk about treating others fairly?”

  “Do you really think a talk like that calls for violence right in front of the school?” he demands. “We deserve to know that our children are safe there! We deserve to know that the supers and their drama is something they’ll only see on television. I love the supers as much as you do, but this time they have gone too far.”

  There’s silence from the reporters--which lasts all of a second before a million questions start coming. I look over at Nico, who’s oddly silent. He’s just watching the senator with a thoughtful expression.

  “This could make our mission a bit difficult,” Jeanie finally says with a sigh. “Should we call Frank?”

  “I’m sure he already knows,” Nico says. “We’re going to have to have a school conference. Carla, do you mind if Jeanie flies you home when you’re done? I need to get back to the new base.”

  “You could do it from here, though, right?” I ask.

  “I could, but we need to go back, anyway. We’re still going through with the mission, but we’ll have to be a bit stealthier about it.”

  “There’s more to it than that, Nico,” Jeanie says as I reluctantly get up and grab my things. “If we’re banned from schools, what happens when someone attacks one? We can’t allow this to go through.”

  “We’ll deal with it,” Nico says. “That’s what we have Mastermental for, right?”

  “I know... I just worry about all those poor healers,” Jeanie admits. “What you told me about Bobby--how many of them feel the same way? And how many of them saw Senator Herold make that announcement?”

  “How come they never called the Hall?” Carla asks.

  “We never did,” I point out. “Maybe some of them didn’t even KNOW they were healers until--until I did what I did.” Had I awoken some? It’s a possibility, especially for the younger ones. Even I don’t know what all that beam of light I sent off did. It’s possible that it activated powers.

  “But they could call now,” she says.

  “Maybe some will... I hope so, at least,” I admit.

  “Are we ready?” Nico asks. I head to the bed, leaning over and kissing Jack on the cheek.

  “Be safe, okay?” I tell him.

  “I’m a walking tank,” he says, grinning at me. “I’ll be--no, WE’LL be fine, right, guys?”

  I look at Brandon, who gives me a little grin, and then at Ward. He’s been oddly quiet this entire time, sitting at the little table next to the window playing on his phone.

  “I’m not going super villain,” Ward says. “But as long as Mega’s not bugging me about being his mini-me, I’m good.”

  Jack starts laughing. “Oh, man, I can see it!” he says, grinning from ear to ear. “Come on, Ward, you and Brandon will be awesome minions--we could terrorize Central! And best of all, no mini-me outfits and photo-shoots!”

  “No luring my brothers to the dark side, Jack,” I tell him firmly, “unless they already want to go.” I tell each of them goodbye and grab onto Nico. We teleport out, appearing in his room in Grandma and Grandpa’s place. I’m not even surprised to see Grandpa Superior standing in front of us.

  “Senator Herold was in the military back in the seventies,” Grandpa starts out. “He was an architect, one involved in building the new bases, the ones in preparation for the Cold War getting hot.”

  “How do you know this?” Nico asks.

  “I told him,” Grandma says, stepping into the room. “My mother land, she was very careful to keep track of such bases. When we saw him on the television, I recalled the list of people I was to keep the eye on.”

  “I see. So there’s a chance he knew, or possibly even helped, Kunnins,” Nico says. “These old men,” he complains, “they’re really starting to bug me.” He heads for the platform he placed me on, stepping onto it. Images of every single student in the field pop up all around him.

  “Attention, Cape High,” he says. I see several of them jerk. I can almost picture him popping up in front of them. “We need to have a little discussion, so take fifteen seconds to find a private place where we can talk.” He waits, and I can practically see him watching his mental clock, because fifteen seconds later he goes, “Is everyone ready?”

  A chorus of positive answers greet him. I move closer, standing behind him to see everyone. The images are of their faces, clustered into their groups. I can’t help but wonder how Morgan is doing, paired with Ace and Jimmi like she is. I am absolutely going to call her after this little meeting. “What’s the problem?” Vinny asks.

  “We have a senator on our tail,” Nico says bluntly. “We’re going to have to plain suit this job as much as possible. That means turning these little trips into field trips--complete with a teacher leader, understand? Where it’s possible, make contact with the targets, but don’t do it up big unless you can come up with a legitimate reason. That means contacting the local Hall and setting up a gig. Justin,” he says, making the musician look up, “when does your tour start?”

  “In a week,” he says. “Is it possible to get this over with before I leave?”

  “Nope, the exact opposite,” Nico says. “You once asked Malina to tour with you, right? Well, you’re about to get your request--along with Emily and Freddy as a bonus. Put them to work, Emily can make three stage hands in one, and she’s stronger than any adult norm. Freddy should be useful, as well. This way we can check all the towns you sing in.”

  “Shouldn’t we ASK Malina if she wants to be in the shows first?” Emily asks.

  “That would be special treatment,” Nico says. “This is part of the mission. We’ve already established that I’m not giving her any, right, Malina?”

  “Right,” Malina says firmly. I’m so proud of her right now.

  “Jack,” Nico says, “come up with something.”

  “Hey! How come you give Justin and them a full-out cover and I get stuck with ‘Come up with something’?” Jack demands. “Y’might not have noticed, but I’m not exactly built to fit in!”

  “I know what he should do,” I say, stepping forward. “But we’re going to need your help, Nico, so no abandoning him just because you think it’s funny,” I add, giving him a scolding look.

  “Okay, what is it?” Nico asks.

  “A super villain tour. He can meet the villains around the world, show up in random places to cause a scene, maybe even do some debuts,” I say. Both of them jerk, looking surprised. “We’ve already met Aunt Skye, right? And we know Pan! So why not have him go around and introduce himself to the other super villains? They can react however they want, but they’re supers--they should want to make a spectacle of it, right?” I have to add, though, “You had better keep my little brothers safe while you’re doing it, got it?”

  “I know, I know,” Jack says, glancing to the left and right. “They’re tougher than you think, Aub, they’ll do just fine.”

  “That works for me. I’ll make some calls and get you a schedule,” Nico says. “Ace, you can go the spectacle route, too--Aubrey’s already gotten you permission to enter North Hall territory, right?” he says to me. I nod. “So we’re going to hand you and your team over to Isotonic for a bit. We’ll offer you up for debuts and hero highlighting, and have them arranged n
ear the areas the healers were spotted. You’ve got the most outed heroes in your area, so make sure you spread out.”

  “I can do the same,” Max offers. “Meeting other super villains and offering up my debut services sounds entertaining.”

  “That works,” Nico agrees. “Vinny, you’re going south again. We’ll offer you up to Century for the most part, shake hands, kiss babies, and most importantly, get into the schools to give ‘everyone is special’ speeches. Trent, you do the same. We’ve found one already in Central, but there’s a good chance there are more. Just remember, the senator is wrong. We’re not out to endanger norms--”

  “We’re out to save supers,” I finish. “We can’t risk another collector showing up, guys, I couldn’t--I couldn’t live with myself if one of my healers was caught because of something I did,” I say, my voice breaking slightly. That nightmare is still lingering in my mind. “Please, offer them safety.”

  “We will,” Jack says, looking me straight in the eye. “Right guys?”

  “We’ll get all of them somewhere safe,” Ward says seriously.

  “Can I do some ‘everyone is special’ speeches too?” Emily asks.

  “We could put you in uniform at the beginning of the shows,” Justin offers. “You and Malina can both talk, as far as I’m concerned.”

  "We'll also see about getting you into schools," Nico says.

  “Score!” she says. “I’m going to do everything possible to make sure your healers are safe, sis. I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t,” I say. I feel a little sick as I see the looks on their faces. Each one looks determined. Even Carla is completely serious. I’ve caused the entire school to go to war. “Be safe, everyone,” I say, reaching up and wishing I could hug them. “I love you guys. You’re the best school a girl could ever have.”

  “We’re Cape High,” Max says. “We stick together, regardless of what side we’re on.” He’s got two of our zoo kids--Lance and Piper. I see the looks of surprise on their faces. They don’t know Max like the group that live in the apartment building does. This will be good for them, I think.