by R. J. Ross
I crouch down next to his side, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him a bit. “Wake up, Jason,” I say. “You’re snoring.”
He rolls over onto his side, away from me, and continues sleeping. I glance at Grandpa. “What do I do?” I ask.
“Try pouring water on him,” he offers as he packs away the tents. “We’re going to check on the Cape Cells, first.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because after we take care of the Mimic problem we’re going home. I’d rather have the Cells at least half built before I’m gone.” I nod and head for the camp supplies, grabbing bottle of water and heading back for Jason. With a slightly evil grin, I uncap it and pour some over his face. He comes up spluttering and stares at me in shock.
“What was that for?” he demands.
“You wouldn’t wake up,” I say, crossing my arms. “I had no choice.”
“Sure you didn’t,” he says as he wipes his face off with his forearm and gets up. “What... um... I blacked out again, didn’t I?” he says a bit pathetically.
“You were trying to clean up, weren’t you?” Grandpa says. “After dealing with the plane and healing people, you pushed yourself too far. You’re not anywhere near full grown, Jason, you’ve only got so much stamina.”
“Oh,” he says. “But it worked so well on the plane--”
“Adrenaline rush. It can do that.”
Jason nods and pushes his hair out of his face. He’s got strands of metal mixed in with the regular brown hair. It looks cool, I admit silently. He pauses, and I can see his fingers play over the strands. “Is all of my hair going to turn metal?” he asks Grandpa.
“If you want it to.”
“That’d be cool.” He gets to his feet and starts to help clean up the campground. Soon we’ve got everything cleaned up and are ready to go. I watch as Grandpa steps on the pile of camping supplies and pushes the button on his watch, disappearing with all the items. “Did he just leave us?” Jason asks me.
“No, he just took everything back to our time,” I say, hugging myself. It feels like I’ve been abandoned, though, which is just as bad. I’ve spent way too much time alone in time. The presence of my Grandpa is like an anchor to reality--before I can finish that thought there’s a spark and he’s back, the camping gear gone. I can’t stop myself, I run forward, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him tightly.
“So,” Grandpa says, hugging me back, “not ready to be a time traveler hero, huh?”
“No, absolutely not,” I admit. “I’m staying in my own time for the rest of my life.”
“Good, because we’ve missed you like crazy,” he says, pulling back and giving me a crooked smile. “Now let’s finish this little job and get back to our time.”
“What about the younger you and Great Grandpa?” I ask.
“They should be back in their own time by now,” he says. “We’re almost done. Then you two have more important things to do.”
“Like what?” Jason asks.
“Making friends at your new school,” Grandpa says. “You’re both ready to be enrolled after I toss together some inhibitors.”
I look at Jason, expecting him to be grinning as widely as I am, but instead he’s got a slight scowl on his face. “What’s wrong?” I ask him. “I thought you wanted to go to school.”
“Well, yeah--I mean, yeah, I do,” he says, forcing a grin. “It’s going to be awesome.” I look at him, frowning slightly as I try and figure out why he’s lying. What had changed since our first fight?
“Don’t worry,” I tell him, realizing. “I won’t tell anyone that we’re friends.” He looks at me blankly. That wasn’t it? “Or that you caused a plane wreck because of my great grandpa,” I add.
“Oh... um... I wasn’t going to tell you that,” he says, looking away.
“Tell me what? That it was Great Grandpa’s fault? Grandpa told me,” I explain. “You know, even if he’s the hero of the masses, I’m not really surprised.”
“Yeah? But he’s your granddad--”
I hesitate, looking around as if anyone other than Grandpa might be listening in. “Great Grandpa... can be... difficult,” I admit slowly. “He’s hard to read... and deal with. I mean, I love him, he’s family, but...” I shrug. “I’ve said this before, right?”
“Yeah,” he says. “You have.” He falls silent as we start to run, chasing Grandpa to the building site of the Cape Cells. I’m not sure what’s going through his head. I mean, I’ve made it pretty obvious that I forgive him, right? Don’t tell me I actually have to SAY it. That’s so embarrassing!
So I fall into an awkward silence, pretending to focus on following Grandpa. Having a boy for a friend seems like it’s going to be extremely confusing.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Having a girl for a friend is way too confusing, Jason decides as they reach the building site. He glances at Noelle, frowning slightly before looking away. She’s talking to her grandpa, who very calmly points to an area far away from the robots that are working on the Cape Cells. Jason hesitates for a second before walking up him.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asks.
“Go keep Noelle from thinking about my bots,” Technico says. “We don’t have time to rebuild them all just because she gets bored.”
“Oh,” he says, feeling frustrated.
“It’s hard, huh?” Technico says. “But you’re tough. You’ll learn to deal with her.”
“She’s a pain,” Jason says honestly.
“Of course she is,” Technico agrees. “Everyone can be. But she needs you, Jason. You’re going to help her balance out.”
“What? How? Is that another reason why you brought me here?” Jason demands. Technico smiles slightly.
“You both need to understand some basic facts about our world. What you know, she doesn’t, and what she does, you don’t. There’s a very good chance that the two of you will be running the super world when you grow up, Jason. If you two can work together now, things will be work just fine in the future.”
“She’s going to take over the Hall, isn’t she?” Jason says, looking at her with a hint of wonder. “Or be the school principal. She’d make an awesome super villain, though. Can we talk her into that?” he asks.
“We’ll see. Regardless of what she chooses to be, there’s a very good chance it’ll be in a position of power. You’re her first friend, Jason. She’s going to rely heavily on you.”
“Yeah, but...” Jason says silently, looking at her. She’s watching them, probably listening. “I dunno how reliable I am,” he admits, looking away from her. He blinks as Technico drops a hand on his head.
“You’ll do fine,” he says silently. “You’ve already fallen into the habit of cleaning up after her.”
Jason jerks away, knowing his face is bright red. “It’s just cuz I’ve been kidnapped and she’s the only other kid around,” he protests silently, making Technico laugh. “I’ll be able to quit as soon as we get back to our time and she starts dating Tristan,” he adds. “Now I’m going to go keep her busy, cuz the sooner this is over, the better.”
“Sounds good.”
“Hey, do you even know where Mimic is?” Jason asks abruptly.
“No. But I’m sure I can find him.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because the military put a tracker on him that I’m positive he hasn’t found yet.”
***
All of a sudden I can’t hear what they were saying. That’s irritating. I turn my back on them and look at... dirt. Yeah, that’s all there is around here. The Cape Cells being built and a lot of dirt. I am so bored. Maybe I should have asked to be taken to the Hall again, so I could see little Nicolas and Kenny and Missy--
“Hey,” Jason says. I look up at him as he drops down a few feet away. “If I keep my phone in my pocket will you break it if I play music?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But we can try?”
“Sure,” he says, turning his b
ack to me and pulling out his phone. “Focus on something else for a moment. You’re messing up my screen.”
“Oh, sorry,” I say, looking at the dirt instead of him. “I don’t think I want to be a technopath anymore. Being deprived of music is too much to bear,” I say a bit dramatically. Just a little bit. I’m not a diva or anything. Right?
“Diva,” he says with a snort. “It just means you have to go to concerts instead of listening to your phone for a little bit.”
“Yeah--but--that’s just not good enough,” I say. “I need music to LIVE!”
“Yeah, right,” he says even as Abney Park starts playing. “Well, I guess they’re not that bad,” he adds after listening for a bit.
“Not that bad? They’re awesome!”
“Mmhmm.” One of my favorite songs start and I hop to my feet, grabbing his hand. “What?” he asks.
“Dance with me!”
“I’m not going to dance with you! I don’t dance.”
“Dance with meee,” I say, tugging him to his feet. “If you don’t dance with me I’ll get mad at you again--you didn’t HAVE to listen to Great Grandpa, after all.” He gives me a dirty look.
“Fine, but if I step on your feet it’s your own fault,” he says as he awkwardly holds out his other hand.
It’s about this time I remember I’ve only danced with my father before. Oh well, I think as I start. I doubt Jason has ever danced at all!
Look, I know we have more things to do--and I still feel worried that Tatia won’t make it. I want my Great Grandma around when I go back to my own time. It’s just Grandpa promised we would fix everything. When Grandpa promises something, he always comes through.
I have faith in him.
***
*The Present*
“She’s not here,” Superior says as he stops where the bed should have been. “You said she’d be here,” he snaps as he turns on Nico. A strange look on Nico’s face makes him pause. “Why isn’t she here?”
“I’m not sure,” Nico admits. “I left this to my future self--I assumed I would make sure things went back to exactly how they were. But... maybe that’s...” he says, hating to admit that he did something stupid, but close to it.
“Stupid?” Superior offers.
“Yeah,” Nico admits reluctantly. “But what did he do?”
“I don’t feel like waiting. I’m going to find Kunnins,” Superior says.
“You can if you want, but I need more information before I race off and kill a norm--even if he is the one that got my mother killed,” Nico says. “What we need to do is talk to Star Born. We need to find out why she’s so certain that he’s still alive in this time. And why she still considers him a threat.”
“Doing research on a threat,” Superior says, staring at the place where his wife should be. “I hate to admit that that’s a smart decision. Perhaps I should do some of my own,” he adds, looking at Nico.
“Are you saying I’m a threat?”
“When I see my wife again I’ll take it back,” he says.
“Yeah? When you see your wife again how are you going to explain my white haired little sister, huh?” Nico taunts. “How much did Mom like Sparky, Father?”
Superior pales. “We’ll... deal with that when we get to it,” he says finally. “So, shall we find Mastermental? I assume he’s the easiest way to get into the Cape Cells.”
“Not easiest, but less violent,” Nico says as he pulls out his cell phone and calls Double M. “Double M? We need a favor.”
***
*The Past*
It’s been hours. I yawn loudly and look at Jason, who’s actually fallen asleep while we’re waiting. He’s on a little rock bed that rose up in the middle of his snoring. “Are we done yet, Grandpa?” I call over my shoulder. I blink at the sight of the building that’s gone up. It’s almost complete, I think in shock.
“We’re done,” Grandpa says as he snaps his fingers. The little robots that were doing all the work come over, hovering around him. He pushes the button on his watch and they all disappear, leaving me again. This time it’s not nearly as terrifying. I head over to Jason and shake him awake, hard. “Wake up.”
It takes another shake to get one of his eyes to open. “What?” he asks sleepily.
“Grandpa took the machines to the future,” I say. “We’re going to go save everyone now.”
“That’s nice,” he says, rolling over and going back to sleep.
“That means you need to wake up,” I say, shaking him again. “Jasssooon, wake up! We’re going to save my great grandma!”
“Noelle, you’re annoying,” he mutters. “I was having a good dream.”
“What were you dreaming?” I ask, sitting back on my heels as he slowly looks at me.
“I dreamed that I beat Tristan,” he says. “It’s never happened before.”
“What’s Tristan like?” I ask curiously.
“What, trying to scope out your future boyfriend?” he asks sarcastically. “He’s a typical good Liberty boy, blonde hair, blue eyes, super strength. He’s a tank in the making--well, almost a typical good Liberty boy,” he admits, thinking about it. “He’s got his ears pierced.”
“His ears are pierced?” I repeat.
“Yeah,” Jason says. “Mine aren’t--but that’s because Dad says I’ll be able to do whatever I want when I’m full grown and can control my metal. He makes all sorts of holes and shapes in his skin--like one week he went around with gauges--they’re plugs in these stretched holes in his earlobes, and then another he made it look like he had rivets.”
“Rivets?”
“Yeah, rivets,” he says, grinning. “It was awesome--he passed himself off as a clone of himself for a month. I’ve got the comic and recordings and everything!”
“Why are you such a huge fan of your own dad?” I ask. “You’re always talking about him.”
“Because he’s amazing,” Jason says. “I mean... I guess it’s sort of lame to like your own dad so much...” he looks away.
“I love my dad,” I say. “I guess he is pretty amazing, now that I think about it. I just... never thought about it.”
“Do you want to be like him?” he asks.
“I’d rather be like Mom, I think,” I say slowly. “Actually I’d rather be like Tatia,” I decide abruptly. “Or like all three of them. I’d like to be... me, I guess? Just add in aspects, like how confident Mom and Tatia are, and how in control Dad is. None of them dress the way I want to,” I add. “I mean, I’ve got a style going on here, I like it way better than the usual uniform.”
He’s just staring at me. Did I say something wrong? Oh, now he’s laughing. “It’s not funny, you jerk!”
“Only you would come down to clothes,” he says, grinning like an idiot.
“Clothes are important! Don’t tell me you’re going to run around in a ratty trench coat like your dad does--I will disown you if you do, got it? You need to be classier--I know! Let’s go shopping when we get back to our own time! We’ll get you a great outfit.”
“Fine, whatever,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“You should be grateful I’m willing to help you out,” I tell him snottily, patting my curls. “I have excellent super uniform taste.”
“How is a frilly skirt and high heels a good uniform?” he asks. “You should be wearing something that’s good in a fight.”
“I’m not planning on being a fighting hero,” I say. “I’m going to be...” I frown, rethinking the time travel response, “a principal!” I decide. “I’ll take over Cape High when Mom wants to retire.” That sounds good.
“You should be a super villain,” he says. “You can dress the way you want and build giant steam powered machines to wreak havoc with. It’d be great.”
“Hah, like I’d want to compete with your future girlfriend, or whatever,” I say, blowing him off completely. “I’m not super villain material. I’ll be the principal... or maybe just a teacher. I’d make a good teacher!”
“You’d make a terrible teacher,” he says. “You’d be constantly discussing their clothing choices instead of their actual work.”
“Maybe I’ll teach fashion, did you think about that?” I demand, feeling a bit hurt by that.
“Oh yeah, like that’s a class,” he drawls.
“It should be,” I say as Grandpa appears again. “Grandpa, is fashion a class in Cape High?” I ask.
“Uniform Design,” he says. “It’s a short one, though, usually a one on one conversation with the kid, a teacher, and a tailor. Why?”
“HAH!” I say to Jason.
“It’s not even a real class--it’s more like a meeting!” he protests.
“Regardless, are you two ready?” Grandpa asks, tossing us each a bag. I stare at mine blankly. There are clothes inside. Ugly clothes.
“Grandpa?” I ask, opening it and pulling out a wig. “What, exactly, is this?”
“Your uniform for the mission,” he says, slicking back his own hair and putting on an extremely ugly hat. “We don’t want to stand out for this.”
I look over at Jason, who’s pulling out a t-shirt with KISS written across the front and strange pictures of white faced men. He’s grinning from ear to ear. “Awesome!” he says.
I give up on teaching him fashion.
***
There are several things he could do, Mimic thinks as he watches Tatiana fly overhead. He could yell for help again, it worked the first time, but he might be a bit inconspicuous in Will’s form. He no longer has the woman’s form. He’d lost it when he’d taken Will’s, so that approach is out. Or, he thinks, he could rob a bank. That would get her attention extremely quickly. He needs to find an armored truck.
He’s done this several times before, but he’d never actually set out to be caught afterwards. This little obsession with Tatiana is probably dangerous, he admits as he stops at a bank, slipping into the alleyway and looking around. There’s a bum near the corner, dressed in rags and drinking from a bottle in a brown paper bag. He’ll work, Mimic decides as he walks over.
