by Ross, R. J.
We fly out of the security field as the boys jump into the air, not managing to grab the plane.
“So!” Skye says, looking excited. “Who are we going to rob?”
“We are going to a small island where a very rich man has recently bought the first three Petleaves released to the public.”
“The Petleaves?” Skye repeats, frowning. “I want one!”
“Stick to your chupacabra,” I say. “Speaking of which, maybe you should get the brothers a pet dog, or something, Pan.”
“We do NOT do dogs,” Pan says.
“Really, Sunny,” Adanna says, staring at me. “I would have thought even you wouldn’t be that oblivious.”
“There’s nothing wrong with dogs!” I say.
“Unless it’s a house full of large cats and cat shifters!” Skye says cheerfully. What? Even SKYE is making fun of me? Wow, that’s sad.
“I’m just going to shut up, now,” I say, pulling out my phone and tapping on the screen. Adanna reaches out, patting my hand and giving me a little smile.
***
*An Unnamed Island up North*
“Welcome to paradise,” Nico says, landing on the beach of the small island and putting Summer down. “I didn’t expect them to be so willing to let us go alone,” he whispers, tugging her into his arms.
“I’m worried about that fact,” Summer says, pulling out her phone and completely ignoring his attempt at romance. “You can never trust them when they act like this. They’re up to something!”
“Zoe is working on the schematics for Cape High South’s Apocalypse Field,” he says. “She’s been working on it for weeks, in her spare time.”
“And Sunny?” Summer asks. “I really doubt he’s suddenly interested in something school related.”
“Ah... yeah, he’s probably up to something,” Nico admits. “Or he could just be sleeping through the weekend and his mother is being paranoid. Really, Summer, it’s Sunny. Every thought he has comes out of his mouth before it reaches his brain.”
“That is a terrible way to speak of your son,” Summer says.
“I’m not saying he isn’t intelligent,” Nico protests, “he’s good at quick come-backs, but he’s not so good at thinking things through.” Also, Sunny and Pan are up to something. He saw the alert that Sunny had left Central, but if she finds out, their honeymoon will be cut short. Plus, if there’s ANYONE he trusts to keep his kid from getting himself killed, it’s his best friend. He stops as a tiny blip nudges his mind, and he turns, waving a hand. A hologram of Herold appears floating next to him. “I’m a bit busy right now, Herold, so make it quick.” He’d only answered because it was a way to stop the earlier conversation.
“I didn’t appreciate you dropping her on me for the day,” Herold says, “especially since it distracted me from my research. I know something that you might consider interesting.”
Nico frowns, since he isn’t anywhere near his office and he doesn’t want to ruin his honeymoon. “I’ll be home in a week,” he says. “I’ll check it out, then. If it’s really important, tell Mastermental.”
“If you really feel that way,” Herold says, hanging up.
Summer has a frown on her face. “You two seem quite close,” she says.
“He’s trying to find something to negotiate with,” Nico says. “I can’t blame him for that. I can blame him for everything else he’s done, sure, but not that. I did it quite often when I was locked up, as well. I bought my special privileges with designs.”
“What special privileges did you have?” she asks, looking suspicious.
“I got to keep this,” he says, pulling out his wallet and showing her a thin disk. “I’ve got two more, now, but this is the one that got me through all those years.”
She stares at it, remembering what Sunny had said at the wedding. “What is it?” she asks, not certain she really wants to know.
He gives her a slightly self-conscious smile before tossing it to the ground. It starts to spin and her eyes widen as a hologram of herself appears. Her mouth goes dry as she watches the hologram embrace him, and then fade, his hand going through empty air.
“This,” he says quietly, “was what I gave away designs worth millions for. And then, when I finally came out, you weren’t there. So yes, I understand using whatever you can find to get what you want most. I did it for fifteen years.”
“What does Herold want most?” she asks, a few tears falling. “And... and what are the other two disks of?” She has a feeling that she already knows.
“Sunny and Zoe,” he says, holding up the disks. “I made them shortly after I got out. I didn’t know how long I had before they tossed me back in for some reason. And as for Herold... he wants the obvious. He wants his powers back.”
“I see,” she says, walking over and wrapping her arms around his waist. She leans her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Yes, she still has moments where she’s mad at him for what he did. Yes, it’s something she’s not sure she’ll ever quite get over, even though she’s taken him back, but... to know that he did all of that just to have a simple image of her... it’s more than she can comprehend.
“I love you,” he says, against her hair. “I love the kids you raised, as well. I might make fun of Sunny, now and then, but the kid fell asleep in his cereal, Summer. It’s really hard NOT to point that sort of thing out.”
She pulls back, giving him a disgruntled look. “He isn’t stupid, though.”
“No, he’s not stupid,” Nico agrees. “He’s a great kid. He’s kinder than practically anyone else I know. Well, other than Carla. Carla might be a little bit sweeter, but at least Sunny isn’t stuck on fast-forward all the time. He might be more of a slow-motion, actually.”
“And Zoe?” Summer asks, a bit amused, now.
“I love her, but I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” he sums up. “Now, here we are on a romantic get-away, with an entire island to ourselves. Shouldn’t we find something more... interesting to do?” he asks.
“Oh, yes! I want to see the plant life!” she says, pulling away and running towards the trees. He groans.
***
*The Cape Cells*
Herold thinks for a long, long moment, debating on just how much he can get out of negotiating with Mastermental. It’s risky. If Mastermental really wants to know something, he can always come and visit him in person. Of course, it’s risky trying to negotiate with Technico, as well. Still... he looks at the fluffy kitten curled up on his lap. “Micro, call Mastermental for me, would you?”
The cat looks up with a little “mew,” and his eyes start to glow. The wall lights up, showing Mastermental looking over a handful of papers. The papers lower and Mastermental raises one thin black eyebrow.
“Hello, Senator Herold,” he says. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have something you might be interested in knowing about,” Herold says. “But the question is, what would you be willing to pay for it?”
“Mmm,” Mastermental says, pressing the tips of his fingers together, “I’m listening.” Herold sees a tiny blink in the corner of the screen, but since he’s almost positive that it’s on Mastermental’s side, he ignores it, for now.
***
“Go fish!” Skye says excitedly, waving her cards around. We’re in the back part of the little plane, playing games, but...
“Skye, this isn’t ‘Go Fish,’” Adanna points out. “We’re playing Uno.”
“Pffft,” Skye says, “like that matters. Go fish!”
We shrug and grab another card, each. “So,” Pan asks over his shoulder, “what do we know about SITEC? Although we are not heading there now, we might need to in the near future.”
Skye goes still before placing her cards down on the table. “SITEC is where that crazy mad scientist experimented on me. They’re supposed to be helping supers by taking apart weapons, but it’s all a lie! They’re jerks and they take advantage of people! When we go there, let’s blo
w the place up!”
“Do not worry, if it works out how I think it will, we will be taking them down eventually.”
“Well, Dad says that they don’t have any connections with the Petleaves, at least, not by any paper trails,” I say. “It’s probably under the table, because Trent says the plants were what he was fighting, and SITEC was supposed to destroy anything related to that time. So... yeah, I’m pretty confused about anything after that point.”
“It’s about Hall jurisdiction, right?” Adanna offers.
“Of course it is,” Pan says. “When someone working with the Hall claims to not know anything, it is ALWAYS about Hall jurisdiction.”
“Sunny,” Zoe says, “you realize that the Hall is going to notice you leaving the territory, don’t you? They have access to our commlink system. You really should have left your phone at home, much less your watch.”
“Oh crap,” I say, only to look down at the hologram that appears over my watch. I’m way too used to wearing this thing. “Wait, you noticed?”
“Who do you think I am?” she says, crossing her arms over her chest and just staring at me. “I’m just hoping that Dad and Mom will be too busy to notice, because then you’ll be in twice as much trouble. You DO realize you’re supposed to be under house arrest, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but—“, I start out.
“We are not going to a place that the Hall will notice,” Pan says over his shoulder, “and we will be back by tomorrow. Is there any way that you could change the signal, Zoe?”
“It’s too late,” she says. “As soon as you crossed over the border, Max and Mastermental were alerted. I can lie and say it was a mistake in our system, but, well... they really won’t believe it.”
“I see,” Pan says. He looks over at me. “Sunny?”
I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I’ve been putting this off since last week, Zoe. I need to see one of these Petleaves for myself. We could be talking something way bigger and more dangerous than me getting in trouble for leaving without permission.”
“You’re right,” Zoe says.
“You’re not going to yell at me?” I ask.
“Why should I?” she says. “This is your area of expertise, right? You’re as much a Superior as I am. Now, if it was a rogue robot or some sort of technology, I would step in, but these are plants. You can take care of it. I’ll try and keep Max and Double M from chasing you.”
I look down, my shoulders slumping. “I’m not like you, though,” I say quietly.
“No, you’re not,” she says, “which is why you’re perfect for this job.”
“Okay, everyone, remember that we are under the radar. Skye, this means no jumping out of the plane.”
“Got it!” she says, tossing away her entire hand of cards and picking up the pile in the center to choose what cards she wants.
“Skye, that’s cheating, you know,” I accuse her.
“Super villain!” she brags.
“You must have fun game nights,” Pan says, smiling slightly.
“Oh, it can get brutal,” Skye says, “especially when we play Calvin Ball!”
***
*Penski’s Secret Bunker*
The writhing beast is almost as large as he is tall, Richard notes down on his pad of paper. He pulls out a measuring tape, starting forward only to stop as the beast snaps at him.
“Insert the core piece,” Clay instructs him. “Once my core is inside, I’ll be able to control it.”
“Tell me, Clay, why do you insist on this creature? I could have gotten you a mass of dirt for a lot cheaper.”
“This already has a stable form,” Clay says, “that makes it easier for me to control it. The problem with my old form is that it was difficult to keep it all together.”
“Yes, of course,” Richard says, “but any plant is like that, so why this thing?”
“Are you trying to distract me?” Clay asks. “It won’t work, Richard, and if you take too long, your sister will start to wonder what you’re really doing down here.”
“I still feel that not taking advantage of this moment is as good as wasting my money on these things.”
“Need I remind you that I was the one working for that money for years?” Clay says, irritably. “Insert the core, or I’ll do it, myself.”
Richard stands, heading to the canister he’d closed again not so long ago, picking it up and walking over to the beast. He undoes the top and tosses it at the gaping mouth that’s trying to bite him. The beast swallows, starting to try and bite him again, only to freeze. A shudder runs through its body, before it starts to spasm, the blob-like body rippling and spiking wildly. Richard moves back, wishing he could record this. Unfortunately, his cameras had been the first thing to go as soon as he got back.
Finally, a hand-like appendage shoots out of the blob, followed by an arm, and then another arm, until a man-shaped bush stands, looking down at his hands before turning to look at Richard.
“Hello, Clay,” Richard says. “I can’t say it’s a pleasure to see you in the... flesh, again.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Clay says. “Now, let’s get back to what we were doing before we were so... rudely interrupted. Have you figured out how to get the boy back, yet?”
“Forget the boy,” Richard says. “For now we need to put together all that we’ve got.” He heads for the back of the room, crouching down and pulling another lever. The ground shifts, rising slowly to reveal a set of steps. “The atomic converter is more than halfway finished.”
“Ah, yes,” Clay says. “The only good thing we got from my... sister.”
***
*Central Hall*
Max stands at the door of his father’s office, leaning slightly against the frame. Mastermental is negotiating with Herold. If Rocco knew, he’d be irritated, but Max understands all about keeping the prisoners happy. Well, almost all of the prisoners. The call ends and Mastermental looks at him, expectantly.
“He’s really intent on getting his powers back, isn’t he?” Max says.
“You would be, as well, in his situation. We do not mention it, but in a way, Herold is a Superior.”
“But his old man was a norm, right?”
“It still took both Nico and Zoe to shut him down in a technopath fight,” Mastermental says. “He was extremely impressive in many ways.”
“Especially when he tried to take over the country,” Max says with a snort. “What did he have to say?”
“Clay is doing something extremely suspicious,” Mastermental says. “The guards will look into it. So, what did you come to tell me?”
“Sunny’s gone,” Max says. “From what I can tell, he and Adanna are flying towards the south. That means someone is taking them.”
“Have you asked Zoe?”
“No, but knowing her, she’s going to show up any moment and try to cover for him,” he says, just as the wall lights up with his girlfriend’s face.
“Mastermental!” Zoe says with a brilliant smile. “Would you and Max be free tonight? I thought I would come over and cook dinner.”
“Zoe, my dear,” Mastermental says, “If the lawyers find out that your brother is leaving during this time, they will become suspicious.”
She pouts, and Max almost laughs. “I know, I know, but he’s with Pan and Skye, so he shouldn’t get into TOO much trouble, right? And they promised they’d be back by tomorrow, so I doubt the lawyers will even find out. I don’t plan on telling them, do you?”
“He’s with two big named super villains?” Max says. “How is that NOT going to get attention? Where are they going?”
She taps on the air, looking away from them for a second. “It looks like the programmed destination is a tiny private island off of Cuba. Huh…” She frowns, and then waves her hand. “Well, anyway, it’s not officially part of any Hall’s territory, and I really doubt Century will call them out on flying through, so it should be fine.”
Max and Mastermental look at
one another, having a quick, silent conversation. “Zoe,” Max says, “what are you cooking?”
She gives him a relieved smile. “What would you like?”
***
“His name is Walter Colleck,” Pan says as we fly over Century’s territory. I keep finding myself looking out the window, expecting to be noticed. It was fun when we were just talking about it, but I don’t know what will happen if we get caught. Pan already has one mark against him, from when he attacked Collect—oh.
“Collector?” I ask, shocked.
“His brother,” Pan says, “although they do not have a good relationship. He has never even called to check on Collector.”
“Huh… well, since his brother’s such a jerk, who can blame him?” I say, glancing over at Adanna. She’s suspiciously quiet on this topic. “Why would he come all the way to Central to buy some moving bushes, though?”
“He’s a collector, as well,” Pan says. We all go still, except for Skye, who’s picking out her new cards.
“Kids?” Adanna asks.
“Exotic animals,” Pan says. “In a way, we are similar. Of course, from all that I’ve heard, he’s quite good with those animals, unlike his brother and the super children. He keeps to himself, along with a small staff of workers that live on his island.”
“So… we’re going to break into an island?” Skye asks, putting the pile of cards down now that she has what she wants. “Do you know how good his security system is? Is it as good as Nico’s?”
“I highly doubt it,” Pan says, “but we will find out soon. We should be approaching the island shortly.”
He flicks off the light and we’re plunged into darkness, until the light of the moon and stars comes through the windows. I see the island in the distance, a tiny place that probably doesn’t even show up on maps. “It’s beautiful,” I say.
“It is,” Pan agrees.
“Was their money inherited?” Adanna asks.
“Yes,” Pan says, “it was. Their grandfather was a brilliant man. He made millions in several different areas of business, and then invested it to become a multi-billionaire. As he grew older, he came into the limelight less and less.”
