by R. J. Ross
“We’re both wearing that color accent,” Dad points out. “Did you pick it just for him?”
“Of course I did,” she says, dusting off my shoulders and straightening the coat lapels. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into going hero, Sunny? I’ve got so many ideas for your uniforms.” I feel a bit of warmth creeping up the back of my neck. Kim’s a really pretty woman, you know! I’m not used to pretty women fussing over me, outside of family and my girlfriend. “Ah, and you have a little place here for whatever flower you want to add,” she tells me, showing me a small slit in the lapel. “I’m sure you’ll want to add some plants to it. Also, since you’re here, come with me!”
“Um, sure,” I say as she tugs me out of the room. She’s tiny, but I get the feeling she could easily pick me up if she wanted. To my surprise, she leads me down the hall to a hothouse full of plants.
“One of my bonsai is doing a bit poorly,” she explains, leading me to a wall of shelves. Each shelf holds at least five bonsai trees. “He’s getting a bit older, so I was resigned to him passing, but then you showed up! Can you save him?”
“How old is he?” I ask, reaching out and touching the stately looking bonsai on the lowest shelf. “He’s gorgeous. I didn’t even realize that trees could have genders until Mom started her business, you know?”
“Bonsai do,” she says, watching me closely. “He’s nearing four hundred, I believe. He was my grandfather’s.”
“When was the last time you replanted him?” I ask. “Actually, no, in this case I think you should have Mom look at him. I’m good, but she’s better, especially with the delicate ones like this. She can probably find some time to come in and work with you, but for now…” I press my hand to the wood, whispering, “Stay strong, Grandpa tree. You’ve got this.” I blink as I see his leaves start to get greener.
“I might have her help with replanting and such, but you cheered him up quite a bit,” she says. “I’ll have to show Dad. He handed the poor fellow over to me as soon as he could.”
“Your dad doesn’t like plants?” I ask.
“Not particularly. But bonsai are difficult to raise, even for those that do. It’s an art form, really.”
“Yeah,” I say, running my finger over the bark. “You’ve got a great collection—” I stop, seeing a more bush-like bonsai, and I realize what had bothered me so much. “The Petleaves… They aren’t from this planet. Or, I’m ninety-nine percent sure they aren’t. I mean, they might be genetically altered or something… I need to get one.”
“The what?” she asks.
“I’ve got to go!”
“Change back into your other clothes before you leave!” she says as I race out the door. I stop in the room where Dad and Grandpa are, seeing them chatting over the watch on Grandpa’s wrist.
“Dad, we really, really need to get one of those Petleaves,” I say.
“Hmm?” he says, looking over. “They aren’t for sale, yet.”
“Yeah… but… I need to get closer to them. I don’t think they’re from this planet.”
“So you want to… what?”
“I’m going to steal one!” I declare. Wait, I’m in the heart of the Central Hall right now, aren’t I? Bad place to make a declaration like that, isn’t it? They’re both staring at me like I’m an idiot. “I’ll take it back if it’s safe,” I say.
“Sounds interesting,” Grandpa says.
“But we have a wedding to get ready for,” Dad says, “remember? And if you get a criminal record, your mother will kill me.”
“This is important, Dad!” I protest. “They’re selling these things to children! Giving creepy plants to kids has got to be illegal. Well, I mean, they wouldn’t be on that shady network thing if they weren’t, but it should be against Hall laws, too, right?”
“Well, that depends on the plant, really,” Dad says as Grandpa looks away, covering his mouth with his hand. “Sunny, we’ve got one week, and a lot of people coming into town for this. Your aunt is going to show up any moment and demand that we set up a place for her and the Darlin’s. We don’t have time to do a bit of light breaking and entering. After the honeymoon is over, I promise, we’ll look into it. When’s the release date, a few months from now? I bet it’s aimed for Christmas, toys like that usually are.”
I sigh, giving up for now. He’s right, of course. We’ve got a lot of things to do, including keeping Aunt Skye and her friends out of trouble. That’s a full time job all on its own, and she’s got a LOT of nieces and nephews trying to do it. “Is she feeling better? You know, after that whole mad scientist thing?” I ask.
“She seems to be,” Grandpa says, “but we should still keep an eye on her. That guy is still out there. Someone could have dealt with it, but they played nice.” He stares at Dad. “Weren’t YOU the ex-villain, son?”
“I’ve got his house under constant supervision,” Dad says. “I’m alerted every time he steps out the door.”
“Has he done anything interesting?”
“Not so far, but his sister moved in,” Dad says. “It almost makes you feel sorry for the guy.”
I start fiddling with the tie, trying to get it undone. I guess it can wait a week or two. I just… “I think you should tell the boy,” Grandpa says. I look over at him, since this is the second time he’s said that, and it’s obviously not about the tux fitting thing.
“And ruin my fun?” Dad asks. “You just want to try training him while you’re in town, don’t you?”
“I’ve got a teleportation watch, I can do it anytime I want to,” he says, “but he has to know beforehand, and apparently you’re never going to tell him.”
“Okay, fine, but his mom will want to be there. Come on, Sunny, get changed and we’ll head home. We’ve got something to tell you.”
“Um, okay, sure,” I say, changing. Something is going on, and it’s not about the Petleaves commercial.
***
“We should at least wait until Skye gets here,” Mom says as people file into our apartment. EVERYONE is here, and I’m not sure why. I look over at Zoe, raising an eyebrow, and she gives me a little smile before typing on the air.
“You’re really not going to give me a heads up, or anything?” I ask.
“Not at all,” she says.
“What’s so important that we need an audience for it?” I ask, looking over at Trent. He’s grinning from ear to ear, which means he KNOWS what’s about to happen. I feel a bit irritated by that fact, because if there’s anyone that’s usually as in the dark as I am, it’s Trent, right? “Hey, what are you grinning about?” I demand, shoving him. He almost falls over, and Jack starts roaring with laughter.
“Do YOU know what’s going on?” I ask him.
“Yeah, I know,” Jack says.
“Then tell me!”
“No can do,” he says. “Just be patient. You’ve waited this long, right?”
“Waited this long for what?” I ask.
“I’m on my way!” Skye shouts as her face appears on the wall. “We just finished packing! Hey, if we bring our stuff through the teleportation booth we won’t have some freaky fusion accident, will we? Because as cool as it might seem at first, I don’t want to be part Chupacabra. Would it be his head on my body, or my body on his head? Oh, wait, it’d be both, wouldn’t it? That would be really inconvenient.”
“That won’t happen, Aunt Skye,” Zoe says, laughing, “we promise.”
“You’d better not be lying to me,” she says before hanging up.
“Okay, they’re on their way, so everyone find a seat. We’ll be starting the show shortly,” Zoe announces to the room.
“What show?” I demand. “Why don’t you just tell me what the heck is going on?”
“It is fine, my dumpling!” Grandma says. “This is not something to be worried about!”
“I’m not worried, I’m just… curious,” I say. They all start laughing and I cross my arms over my chest, scowling. This seems to be a “make fun of Sunny”
moment. I should probably just ignore it. I pull out my phone and start tapping on it, bringing up my game. Just like Zoe has her shop, I’ve got an area in the Technico game where I’ve built a greenhouse. I need to water my plants. There’s this really cool hybrid that I’ve been growing—
“We’re here!” I hear Skye shout from outside. “Someone let us in!”
“You’re free to enter,” Zoe says as I tap on my plants. Before I’ve even finished my watering, the three Deadly Darlin’s and their pet are piling into the room.
“SUNNY!” Skye says, throwing herself at me. “I’m so proud of you!”
“What?”
“He doesn’t know yet, remember, Aunt Skye?” Zoe says, grinning. “Is everyone ready?” There’s a lot of laughter as the group agrees, and Zoe dramatically bows, motioning to the wall. “Then let’s start watching!”
I look at the wall as a video of me dropping down on the ground outside the school dorms starts playing. “Are we just going to watch me sleep?” I ask.
“Wait,” she says, starting the fast forward. After a moment of seeing me roll around for a bit, something strange starts to happen. I start to float, just a little above the ground. A second later I fall as the ground and flowers come up to greet me, and I wake up. “And the next day,” she says, showing the same video, just with different clothes and different flowers greeting me. This time I’m almost a foot off the ground. The videos progress and I start floating higher and higher with each episode. Also, people start showing up, standing around me and silently motioning.
“What are you guys doing?”
“We had a running bet on when you’d actually wake up,” Jack says. “Nobody won.”
“Good!” I say, only to stop as it finally sinks in. “Wait… this means…”
“You can fly, Sunny,” Dad says. “You’ve been flying for a while, but only when you’re asleep.”
“I… I’m already flying?”
“It is very amusing! The very first sleep flying super!” Grandma says, hooting with laughter. “Well, no, your grandfather, he is very fond of sleep flying, but he is doing it on purpose.”
“Best bed is no bed,” Grandpa Superior says, “Seems like you feel the same.”
“Wait, so if I can fly, why do I not do it while I’m awake?” I ask. “I jumped off the building just the other day!”
“And a tree grew up to catch you, remember?” Dad says. “You get ‘saved’ every time.”
“I can fly!” I say, jumping to my feet. “Aunt Skye, I can fly!”
“YAY!” she says, hugging me.
“Zoe, I can fly!” I say.
“Congratulations,” she says, “Now if only you could figure out how to do it when you’re NOT sleeping.”
“Oh,” I say, realizing the problem. “It shouldn’t be too hard, right? I mean, you picked it up really quickly!”
“And, even if you don’t, you’re asleep ninety percent of the time, anyway, so it’s all good,” Dad says, grinning.
“That’s a terrible joke, Pop,” I complain. “I only sleep… eighty-five percent of the time.” I wait out the laughter, my mind whirling. “So…” I say once they’re done, “I can fly, and that was one of the requirements—”
“No, not exactly,” Dad says. “In this case you have to do it on purpose. That might take a bit more work. Plus, I haven’t asked Pan about it, yet.”
“I can help, if you want, Sunny,” Liz says from where she’s sitting on the back of our couch. “We haven’t had much nephew-aunt bonding lately!”
“Really? Yeah!”
“But you will still come to the final fittings, kitten,” Grandma says.
“I want nephew-aunt bonding!” Skye says. “I can help, too! Between Liz and me you’ll be flying in no time!”
“Okay! Maybe I’ll be able to fly Mom down the aisle!” I say. “Oh, wait, but… if I’m walking her down the aisle, doesn’t it mean I’m giving her away?” I frown, not liking that idea at all. “I don’t want to give her away. I just got her back!”
“It’s just a symbolic thing, you aren’t REALLY giving her away,” Dad says. “She’s still your mom, she’ll just be my wife, too, got it?”
“Why don’t I give Dad away, instead?” I offer. “That would be a lot less traumatic.”
“Thank you,” Dad says after staring at me for a moment. “I really feel loved.”
“Hey, Mom, did we ever tell you about the first time Dad brought us here? He threw us down the elevator shaft,” I say as she starts to laugh at Dad’s response. “He was a real jerk when he first showed up, you know? Zoe thought about dying her hair and claiming to be Falconess’s daughter, just to get away from him.”
“Nico!” Mom says.
“They survived,” Dad says, shrugging. “They had already started coming into their powers at the time. Sunny’s biggest problem was that plants kept trying to crawl up his pants.”
“They still do!” I say, “Especially the vines. That’s just disturbing, you know?”
“You just need to be firm with them, sweetie,” Mom says.
“Speaking of which, you should go check out Kim Nao’s greenhouse, Mom,” I say. “She’s got a bonsai that’s almost four hundred years old. He’s gorgeous.”
“Oh, I would love to!” The group starts relaxing and soon we’re munching on snacks and chatting about the up-coming wedding. My mind is still replaying the videos I just saw. I look up with surprise as Liz sits down next to me, draping an arm over my shoulder.
“So, the good old-fashioned ‘throw you off a building’ thing doesn’t work?” she asks.
“Nope,” I say. “Trees come up to greet me.”
“I can see how that would be a problem,” she says as Taurus comes over, sitting in front of us with a plate of food.
“Why don’t we try the opposite approach?” he asks.
“Opposite?” I repeat.
“We can’t drop you, so why don’t we throw you?”
“That does seem interesting,” Liz says, looking at him. “How far do you think you could pitch him, Devon?”
“It depends, he might weigh more than he looks,” Taurus says, looking me over thoughtfully. “I’m sure I could get you high enough for a head start, though. We’ll try it tomorrow during practice time.”
“Outside of the security field,” Dad says.
“Yeah, that wouldn’t be pretty,” Taurus agrees.
“Then tomorrow?” I say, looking at Liz and Skye.
“Tomorrow!” they agree. For the first time in my life, I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep tonight.
***
“He’s out like a light,” Nico says an hour later, standing over where his son is draped over the couch. Most of the visitors are gone, but Superior, Tatiana, and Marie are at the table playing a card game with Zoe and Summer. “He’s got a busy day tomorrow, so we might as well stick him in bed.”
“Will it work?” Summer asks, looking over. “Also, where did the girls go?”
“Oh, they went down to Reaper’s place,” Zoe says. “They said they were going to learn how to swing dance.”
“That explains the music,” Superior says.
“Liz will be excellent teacher for Sunny,” Tatiana says. “She was taught by Nicolas!”
“They won’t be doing much teaching,” Nico says as he carries Sunny off to his room. He comes out a little later. “I swear the kid’s never cleaned his room since he got it… but from what they’ve said, I think it’ll be more of a learning by trial situation.”
“As it should be,” Superior says. “We also need to make arrangements for Marie for during the wedding. If she’s seen on television, it might cause problems.”
“I had an idea for that,” Marie says. “I would LOVE to go visit Marvin! You can set me up with a nice little room and a few guards, right? If I could make a suggestion, I would love to meet that… Harry person that Marvin is always talking to, would he be passable as a guard?”
“We’d hav
e to up the power level on your collar and stick you in a suit,” Nico says, obviously willing to throw Herold under the bus, “but I would say so.”
“And that pretty little kitty of his, why haven’t I gotten one?” she asks, looking around the room. “Oh, it seems the girls took their little pet, as well.”
“You want an A.I. pet?” Nico asks.
“Something cuddly would be nice,” she says. “I do like Skye, but her taste in pets is questionable.”
“It is uglier than north end of south-bound mule,” Tatiana says with a laugh. “But love should not be based on looks. If you wish, we could raise baby reindeer! I am sure that Toodles would allow us!”
“Oh, that does sound like fun!” Marie says. “Let’s do that!”
“How is your villain rehabilitation plan going, Nico?” Superior asks.
“It works better for some than others,” Nico admits.
“And the new guy? The mud creature,” Superior says.
“He’s… talking to himself, it seems,” Nico says with a frown, his mind going back to all the things he needs to do before he can go on his honeymoon. It’s going to be a very busy week.
***
*Morning*
I’m being carried… I look blankly at the person piggy-backing me, a bit surprised at how much hair he has. Usually Trent’s the one that carries me, and he keeps a crew cut and smells like breakfast. Today, on the other hand, my carrier smells like expensive Cologne and shampoo. “Taurus?” I ask.
“Morning, Sunny,” he says. “You ready for this?”
“You smell nice,” I say, yawning. “Are you fancied up because Liz is going to be here for this?”
“Absolutely,” he says. “Now is the very best time to get her, with all this wedding stuff. You’re giving me an opportunity to show off, and I’m not about to pass it up.”
“You’re going to throw me into the air,” I say.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Probably several miles into the air,” I say.
“I might have to shift to do it, but sure, that sounds about right.”
“Okay,” I say. He starts laughing. “What? I have plans, too, you know! I need to get flying.”
