by R. J. Ross
“I’m not falling asleep!” I say.
“Um, should I take a picture of them arguing?” Bella asks my Mom.
“I don’t know, that might have been his lost-in-thought look,” Adanna says. “They look so much alike that it’s hard to tell.”
“You’re right, I just expected him to fall asleep,” Zoe says. The really awkward part of this conversation is that I’m holding her in the air, like I just lifted her up, and have been for the past ten minutes.
“I think you’ve gained weight,” I say.
“Mom! He’s calling me fat!”
“I didn’t say that! I just think she’s gained weight! Besides, shouldn’t Max be the one doing this pose with her? His gravity powers should help a LOT,” I tease. She glares at me and raises a hand in a mock threat.
“Well, yes, it is more of a couple shot, isn’t it? But Max isn’t here, so Zoe trade places with Adanna, sweetie,” Mom says. “And stop teasing girls about their weight, Sunny, I don’t want any bruises in my wedding pictures.”
“I’m not dressed for pictures!” Adanna protests.
“I brought you a change of clothing!” her mom says, much to her irritation.
“Are there pantyhose involved?” Adanna asks.
“Of course! With a pretty little flower design.”
I put Zoe down, and look around, my eyes falling on the brothers. I want to ask them. I doubt they know where the auction is, and even if they did know, I wouldn’t be able to go. Today’s the wedding. I’m just going to have to trust Pan to take care of things, right?
“Twenty minutes before we need to head to the church,” Mom says. “Let’s get a few more pictures taken and then head out. Do either of you know where your father is?”
“Probably avoiding here,” I say without thinking.
“Sunny,” Mom says, only to sigh. “You’re right, of course. But at least try to put it more tactfully next time?”
“It’s bad luck for him to see you in your gown before the wedding, anyway,” Zoe says as Adanna steps into the area wearing a dress. “Oh, wow, Adanna, you look great!” My girlfriend stomps past her, walking like a football player wearing heels. She’s usually a lot more graceful, so I’m pretty sure the walk is her form of silently protesting. As if the look on her face wasn’t doing it well enough, already.
“You look great,” I say as she stomps to a stop in front of me, her hands on her hips.
“I look ridiculous,” she says. “I’m not built for dresses.” I don’t argue, because even if I’m stronger than she is, she can skill whoop me. “And these pantyhose are crawling up,” she goes on, doing a strange little wiggle as she tries to fix the problem.
“Adanna, don’t do that, kitty, you might rip them,” Amara scolds her.
A ripping sound echoes through the area. “Whoops,” Adanna says, not sounding very repentant at all. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”
I pick her up like I had Zoe, and whisper silently, “Have you heard from your dad yet?”
“Nothing, yet,” she replies. “I hope he doesn’t get one, actually. The boys would never leave it alone.”
“But he wouldn’t let them keep it as a pet, would he? I figured he’d just do some experiments on it.”
“Who knows? They really want one.”
We do a few more poses before Bella indicates for the next set of pictures to be taken. I wonder if I should call Pan, myself, and see how things are going. I really, really want to know. I pull out my phone and look at it, frowning. What really bothers me is the fact that Trent said they were pretty mindless when he was fighting them. How can anyone try and sell a creature that’s basically a walking stomach to kids? There has to be some sort of way to control them, right? Otherwise they’re looking at a TON of lawsuits in the making. “Hello, Petleaves? Your walking bush just ate my prize petunias!” Or worse, right? I mean, I’m stuck in a stupid lawsuit right now. I bet it’s going to get really expensive by the time it’s over, and I’m pretty sure the Hall has lawyers on retainer, or something.
So… how are they controlling plants?
“Sunny?” Mom says. I look up, and then around, realizing that almost everyone has left by this time. “Honey, it’s time to go.”
“Oh, right,” I say, starting for the exit. I frown, looking up as I realize that music has started playing. “We changed it over to Mozart?” I ask her.
“They like a little change once in a while,” she says. “They’ve been responding very well to this, so far. Do you want to pick the next time?”
“Yeah, I was thinking Chopin,” I admit, my mind still trying to figure out how they might be—
Oh. Right, yeah, I should have picked up on that. Don’t bother pointing it out, okay? I’ve already got the gist. But at the same time, how would they send frequencies to the plants after they’ve sold them? I’m missing something obvious, and it’s irritating me, but I stop at the sight of the entire school waiting at the base of the steps, wearing their finest duds. Some of them are even in uniform.
“Everyone to the bus!” Amara says, clapping her hands. “And might I add how much I’m looking forward to teaching you in the future?”
“Teaching?” Carla asks.
“I’ll be teaching Driver’s Ed!” Amara says. “Look forward to it!”
There’s a cheer, especially from the boys of the school, and I fall into line to get off campus. “Did anyone invite someone from the South Branch?” Zoe asks, looking pointedly at Vinny.
“Why does everyone stare at me whenever they ask that? But if you must know, Jimmi is coming with Voltdrain. I might wind up sitting with them, since I’m in uniform,” Vinny mutters. We all start to laugh. “And a couple of others should be coming as well, I think. Century says he’s bringing Rochester and Cisco, for sure.”
“Oh, oh! Is Whitney coming?” Carla asks.
“I don’t know. With a group that small he might just bring the entire school,” Vinny says with a shrug. “His plane is big enough for it.”
“Yay!” Carla says. “I can’t wait to see them all again!”
“Should I really be wearing my uniform for this?” Rocco asks. “I know Nico said to, but having villains at his wedding is going to cause problems, right?”
“Everyone knows he’s the principal,” I say, “and they even know we have villains going to our school. Nobody cares because Dad’s an ex-villain, himself. Plus, there should be a lot of adult supers there. Nobody will pay any attention to you.”
“Thanks, Sunny, I really needed that ego boost,” he says dryly, glancing over at Carla. Oh, right. He can’t exactly sit next to her if he’s in his villain outfit, now can he? Poor guy.
“Has your dad checked in, yet?” I ask Adanna silently.
She frowns and shakes her head. “Not yet. He’d better hurry up, though, otherwise he’ll be late to the wedding.”
***
*Somewhere in Texas*
Pan can hear cars pulling into the area. The sound of people quietly plotting how to surround the building catches his ear and he looks at the woman auctioning off the pet for a second before getting to his feet. He straightens his dress coat slightly as he leaves the room. He heads for the general direction of the bathroom before slipping out the back door. With a quick jump he moves to the roof of the building, hunching down next to a vent so he can hear what’s going on below. If they bring in a helicopter, he’s going to have problems. He glances up, but there’s no sign of them, so he waits, and he listens.
He needs to leave for the wedding soon, but he has to find out where the Petleaves are going to.
***
“Panterus just left,” Grahmm says from where he’s standing next to Thelma at the auction podium.
“No, he probably just went to the restroom. Go ahead, there are two more to sell, he can join the next one.” She nods, calling out to the crowd to raise the price higher.
“Sold at one hundred thousand—” Before Thelma can finish announcing the sale,
the door of the small building slams open and men dressed in black enter, carrying guns. They surround the crowd of people, watching them closely as another man steps into the building. The blood drains from Thelma’s face as she sees who it is.
“I’m so sorry for interrupting, Thelma, Grahmm, but I really have to stop you. The cops have been alerted to this auction, they should be here soon. I apologize, everyone, for wasting your time. Any money that you’ve spent so far will be refunded to you, shortly.”
Thelma stares at him, her fingers tightening on the podium as she fights the urge to hit him. “I’m not sure where you get off, interrupting—”
“Mr. Cage, I’m certain that the cops aren’t on their way,” Floyd says, “We have a few people monitoring the police radios—”
“Not all of them. There, don’t you hear the siren?” Mr. Cage says as a convenient siren sounds in the distance. “I apologize, once again, everyone, but you are free to go, now.”
The crowd is eager to leave, not because of the “cops coming” but because of the men with guns. The room is quickly empty save for the thin man with a mustache and his bodyguard. “What in the world were you thinking?” Mr. Cage demands of the two. “This was not in the plans!”
“What are YOU thinking?” Thelma demands in response. “You brought in a SWAT team to a small auction! People could sue you for that! In fact, I WILL sue you for—”
“Do you really think you can go behind my back like this and get away with it?” Mr. Cage asks lowly, staring her in the eyes. “I’m your boss, Farkinkle. I’m the one who is ultimately in charge of the—” he pauses, looking at his guards before looking at the man just sitting there, watching all of this. “Why is he still here?”
The thin man waves a hand, indicating for his bodyguard to stand down. “My name is Walter Colleck,” the man says, standing. “I collect exotic creatures. Do you really think an obviously false threat of police coming would stop me?”
“Colleck… Colleck…” Grahmm says with a frown of concentration on his face. “Charles Colleck!” he says, snapping his fingers. “You’re the Collector’s… what, brother?”
“I no longer claim that title,” Walter Colleck says. “We never did see eye to eye, even as children.” And unlike the Collector, Walter is thin to the point of being bony, with sharp features and a distinguished bit of white at his temples and in his mustache. “Charles was a fat, self-centered tub of lard. He had no sense of self-discipline.”
“Isn’t he still alive, though?” Floyd asks, only to be ignored by everyone.
“Well, it’s a shame, but the auction is over—” Thelma starts out with a surly look shot at Mr. Cage, who stops her with a lifted hand.
“Now, now, don’t be so quick to finish,” Mr. Cage says, practically showing money signs in his eyes. “An auction might be a bad idea, considering how soon our official release is, but if a man of Mr. Colleck’s… standing wants to have access to an early… release, so to say…” he lets the words dangle as he looks at Walter.
“How much would you like for all of them?” Walter asks, motioning to his guard. The guard holds out the large metal case that’s chained to his wrist.
“I’m sure we can come up with something that’s fair, don’t you think, Farkinkle? Grahmm?” Mr. Cage says. His eyes are glued to the case with greed.
CHAPTER SEVEN
*Central*
“Davis,” Jimmi says as the group head through the door of the church, “put the phone down. No one is playing the game right now; they’re all on their way here.” He nods, not explaining that he wasn’t even thinking of playing. Instead, his mind is focused completely on the commercial he’d seen the other day. Those living plants… well, of course they bother him. He’d almost been killed by a man made of mud, so moving plants are right up there on his list of “Not good.”
But he doesn’t know where they came from, so this is really just paranoia. He tells himself that as he turns the screen off on his phone and slips it into his pocket. “I really don’t understand why I’m being dragged to this,” he says. “I don’t even know the people getting married.”
“One is our principal, the other is Lady Rose,” Whitney says, looking nervous as she sees all of the big names in the super world. “Lady Rose is one of the most famous Specialized S-class capes in the world. She’s a plant elementalist. She’s one of the few capes that are helping save the planet, right?”
“She is,” Century says from behind the group. He’s wearing a formal uniform, which doesn’t stand out that much, at all. “She’s also one of the few capes that need no permission to go anywhere. In fact, when one of the Hall leaders does find her in their territory they’re likely to take her out to dinner. I know I would be happy to.”
“Well, I guess that does explain all the plants in here,” Davis says as he looks around. “Is this place even big enough for everyone to sit? It looks pretty packed.”
“Jimmi!” they hear someone say. As a group they turn, smiling widely as they see Carla—well, almost as a group. Davis just looks at her, not bothering to smile. Of course he doesn’t dislike the girl, he’d almost died with her, and all that, but he’s not happy to be here in the first place. “Hi, everyone! Welcome to Central!” she says, hugging Jimmi, and then Whitney, and then making it through the rest of the group to even hug Century. “Um, are you with the groom or the bride?” she asks. “Oh, it doesn’t matter, you can sit anywhere you want! We didn’t even pick sides for this!”
“Well, sugar, it looks a bit more like we need to sit anywhere we can,” Century says, seeing most of the pews are full.
“Oh, Ace is going to fix that, soon,” she says. “I should introduce you to our school, shouldn’t I?” She starts for a group of kids either in formal wear or uniform. It’s an intimidating show for the South Branch kids, and they start to drag their feet until Jimmi runs forward, heading for a rather bored looking Fire Hazard.
“Did Voltdrain come?” Fire Hazard asks.
“He’s on his way,” Jimmi says. “Come here, I want to introduce you to the newer kids. Everyone, this is Vinny! He’s going to be working with you in the future.” She’s got a hold on his hand and doesn’t seem to be letting go any time soon, but what Davis notices is that Vinny’s holding her hand, right back. To his surprise, Davis finds himself irritated by that fact. He shoves the feeling down, dismissing it as ridiculous, and starts looking around again. He’s not interested in the other school. This is the chance to see some of the most famous supers in the world, in person.
“Ah, excuse me,” someone says over a mic. The group turns, looking at Dragon, who’s standing at the pulpit, “It’s come to our attention that this isn’t a big enough place for all of you, so I hope you don’t mind if I give my principal a hand.”
“Is this a trap?” Hard Knocks demands, bringing up his fists. His wife is standing right next to him, and she rolls her eyes slightly.
“Ha!” Dragon says. “It would be the perfect trap! Except I want to graduate before I die of old age. So, if anyone would like to step outside while I do this and make sure it isn’t a trap, I welcome you to do so.”
No one moves, except to assume cheesy fight poses as the room shifts to a large field, giving them plenty of room to stand or sit. The benches are still there, but the ground is covered in grass. A few butterflies flutter around the area and a cloud covers the sun for a moment before passing by. Yes, there’s a sun, and everything. The group looks quite amused as they gaze around them. And then they stop, pointing at what looks like a castle in the distance with a dragon crouched on top of it. The dragon roars.
“Would you look at this,” Ken says, moving to stand next to Dragon. “Wow. If only you would use your abilities for good, Dragon.”
“Leave the ‘be a good boy’ speech for your son, America’s Son,” Dragon says. “He needs it more than I do, anyway.”
“Hell yeah, I do!” Jack calls out.
“Cold Steel, regardless of how it looks
, we ARE in a church right now,” Ken says. “Now, I would like to welcome you all to the wedding of Technico and Lady Rose. Please, find a place to sit and ignore the cameras that will be coming in soon. This will be covered by HTV, but I believe they have an agreement with all of their sister stations. I would also like to welcome both Cape High and Cape High South to this wonderful occasion. We are very pleased to meet you all.”
Davis and the others are herded to one of the pews towards the front, and he sits, pulling out his phone again to watch the commercial one more time. He doesn’t even look up as Cisco sits down next to him, until Cisco speaks. “You want one?”
“What?” Davis asks.
“Those grass things. Are you thinking of getting one?”
“I don’t think so,” Davis says.
“But you’ve been watching it all day,” Marisol says, turning to look at him from the pew in front of his. “So if you don’t want one, why are you watching it?”
“I’m wondering how they can make a plant listen to norms, if you must know,” Davis says. “Even if these creatures were natural, and trust me, they are not, they don’t have ears or eyes.”
“That’s a bit creepy,” Marisol says, getting on her knees to look at the screen. “But do they need those things if they’re plants?”
“Not if they were normal plants. Plants don’t go anywhere so they don’t need to see where they’re going,” Davis says. “Of course it could be some sort of vibration sensing, or echolocation… if they have vocal abilities, that is…” He looks around, “also, am I the only one questioning the ability to make a small space larger with mere illusions?”
“We try not to think about those sorts of things,” Jimmi says, “we’re supers.”
“That sort of sloppy thinking is why the norms don’t take us seriously,” Davis complains.
“It’s dangerous when they take us seriously,” Vinny says. He’s sitting right next to Jimmi, and discreetly trying to get his hand back at this point. He gives up after a second, relaxing against the back of the pew. “That’s when you get people like the ‘Anti-Super Society.’”
