Rise and Shine

by R. J. Ross

  I hear Voltdrain laugh, but it’s not from the phone. I turn to see him heading over, smiling widely and holding out his hand. “There is no shame in being young, joven Superior,” he says as we shake hands. I’m not sure what “hoven Superior” means, but I don’t care. He can call me whatever he wants! This is THE Voltdrain!

  “I’m a huge fan,” I say, still holding his hand. “Dad showed us all the videos of you dealing with the power plants. You saved SO many plants and animals and people. It was so cool!”

  “Thank you,” he says. “I am, too, a huge fan of your mamá and you.”

  “But I haven’t done anything, yet,” I say.

  “We are Hall. We see you work the fields,” he says simply. “There is a segment on the young supers doing good on Saturday mornings. Mija, she is a big fan of the show.”

  “She’s also going to be on the show, soon,” Century says, patting me on the back, “Fly safe, son.”

  “But I’ve only FLOATED a few times!” I protest as he walks away. “I really don’t think this is a good idea, after all! Can I borrow a plane? Ride a train? Run?”

  “It will be fine, I will help!” Voltdrain says, “After we have gotten you new clothes.”

  I look down, realizing that I’ve been running around in the tattered remains of my clothing, with my boxers showing all this time. “Ah, yeah… I wondered why I felt more comfortable than usual.”

  Both men start laughing, like I’d made a joke. I probably should let them keep thinking that, huh?

  ***

  Zoe had narrowed the search down to a few areas, based on driving distance from Thelma’s home, abandoned buildings, and suspicious amounts of traffic. She sent them the coordinates over the commlink, and Adanna, Pan, and Skye are searching the most likely area, now.

  “I think I found something,” Skye says, making the others look over. She’s been running from building to building, sticking her head through the roofs to see what’s happening inside. “There’s a warehouse near the docks that has been changed into a business, of sorts,” she explains. “There’s this giant part of it made out of ballistic glass rooms. One of the rooms has a gigantic bush inside it. Here, I’ll show you.”

  “And the other rooms?” Pan asks.

  “Empty.”

  “Is the gigantic bush moving?” Adanna asks, running towards Skye.

  “Nope, well, sort of, let me check again,” Skye says, diving through the roof again. This time her entire body goes in. She comes back a few seconds later, looking confused. “It’s not moving. I even poked it a couple of times, but I don’t think it’s dead. I’m pretty sure it’s asleep. Er, unless it’s not supposed to move, that is. Do bushes usually move? Have I not been paranoid enough to notice?” She falls to her knees, shoving her hands into her hair, clearly traumatized by that thought.

  “I see,” Pan says. “If that’s the only one in there… do you think we should take it?”

  “I don’t think it’s one they’re selling,” Skye says, hopping back up to her feet. “All the others are gone, right? And this one is HUGE! If they bought them by the pound, it’d be worth a lot of money.”

  “Was there anyone in the building?” Adanna asks.

  “Yep, I heard them in one of the other rooms,” Skye says. “Do you think that Thelma lady is here? I bet she is. I should go pay her a visit.”

  Adanna almost starts to protest, but before she can, Pan nods. “Why don’t we do exactly that? I’m sure it will be quite interesting to see what she has to say for herself.”

  “I’ll find her!” Skye says cheerfully, diving into the building again.

  “Papa, she might kill her!” Adanna says silently. “We’ve already seen just how mad she was about Rochester!”

  “Yes, and if we are here, we can stop that from happening. If we are not…”

  “You’re right,” Adanna says, heading for the nearest window. “Let’s make sure nobody dies.” She taps on the wrist of her black uniform, and the lock of the window slowly comes undone. Silently she slips in, followed by her father. They listen for all of a second before starting to run. Skye’s already found the scientist.

  ***

  “Oh my… oh my… I can’t believe it,” Thelma says, staring in shock and delight as Skye comes through her wall. “This is a dream, I must be dreaming. Oh, oh, I need to get your signature—no! I want a picture! No! I want a recording! Let me get my camcorder!”

  “You really like me, huh?” Skye says, giving her a beautiful smile.

  “I ADORE you,” Thelma says. “I’m your utmost biggest fan, EVER! I’m two fans! I have all of your stuff! I even have the bobbleheads, even though they don’t do you justice!”

  “I noticed,” Skye says as the door behind Thelma opens silently and Pan steps in. “But that makes it even harder to understand…”

  “Understand what?” Thelma asks, adoring the way Skye reaches out and touches the side of her face. She tilts her head into the touch. “I will tell you anything you want to know, I promise. You just need to sit down for an interview—I won’t show ANYONE the video, I promise. I just want to hear from your own lips!”

  “What would you like to hear?” Skye asks.

  “Anything! Everything! What do you like to eat? What’s your favorite color? Do you have a lover?”

  “That’s funny, I’d like to hear something from you, as well,” Skye says, grabbing Thelma’s chin. “If you’re such a big fan of mine, where do you get off doing what you did to a good friend of mine?” she demands in a harsh tone.

  The blood leaves Thelma’s face. “I don’t—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says as well as she can with her jaw being held.

  “Rochester,” Skye says, “tall, blond guy with lots of tattoos and piercings. He butchers English but can play every instrument in the WORLD. He’s afraid of heights and has a son that he adores, and he checks in on me and the girls whenever he gets the chance! Who do you think you are, gassing one of my best friends?!” Her grip tightens and Thelma lets out a whimper.

  “Skye,” Pan says quietly, “you’re hurting her.”

  “She hurt Rochester!” Skye says, but she lets go and steps back, her hands clenched at her sides. “Nobody hurts Rochester! Nobody hurts ANY of my friends!” she looks at Pan with tear-filled eyes. “I thought I was finally strong enough to protect my friends, but this norm proved me wrong!”

  “Nawh, she didn’t,” Rochester says over the commlink.

  “Wh—what?” Skye says.

  “I cou’da called in someone anytime. I stayed there ‘cause I wanted ta know if the big boss knew what they did ta ya. That gas didn’t do nothin’ ta me, really. I think it was too old, or somethin’.”

  “Really?” Skye says.

  “Really really,” he says. “I prolly coulda popped the locks or broke the glass if I tried hard enough.”

  “That doesn’t excuse her!” Skye says, pointing at Thelma, who is rubbing her jaw with a wounded look on her face. “I don’t like her!”

  “That’s fine,” Rochester says. “I don’t like her much, either, but that’s ‘cause she’s creepy.”

  “Skystep, I can explain,” Thelma says, looking desperate. “He came out of nowhere! He had no history in any of the Halls, or even the school, and he’s all of a sudden your best friend? He could have been a dangerous person! He could have just been trying to take advantage of your good nature and sweetness!”

  “Don’t call me SWEET!” Skye says, raising a hand as if to slap her. “I am a SUPER VILLAIN! I’m the BEST super villain! Well… I guess I can stand to share that title with certain people, but I’m the BEST SOUTH SUPER VILLAIN IN THE WORLD!” She poses dramatically, much to the silent amusement of Pan.

  Thelma, on the other hand, is nodding in agreement. “Of course you are! But…”

  The door swings open and a rather pale looking guard runs into the room holding a gun. He stops, though, finding himself blocked by a large man in a full-cover black uniform.


  “I do not think this is the time for you,” Pan says, taking his gun from him.

  “What on Earth is going on in here?” Floyd Grahmm demands, stepping into the room. “Thelma, we have work to do! The next batch is set to be released in a month, and we haven’t even cultivated the… is that Skystep?”

  “Yessss,” Thelma says.

  “YOU!” Skye says, pointing at him. “Give us a Petleaf.”

  They stare at her blankly before Grahmm tugs on his collar. “I would, but, um, Miss Skystep—”

  “MS.” Thelma interrupts him.

  “No title!” Skye says.

  “Ah, well, Ms. No title Skystep, we, ah, we… sold all of them?” he says, looking terrified to be the bearer of bad news.

  “Then tell us where we can find the man who pretended to be Walter Colleck,” Pan says. Grahmm jerks, looking at him with a bit of surprise.

  “You sound familiar…”

  “You’re imagining things,” Pan says, his accent disappearing. “Tell us where we can find the Walter Colleck pretender.”

  “Pretender?” Grahmm repeats, pulling out a tablet. “He paid with cash, so I never thought to check his license… we recorded the sale, though, if you’d just give me a minute to bring up the files. Why do you want a Petleaf? Is it for a pet?”

  “We know where they come from, mister!” Skye says, glaring at him. “And we know what they can do!”

  “Oh… well… even dogs originally descended from wolves, you know? The changes we’ve made make them perfectly safe, we’ve done various tests!” he says, tapping on his tablet with shaky fingers. “They’re perfectly safe!” he repeats.

  “If you have to say it twice, it means you question it, yourself,” Pan says. The bit of color that had been returning to Grahmm’s face fades away again.

  “Here,” Grahmm says, shoving the tablet towards them. “And you have no jurisdiction over our company, so you have to leave as soon as you’ve seen this.”

  Skye runs over, peeking over Pan’s shoulder to watch the recording. “Oh, hey, that’s—” she starts out as she sees Pan enter the room. She stops, though, as Pan looks at her, “a really good looking guy!” she finishes with a grin.

  He snorts, ignoring how she drapes her arms over his shoulders. “My brother’s best friend is MY best friend, right?” she says happily, and silently. “Next to Doris and Ariel and Cubby, and I like Robo, too! He’s a cutie, and—” she’s about to go on, but then the rich man walks onto the screen. Her arms tighten on Pan and she almost passes out. “Penski,” she says, harshly, her breathing getting ragged. “It’s Penski.”

  “I was told he was under constant supervision,” Pan says, surprised. He’d not recognized the man, and now he feels guilty for that fact. Had he known, this would have been much faster.

  “It’s Penski,” she repeats. “Why didn’t you recognize him?” she demands, pointing at Grahmm. “Didn’t you used to work with him?”

  “Richard Penski?” Grahmm repeats. “He retired before I actually started working there. The same for you, right, Thelma?”

  “That was Richard Penski?” Thelma says, stunned. “He was so thin that I didn’t even notice. He looked nothing like his photos!” She looks at Grahmm. “This is NOT good. Even if we didn’t noticed, why didn’t Cage?”

  “He’s wearing a moustache?” Skye offers. “It’s ridiculous how a simple mask or moustache, or even a pair of glasses can confuse people!” Pan shoots her a look. She gives him her most innocent smile before her expression turns serious again. “But I know him. He’s the one that did… experiments on me. He’s the one that has the Petleaves?”

  “It seems so,” Pan says. “But I believe it’s pronounced mustache, here.”

  “Mooostache is funner to say,” she tells him. “But moustache or mustache, regardless, it looks like we need to pay him a visit,” she says

  ***

  *Somewhere over Arkansas*

  “Voltdrain?” I say, staggering through the air. I keep falling. In fact, I’m heading down right now. We’ve barely gotten anywhere, thanks to this whole “flying home” idea of theirs. At first, Voltdrain had picked me up whenever I started down, but since the ground below is sparse, and plants grow wherever I hit ground, he’s been letting me fall on purpose, I think.

  “A little to the right, mijo,” he says, coming over just to gently push me in that direction. “Yes, bien! Now, if only we can bring in a water influence, it will be perfect!” he says as I hit the ground and grass and flowers shoot out of the earth.

  “Mr. Voltdrain, I don’t think I can fly all the way home like this, unless we don’t mind getting there sometime next month,” I say, sitting on the plot of grass that he just planned for.

  “It is nothing to be ashamed of, Sunny,” he says, landing down next to me. “Yo era más grande, that is, much older, when I learned to fly. You can imagine how interesting that was.”

  “Did you short out large towns?” I ask.

  “Oh, no, bueno, there was this one, when there was the electric pole and the storm… but that is not an interesting tale,” he says.

  “It sounds interesting to me,” I protest.

  “Ah… well, you see, they were only then bringing in electricity in the area, it was hace mucho tiempo—long, long ago,” he starts out.

  “Volt?” I hear Rochester say over the earbud that Voltdrain is wearing. “We gotta problem. Ya got a sec?”

  “What is the problem?” Voltdrain asks, suddenly looking serious. This is the “face that is usually on the cover of his comic books,” sort of serious.

  “Skye wants to go visit Penski,” Rochester says. “Turns out he’s the one that bought the Petleaves. If we let her do that…”

  “Yes, it would be dangerous,” Voltdrain finishes for him. “I will take a detour.” He looks at me, frowning. “I can call Life Light—”

  “I’m going with you,” I say, getting to my feet and jumping up. I wobble, almost falling to the ground again, but with gritted teeth, I manage to stay in the air. “I’m going to see the Petleaves for myself.”

  “Then we will be there shortly,” Voltdrain says to Rochester.

  “We?” Rochester repeats. “Who’s the guy in the background? It sounds like a kid…”

  “It is the son of Lady Rose,” Voltdrain says. “He has a vested interest in the Petleaves.”

  “Sunny, right? Yeah, he might be good for this. Either way, get there before Skye can, wouldya? Since the girls ain’t here, I gotta keep her from makin’ the big mistakes.”

  “Yes, we will go, now,” Voltdrain says. “Lo siento, but I will be carrying you for this.” Before I can say it’s no problem, he wraps an arm around my waist and shoots up through the air, just as fast as my Dad, can, I think.

  “Why would Richard Penski want the Petleaves, anyway?” I ask as we fly. I have no idea where we are. This isn’t my territory. I can usually find most places in Central, since Mom and I travel a lot on weekends, but here, not a thing.

  “I do not know,” Voltdrain says. “You have experience with the Petleaves?”

  “Only the non-sell-able ones,” I say. “The ones they’re selling are supposed to be altered and tech’ed up, you know? Like they’re using some sort of computer chip to control them.”

  “Computer chip?” Voltdrain repeats. “The nanobytes? The mad scientist boy’s creation?”

  “I guess?”

  “I see.”

  ***

  The wall in front of him is displaying a map of the world. Red dots are scattered all over the USA part of it. Davis taps on his phone, zooming in on that part with a scowl. “They’ve dumbed them down,” he mutters as he glances at the readout next to the map, “but those are definitely mine.”

  A light flashes and a message tells him that he has a call from Zoe Rosenthorn-Masters on the line. For a moment he ignores it, but he knows that she’ll just overwrite his ability to answer if he takes too long. Reluctantly he taps the “Answer” button
, and her face appears on the screen.

  “So you know,” she says.

  “How could I not?” he says. He’s fighting the rage that’s building up in his gut.

  “I swear, we’ll get your tech back,” she says. “But it might have to wait until Dad gets home from the honeymoon. We’re going to have to go through a lot of red tape to be where we can deal with the norms that bought them.”

  “Heh,” he says.

  “But we will get it back,” she repeats. “Just be patient, please.”

  “It’s fine,” he lies. “The ones in the little bush creatures, they aren’t truly my tech, right?”

  “No… I don’t believe so,” she says.

  “They’re just ripped off, inferior versions of my tech.”

  “Well… yeah,” she admits. “That’s why Dad is always saying that it takes a genius to create something, but only a very clever person to rip it off.”

  “Isn’t that the truth,” he mutters, his hand tightening on the phone he’s holding.

  “Okay, so you’re going to not do anything, right?” she asks, clearly not trusting his lack of an answer.

  “What would a child like myself be able to do?” he asks, trying to look his most innocent. She glares at him. “I promise I’ll stay here like the good little student that I am,” he says irritably. “It isn’t as if I can get through that security field you placed around the area, after all.”

  “True,” she says, “but I’ll still be watching you, Davis.” She hangs up, leaving only the map and the locations of all the Petleaves still on the wall. He’s certain she got a good look at what he was doing before she called. No wonder she’s paranoid. He should have asked her what she would have done if it had been her tech.

  Instead, he pulls out his old phone, tapping in the code he hasn’t used for weeks, and bringing up his old program. It would be easy to send the program over to his new phone, attach it to the super satellite system, and take out the entire batch of them. He even has a special glowing red button gif for the occasion.

  But he hesitates. Taking them out might be too extreme… not to mention that it’s too soon after her call to do it. He needs to wait until she’s distracted with something big.