Secret Villain

by Dee J. Stone

  Maddie snorts. “They’re already panicking that there’s an invisible being terrorizing them.” Her gaze flicks from her mom to me. “We train the kids the way we want. Who cares what the government says? Because soon they’ll realize just how much we need them. By the time they’re ready to shut down the program, the kids will already be trained. And we’ll have the goggles.”

  Her mom bends forward. “And after that? What happens to the kids? They’ll have no place to live. No one to take care of them.”

  Maddie’s eyes get intense. “They will have a place. Because the world will back the powered kids up. They’ll protest, do whatever it takes to get the kids into good homes. And if they don’t, Nick and I will fight for them.”

  I take her hand. “I will. I won’t stop until each kid has a good home. But for now, we need to focus on training the kids and stopping Jeremy—wherever he is. It’s safe to say he’s cooking something. We need to be on high alert. All of us.”

  It shouldn’t be too hard to train the kids, since they’ve been trained before. We just need them to focus and work as a team.

  When Maddie and I are at the door, her mom says, “Maddie, this might not be a good time, but I wanted you know that your father and I are seeing each other.”

  Maddie turns around. “I know.”

  “You do? Oh…” Her face reddens a bit. “How do you feel about it?”

  Maddie’s hand goes to the doorknob and she opens the door slightly. “I say it’s about time.” She leaves the room with me trailing close behind.

  We get through our classes, and all I’m thinking about is Hiram’s kid. Why would he fake his death? If he’s as powerful as we think, why not brag to his dad? Nothing makes sense.

  Jack’s in class, and he seems to be doing okay. It doesn’t look like he’s got any injuries, so I’m thinking he’ll be well enough to train. We need every single one of these kids if we want to build an army against Jeremy. Unless we’ll be able to get through to him and avoid conflict, but I don’t think that will be the case.

  Once school’s out, we meet the rest of the kids in the gym early so we can talk to them before the Suits show up. Many have tons of questions, specifically about the villain, and Maddie and I tell them as much as we can.

  “Wait,” one of the kids says. “What do you mean he was experimented on like us?”

  We inform them everything Charlie told us, but of course we don’t mention Charlie. The kids are more than shocked to learn just how powerful he is.

  “Don’t you find it weird? Jack says. “That he has both your and Maddie’s powers?”

  “It is weird,” Maddie agrees. “But…” She presses her lips together as the Suits take their usual spots behind the glass window. “Enough chatting. Let’s get to practice.”

  We already told the kids that we’re going to up their training, which makes them very excited. We also made sure to explain that they’re no longer part of JQ and they need to strategize before rushing into an attack. We also made it clear that we’ll be working as a team.

  “Okay,” I say. “Maddie and I are going to be the villains and it’s up to you to take us down. We’ve split you into groups of ten and we’ll see just how well you work together. If you don’t work as a team, you won’t get a good score on today’s training. Ready?”

  The kids cheer.

  Maddie and I float in the air and start attacking. I force myself not to glance at the Suits because I don’t want them to intimidate me. I know they’re trying to keep the world safe, but they have no right to tell us how to train.

  Maddie strikes with fire, I use my telekinesis. The kids from one group charge at us at full speed. At first, they all argue over what needs to be done and how to go about defeating us, but after a while, they seem to be getting along well.

  Jack’s group, on the other hand, is having a lot of problems. There doesn’t seem to be any direction. They’re all over the place.

  I head over to them. “What’s wrong?”

  Jack glares at Muscles. “He’s shooting down all my ideas. Why do I need to work with these idiots? I’m fine on my own.”

  I tell the guys to take a break, and pull Jack aside. “Hey, I never had the chance to ask you if you’re okay.”

  He crosses his arms over his chest. “Fine. Can we focus on training? I want to take that villain down.”

  “I know you do. So do I. But you can’t be filled with all this rage. You’ll hurt someone when you don’t mean to. Look, it’s important to be part of a team. They’ll always have your back.”

  He makes a face.

  “Right now you might not think so, but eventually, you will.”

  “I hate Muscles.”

  I’m not much of a fan either, but I’m not going to tell him that. “You need to learn to work together.” My gaze lifts to the Suits, who don’t look too impressed. I hate that we have to be under their watch all the time. “The government is going to try to shut us down when they realize what we’re doing. We need to pack in as much training as we can until then. Okay?”

  He shrugs. “Whatever. I’m only dealing with that jerk because I have to.” He walks away, and we resume training.

  It goes relatively well, but I can practically see steam coming out of the Suits’ ears. They don’t like that the kids will grow too powerful. They don’t stop the training, though, since it’s too dangerous. I get that they’re worried, but we need to do this. These kids have so much potential to do good, to be great heroes. They just need a chance. If the government won’t give it, then I’ll do whatever I can to try.

  “Good job everyone,” Maddie says once training is done. “We’ll continue this tomorrow.”

  The Suits walk out of their room. I bet they’re going to pound on Melissa’s door and demand answers. I hope she can handle them. She assured us she could and that we should focus on the kids instead of worrying about the Suits.

  “Any plans for tonight?” Maddie asks me as we circle around the school building.

  “Not really. I think I’m going to spend some time with Kaylee. Maybe take her to the amusement park. Wanna come?”

  “So late?”

  I shrug. “It’s fun at night.”

  She twists her nose. “Shouldn’t we be focusing on Jeremy?”

  “And do what? Fly around, searching for him? We need to continue living life. I won’t let him take away my happiness. And you know very well that the second he attacks, we’ll be there. Not that we can defeat him…”

  She takes my arm, stopping me from flying. “I know. It sucks. How can we defeat someone who is more powerful than us? Even if we have the goggles, all we’ll accomplish is being able to see him. It won’t help us take him down.”

  “I know, but we’ve got an army. I don’t care if he’s one guy and we have over two hundred. He needs to be stopped. Though I wonder if talking to him would do any good. He did fake his death after all. Maybe he was against his dad.”

  “Then why attack us at the park? Why pretend to be you?”

  I puff out my cheeks. “No clue. None of this makes sense. But let’s forget about all that and go have fun.”

  She bites her lip. “You know there’s a high chance he’ll attack us at the amusement park. Or maybe he’ll attack somewhere far away because he knows you’ll be busy having so much fun.”

  I frown. “Am I supposed to stay cooped up in the house all day because I’m scared he’ll attack?”

  “No, but you know very well that he’ll hurt other people.”

  I take her hands. “He’ll hurt other people whether or not we’re having fun. Maddie, I don’t want anyone to get hurt either, especially because of me, but we can’t stop living.”

  She doesn’t say anything.

  “How about we ask your mom if the powered kids can come with us?” I say. “They can keep everyone at the amusement park safe.”

  “And if he attacks somewhere else?”

  “We can’t know where he’s going to be. If he d
oes attack somewhere far, then the kids who can fly will be there in seconds. Besides, it would do the kids good to hang out outside of school. They’re dying to leave that place.”

  She laughs a little. “They are tearing each other’s throats. But the government won’t agree to it. It’s not safe to ‘let all those dangerous powered kids loose’. At least not until they think it’s safe.”

  I drop to the ground. “This sucks. I know they can be dangerous, but they’re just kids. They need to get out, to have fun.”

  “I know.”

  I smile crookedly.

  “What? I don’t like that look.”

  “We sneak them out.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  I shrug. “The amusement park is open until late. The kids go to bed early, right? So once the Suits think they’re asleep, we break them out of their prison.”

  She gapes at me. “You’re crazy.”

  “No. I just know what they feel like. Sort of. Their whole lives they’ve been locked up. Experimented on. Jack told me the school feels like a prison. Why not give them a chance to be free for a bit?”

  She shakes her head like she can’t believe she’s agreeing to this. “The government will be very pissed at my mom.”

  “I’ll take the blame. It’s my idea after all. What will they do to me, anyway? Kick me out of school? Big deal. It’s not like I need an education, and even if I did, I can get it somewhere else.”

  She gives me a look. “There’s no way you’re dropping out of school, Nick McGuire.”

  I laugh sheepishly. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s just go before you change your mind.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  I wait until after ten before sneaking out of my room and heading to Maddie’s. A few hours ago, as soon as I came home from school, I took Kaylee to the amusement park for a couple of hours. Just the two of us. We went on rides, talked, played a few carnival games. She smiled the most she’s smiled in a while. She’s still got a long way to go until she’s back to herself, but she’s making great progress.

  While we were there, I kept looking to my right and left to make sure no one was after me. As far as I know, Jeremy didn’t make an appearance. If he did, he kept himself hidden.

  Now Maddie and I are ready for the kids to have as much fun as Kaylee and I had.

  I hover outside her window. Good thing the government agents don’t live here, or else I doubt we’d be able to get away with it. They do send an agent to spend the night occasionally, but she’s not here tonight. It’s perfect.

  Sure we’ll get into a lot of trouble, but it’ll be worth it.

  I softly knock on Maddie’s closed window. Her mom sleeps right next door, and we’ll have to be very careful.

  The window opens. “Is that you?” she whispers.

  I go visible for a second.

  She smiles. “Did we discuss how we’re going to get all the kids there?”

  The amusement park isn’t far, but we’re going to need to fly. Or run, since a few have super speed. “I’ve figured it all out,” I say. “Those that fly will carry as many kids as they can. Those that run will do the same. It’ll all work out somehow.”

  She motions for me to come in. “Let’s do this.”

  She leads me to the dorms, and once we enter the first room, we wake everyone up. “What’s going on?” they ask.

  “Surprise,” we say. “Wait here until we wake everyone else up.”

  When all the kids are up and dressed, we tiptoe out the door. One great thing about Melissa is that she didn’t let the government put cameras in the house. She wanted the kids to have privacy and not feel like they’re constantly being watched, like they were back at JQ.

  “Where are we going?” Jack whispers to me.

  “You’ll see.”

  We give the kids directions of how to get there, then zoom to the place. As soon as the kids see where we are, they get excited. A few are wary, since they’ve never been to an amusement park before.

  “Come on,” I tell them. “It’ll be fun.” I gather them all around me. “Okay, listen up. This is your first outing since you were released from JQ. We need to be on our best behavior. No getting mad, no using your powers. We’re just going to be regular kids tonight.”

  “We’re not here only to have fun,” Maddie adds. “We also want to show the government that you can be normal, even though you have powers. That we can all live in society. That we can be just like everyone else. And that we need to train the way we see is best. Okay? Now let’s have a good time.”

  ***

  Looks like Maddie and I were wrong. Jeremy doesn’t show himself, and it’s just a normal night of fun.

  The kids are behaving well, just like I knew they would. Hopefully the government will see just how normal the kids are. They’re not these monsters who are filled with rage.

  When it’s time to go, Maddie and I do a quick count. Two kids are missing.

  “Anyone seen Justin and Ally?” Maddie asks.

  We all look around, but don’t see them. Aw, man. This isn’t good. The amusement park is pretty much empty, and when we ask around, no one has seen them.

  My stomach twists. Where could they be?

  Maddie’s face fills with panic. She’s not one to show emotion, so when it’s all over her face, it makes me freak out even more. The kids are worried, too.

  “They ran off,” someone says. “Justin hates the school.”

  A few other kids come up with their own theories. I don’t want to listen to them. I need to think. To do something. This is all my fault. We shouldn’t have taken them out of school.

  Maddie comes over to me. “We need to get the rest home and search for Justin and Ally.”

  I nod, and we do just that. I wish I could stay here and start the search, but I’m needed to fly the kids home. We’ll search for them as soon as we get back.

  But once we get to the building, Melissa, as well as a few Suits, are standing right at the entrance. Aw, crap. We seriously don’t need this right now.

  Melissa looks like she wants to bite our heads off. I know we’re supposed to make a good impression. I just really thought this was a good idea.

  Maddie’s mom’s hands go to her hips. “Nick, Maddie, explain yourselves.”

  I look at Maddie and she looks at me. The other kids just stand there. We’re all cooped in the foyer and there’s hardly any room to move.

  Melissa waves her hand. “Nick and Maddie stay here. I’ll deal with the rest of you tomorrow,” she tells the kids. “Go to bed. I don’t want to see any of you leaving your rooms.”

  They walk off, a few muttering under their breaths.

  “Mom,” Maddie says. “We don’t have time to talk. We need to go.”

  “Where?”

  She presses her lips together.

  I say, “We need to take care of something…personal.” We can’t tell her two kids have gone missing. Plus the Suits are here, which makes this ten times worse.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” one of the Suits says. I don’t know him well, or his name. He seems to be the leader, though. He’s always at training, watching behind that window. He tilts his head toward the area on the left, where there are many couches and chairs. Great. How are we supposed to find Justin and Ally now?

  I plop down on the couch and Maddie lowers herself next to me. The Suits are on either side of us, and Melissa stands at the door. She’s too mad to sit, I guess.

  “What you did is unacceptable,” the Suit in charge says. “And you will be punished for it.”

  “Not to be rude, but you’re not the principal of this school. Maddie’s mom is. So if someone wants to yell at us, it should be her.”

  Melissa shoots me a look, but I ignore her. The vein on the Suit’s forehead pounds.

  “Look,” I continue, “We didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not illegal to go to the amusement park, is it?”

  “Not for the average kid, no,” another Suit says.

 
; Maddie throws her hands up. “Fine, maybe these kids aren’t exactly ‘average’, but they’re still kids. They need to get out. To have fun. They’re not robots.”

  The Suits don’t say anything for a little bit. Then the leader leans forward. “It was reckless of you to release the children into society.”

  I can’t help but laugh. Maddie snorts. “Release them into society? Like they’re animals? Did anything go wrong? No. Did anyone get hurt? No. Did anyone suspect they were powered kids? No. I think we can safely say the kids are ready to live in society. You can’t keep them cooped up here. If you do, you’ll be just like the lab they were trapped in all their lives.”

  The Suits blink at her.

  “She’s right,” I say. “You think you’re doing the kids a favor by keeping them here, but you’re not. You didn’t see how much fun they had. I’ve never seen them smile like that. And you don’t have to worry about them being a threat to others out there. They’ve been trained to control their powers. They’re not monsters.”

  Suit In Charge says, “And what if one loses their temper?”

  “What if a regular person loses their temper?” Maddie challenges. “He can shoot someone because he’s mad. He can shove someone off a cliff. Beat another person to death. Just because these kids have powers that doesn’t mean they’re going to hurt anyone.”

  “And we’ve been training them to use their powers for good,” I say. “I think it’s time we let them put all of that to the test. I’m not saying we should integrate them in public school or anything. Just let them go out every so often.”

  The Suits exchange a glance. “That will need to be discussed amongst ourselves,” In Charge says. “Now to the matter of the training.”

  “I know,” Maddie mutters. “You don’t like what we did today.”

  “We don’t,” another Suit says. “But we see that it’s vital you train the kids to be the best they can be. We’re aware of the villain threatening the world. We’ve discussed this with Ms. Randall, and she informed us that the two of you are not equipped to handle the villain on your own.”

  Ouch, much? I know I’ve said it myself, but it still stings.