Guitar Hero (Cape High Series Book 12)

by R. J. Ross

  “Negatia,” I say. Well... Crap.

  ***

  “HE was not assigned to be at this concert! If he was, I would have been informed--I made sure of that the LAST time he attacked Justin’s concert,” Nagatia says, pointing straight at Max. We finished up the concert and found her waiting impatiently for us in our tour bus. Now she’s yelling at us for goofing around. Oh, joy.

  “HE,” Max repeats, “is still in CENTRAL TERRITORY--which means YOU are the one who’s not supposed to be at the concert!”

  “Well, you’ve got to admit she’s right, you could have called first,” I point out to Max, lounging on the couch next to him. I’m best friends with Ace, and that means once in a rare while I have to hang out with the other villains (or fight with them, in Jack’s case)--and put bluntly, I rather feel like taking Max’s side on this. “But it’s not like anyone got hurt. We were goofing off.”

  She gives me a scathing look, one that says she’s got a LOT to tell me off for. “This is not a game!”

  “Actually, um, it sort of is,” Emily says, sitting on the bunk over our heads next to Freddy. “Look, if it’d been a real super villain--”

  “I am a real super villain,” Max says.

  “One that’s NOT dating my best friend and pals with my sister’s boyfriend,” Emily goes on, “it would have been a problem. But that doesn’t change the fact that you were supposed to be doing debut tours,” she says to Max. “Why aren’t you working?”

  “My first debut is in your next town,” Max says. “Same night as your concert. I figured I might as well check in with you guys, and hey, crashing your concert sounded fun.”

  “Where’s the rest of your group?” Freddy asks. “You’ve got Rocco, Lance and Piper, right?”

  “They decided to play a game of shadow run for the night--Summer went with them,” Max says. “Which, honestly, is a TON of fun, I just hope they can figure out how to get back in time for our first gig,” he admits.

  “Shadow run?”

  “Rocco opens a shadow tunnel and you run through it--you can wind up anywhere,” Max says grinning. “I’m working on getting him on the villain team, he’d be awesome.”

  “What are they teaching you kids at that school?” Negatia demands. “From what I’ve seen, you’re just playing around, causing distractions and a ridiculous panic among the norms!” She looks at me, her eyes narrowing. “I said nothing when they sent me your transfer papers, because I trust Mastermental, but I see that was the wrong choice.”

  “Wait just a second,” I say, feeling panicked, myself. “You don’t know the full story!”

  “Wait, why does she have your transfer papers?” Max asks me blankly. “I would have thought I’d hear about something like that.”

  “Why should you hear about something like that?” Negatia demands.

  “He’s Mastermental’s son,” I say. I’ve got a headache.

  “’My son would have destroyed the place,’” she says to herself, as if repeating someone from the past. “I see. That does explain a few things. Regardless, this has nothing to do with you, Maximum.”

  “Max,” Max says.

  “I don't care what you’re called, or who you’re related to. You ARE a super villain. According to your own father’s rules, you must follow protocol on ambushes like the one you just pulled off. I have every right to have you court-martialed by the Hall.”

  “No!” I say, jumping off the bench and stepping in front of her. I’m taller than she is now. It’s a bit startling. “Look, Negatia--Nora--MOM--”

  “MOM?” the entire group demands in shock.

  “She’s my foster mom,” I admit, sighing loudly. “She took me in after my dad died. I left a little after that to become a singer.” They stare at me, but I’m not sure what else they want out of me. At least Negatia looks a little less angry. “Look, Mom, this wasn’t an actual attack. He didn’t even bring in the buses!”

  “Like the last time he attacked you?” she demands.

  I look at Max, and then back at her, shrugging with a sheepish grin. “That Super Bowl made me world famous, you know?” I say finally, scratching the back of my head. “They showed a scene of that before this year’s Super Bowl halftime show--it totally made the new halftime band look like chumps.”

  “I still don’t like it!” she says.

  “Negatia,” Falconess says quietly, getting to her feet. She’s been silent all this time--I almost didn’t expect her to speak up at all. “I understand you feel protective, but you need to understand, these are classmates.” She motions to the group, including Max. “They spend every weekday together--some of them even spend weekends that way. While I agree with Justin about calling first,” she looks at Max, who finally looks a bit sheepish, “it wasn’t as if anyone was truly at risk. But I’m not sure why you would be heading to our next town, Max. It’s in West Hall’s territory.”

  “She hired me,” Max says, motioning to Negatia. “They’ve got a little force-field generator named Rachel Proctor that’s about to debut, so apparently I was the perfect choice.”

  “Is she going to come to Cape High?” Malina asks curiously.

  “Nah, if they’re to the debut point they generally have most of their training done already, according to their parents,” Max says. “Whether that’s true or not, who knows? But I usually get them as they’re about to be launched into a Hall career.”

  “Trent had his debut already, so did Ace and Jack,” I have to point out.

  “They’re special cases,” Falconess says. “They’re already surpassing the place most would consider a respectable cape.”

  “Am I right in thinking some of those listed are super villains?” Negatia asks.

  “Ace and Jack are Dragon and Cold Steel--but Cold Steel will always be a Specialized A-class, or so,” Emily explains. “He can’t fly on his own, and he’s actually only D-class when it comes to speed. It’s pretty pathetic.”

  “He doesn’t need to be faster,” Malina says, “right?”

  “No, in his case, he definitely doesn’t,” Falconess says. “Look, Negatia, we’ve got everything in hand here. And, as much as it hurts me to admit it, Max is right--at the moment we ARE in Central Territory. If you want, we can call Double M and discuss this.”

  “Why are you trying to kidnap this non-debut’ed super?” Negatia asks Max, completely ignoring Falconess’s offer. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to talk to Double M.

  “Malina?” Max asks, looking startled. “Didn’t you see her part of the concert?” he asks.

  “I’m afraid I didn’t get there for that part.”

  “She’s a--”

  “Century won’t appreciate this,” Emily says in a sing-song voice. “He wants her.”

  “Oh, he does, does he?” Negatia says. “This sounds important. What do you do?” she asks, walking over to Malina. She can actually tell if she touches her, but she doesn’t. She once told me she could tell who was a cape by sight, and what their abilities are by touch—and she can manipulate the ones she knows from a distance. She obviously knows Max's powers.

  “I’m a... water manipulator,” Malina says hesitantly.

  “A strong one?”

  “I’m okay,” she says with a shrug.

  “She’s one of the strongest of the zoo kids,” Freddy says, his tone defensive. He moves into sight, making Negatia look up at him. I get the feeling she hadn’t even noticed he was there. “Don’t pick on her.”

  “I’m not,” Negatia says, looking at him thoughtfully. He’s crawling on the ceiling, so I can’t really blame her for it. “You’re a very interesting one, too, aren’t you?” she says, a little smile pulling on her lips.

  “I’m afraid we really need to get moving, Hall Leader,” Nathan says, stepping forward. “If you don’t want to talk to Central Hall about this situation, I will politely ask you to leave. We have a long ride ahead of us.”

  “And who do you think you are to tell me to leave?” Negatia as
ks, dangerously.

  “He’s my agent,” I say quickly.

  “The last I checked, your agent was a norm.”

  “He turned out to be a super-phobe,” Emily says. The startled look on Negatia’s face makes me do a double take.

  “A... Super-phobe?” she repeats.

  “He hated us,” Emily explains.

  “Yes, I figured it meant that... But I’m still a bit...” she turns away and pulls out her phone, tapping on it a few times. “I didn’t think he would actually do anything about it,” she says to herself. “I will leave you to continue on your journey--Falconess, I expect you to take very good care of my son.”

  “Of course,” Falconess says.

  Negatia looks at me, a mix of emotions crossing her face before she reaches out and touches my cheek. “We will talk more, later,” she tells me with a hint of sadness. She turns and leaves, leaving an awkward silence behind.

  “So, she’s your mom, huh?” Max says, completely shattering it.

  “Yeah... sort of.”

  I turn and head for my bunk, crawling into it. I don’t feel like going into details right now.

  ***

  *The Arctic Circle*

  "Doris is right," Nico says. He'd spent the last day and a half searching through records and even calling Double M for information. He'd even gone so far as to talk to Century, who had checked out Skye's base. "I even knew it, I just didn't know about the connection. It wasn't Kunnins that had the super stopping gun built—it was Herold. The weapon goes back all the way to the Cold War, if not further. The problem is that I didn't make it."

  He turns, looking at Superior and Doris. They're in his room in the Arctic, which has grown by half a mile, since he'd figured he might as well add an expansion with the hole in the wall. Doris is looking surly, Superior is just flat-out scowling. "My assumption was that he used his scientist to come up with it. I was wrong."

  "He used that to trap me!" Doris says. "Right after he convinced me that we could work together."

  "What would a politician need with a shape-shifting super?" Superior asks her.

  "He wasn't a politician at the time! He was a military man—one that was helping in the fight against the U.S.S.R. He said I'd be helping our country." She takes a deep breath, shuddering slightly. "I wanted to be a super hero so bad," she admits quietly, with a shameful look on her face. "I thought I could live down my father's reputation if I helped the military—if I could fight for our country. But the moment I turned my back, he shot me with that stupid gun and knocked me out!"

  "Why?" Superior asks. "It seems to me he could have found a much better use for you."

  "Because… I…" She stops with a confused look. "I'm not sure. I think I saw something I shouldn't have."

  "Do you remember what that was?" Nico asks.

  "No. I mean, it didn't stick out or anything, but I heard him talking about it after I was put in the tube." She frowns, slowly shaking her head after a moment. "I think… it might have been a woman?"

  "We need Mastermental," Superior says with a sigh. "While I can affect people by manipulating the physical aspects of brains, I can't do anything about the spiritual or the mental."

  "But I can—to a point," Nico says, heading for one of the long tables in the room and digging through various things. "All we need is this and a screen," he says, holding up a metal hoop.

  "Have you been ripping off people's powers?" Superior asks him curiously.

  "Not really," Nico says. "I just find this more convenient."

  "You like to prove you can do anything they can do," Superior corrects.

  "I have yet to figure out how to do what you do," Nico says, giving him a knowing look. "Your title is still safe."

  Doris looks from one to the other. "Aren't you two ACTUALLY family?" she asks finally.

  "Some family members get along better than others," Superior says. "Nicolas, here, is far too much like me for his own good—he's been fighting that fact his entire life."

  "Don't worry, Doris, we won't treat your precious Skye like we treat one another," Nico says as he walks over. "This shouldn't hurt, but it might feel strange. I want you to think back to what happened right before you were put in the tube."

  "You still don't understand—Tatiana is dangerous!" she starts out. "She's the reason I was going to help—" She stops as they both burst out laughing. "This isn't funny!" she yells at them. "She and Skye are out there somewhere and who knows—"

  "It's computer class right around now," Superior says. "She's intent on catching up with today's technology so she can talk Nicolas into making her something better."

  "I could do that without her taking classes," Nico says.

  "Of course you could, but she wants to know how to use it. But when you do make it, make sure the keyboard is reinforced—she keeps coming home complaining that they're too flimsy."

  "Will do," Nico says. "Look, Doris, we know how dangerous Mom—Tatiana is. We also know one other thing—the norm world thinks she's dead. The super world knows otherwise, but it doesn't matter. She's retired and living up here with the man she loves. That it just happens to be my father, well, we shouldn't judge her tastes. Sure, she's Russian, and sure she's a tank, but that doesn't mean she's not human."

  "I'm not human," Superior says.

  "That's right, he's the one you really can't trust," Nico says.

  "You're only half human."

  "So you can half trust me," Nico says without blinking.

  "But—isn't he Superior?" Doris asks.

  "We try to ignore elitist titles here," Nico drawls, "they make everyone feel uncomfortable."

  "Would you stop feeding the girl lines of hogwash?" Superior says dryly. "Doris, was it? Don't worry about Tatia, she'll take very good care of your friend. Besides, think about it—who is the one you shouldn't trust, the man that used her to get you trapped in a tube, or the woman that had no clue you were even in one?"

  "Why should I trust any of you?" she asks, glaring at the metal hoop Nico's holding. "What does that do? Are you going to brainwash me?"

  "Nope, just read your mind. I invented this to find out what happened to an unconscious kid. I figure it can get into the memories you can't recall just as easily."

  She hesitates, looking from one to the other. "If you try anything I'll scream this entire place down," she threatens.

  "That would be inconvenient," Superior says.

  She grabs the hoop and sticks it on her head.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Emily’s phone ringing wakes up the bus. It’s the theme song from the latest Superior movie, I note curiously. She doesn’t get to it in time, because she falls out of her bunk and is now sitting on the floor, looking confused. I might be recording that little scene on my phone--don’t tell her, though.

  “’ello, Grandpa?” she says as she reaches the phone. All she gets is a dial tone. “Darn it,” she mutters.

  “What’s wrong?” Malina asks sleepily. Okay, so it’s ten in the morning--we didn’t get to sleep until about four hours ago. It took us that long to figure out how to expand the tour bus--well, and other things. There might have been a karaoke machine involved.

  “Grandpa called,” Emily says sleepily, falling onto her back and tapping on her phone.

  “Andre?” Falconess asks.

  “Nuh uh, the other one.”

  “What other one?” Freddy asks, his eyes barely opening to look at her.

  “Grandpa Superior.”

  “WHAT?” all three of my bandmates demand, waking up instantly.

  “I gotta call him back before he does something stupid,” she says, bringing the phone up to her ear. “Darn it, he’s not answering now. Wonder why.”

  “What do you mean, ‘does something stupid’?” Cole asks.

  “Grandpa Superior likes to be involved,” Emily says, as if this wasn’t the most shocking conversation ever. “I think he’s making up for failing so much with Mom and Nico, so now he does all sorts o
f stuff to keep his grandkids happy--he even went with Aubrey to deal with bullies just last week.”

  “We’ll be pulling over for a picnic brunch soon,” Alphonse says over his shoulder. “Nathan worked it into your schedule, as per Falconess’s request. I suggest you get dressed in your training uniforms.”

  “Training uniforms?” I repeat.

  “You DID promise Freddy you’d spar every other day,” Falconess says.

  "Where IS Nathan, anyway?" Emily asks, getting to her feet and digging her training uniform out of her bag. "Wasn't he going to ride with us?"

  "Nathan told me that he would show up when we reach our next destination," Alphonse says. "He's got a meeting with Mega lined up—something about changing the plans for his protege?"

  "Ward," I say, echoed by both Malina and Freddy. "You can't really blame the guy, Mega's been gung-ho on getting him pinned down ever since he found out about him," I say to them. Now usually I try and keep out of their business, but in this case I have every right to mention it—I've been tossed at Mega at least a dozen times as a distraction technique. Ward is always happy to throw me under the bus. I head for my bags, digging out the white and gold uniform that Nico provided and heading to the bathroom door to wait my turn.

  "It's funny," Malina says, much to my surprise. I thought for sure she would speak up about how Mega is terrorizing poor Ward. "What?" she asks me as I just stare at her. "I love him, but it's still funny seeing him run off screaming."

  "He doesn't scream," Freddy says with an evil little grin, stripping down to his boxers without even bothering to look at the bathroom door, "Mega caught him faster the one time he screamed, so now he just shoves the nearest person between them and races away silently."

  "How come I'm always the one between them?" I demand, giving up on modesty when Malina pulls out her uniform and walks over to stand behind me. "You can go next," I tell her, feeling a hint of a blush cross my face as I head to the back of the bus to change. It doesn't help when Lonny wolf-whistles at me.