Guitar Hero (Cape High Series Book 12)

by R. J. Ross

  "How, exactly, is she your new daughter?" Mastermental asks. "Do I need to go through more paperwork? I'm already dealing with Isotonic over your taking over his territory, you know."

  "She adopted herself and Tatia went with it," Superior says. "But tell me, Frank, was the one that brainwashed them a telepath?"

  "You know it wasn't," Mastermental says.

  "That's what I thought," Superior says grimly. "Skye, will you do something extremely dangerous for me?" he asks the woman next to him.

  "That's my middle name! Skye Dangerous Step!" she declares with a dramatic pose. "The third!"

  "Wait a moment," Mastermental says. "We can't drag her into anything like this, it goes against Hall regulations. She's strictly South Branch Hall—we would need to consult with Century before involving her. Technically she shouldn't even be in this territory—technically, neither should we," he admits. "I enjoy bothering the other Hall leaders as much as the next fellow, but this could possibly risk my position—"

  "I want to do it!" Skye says. "Century has no say on what I do in my free time, you know!"

  Double M frowns, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Well, it IS true, as a super villain you have more leeway than a hero. Tell me your plan, Clifford, and we'll work from there."

  "We should tell Nico," Falconess says. Everyone turns to look at her. "Either you tell him now or he finds out by watching the cameras monitoring this bus. You do remember that he's the one that made it, don't you?"

  "Do you really think I'm worried about my own son?" Superior asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

  "I AM the Hall leader, you know," Mastermental says in a bland tone. "And this is Hall business, not Cape High."

  "She brainwashed all the norms watching television to kidnap ME," I have to point out. "That makes it Cape High business. Malina and Freddy and even Emily could have gotten hurt because of her," I say.

  They frown, looking at each other. Is it just me or is there a certain reluctance going on here? "He'll have to come here," Mastermental says. "If she's working through the television networks, who's to say she isn't tapping in?"

  The screen comes on, and we all turn to look at Nico. "I am," he says. "But I think we have even more important things to discuss, so go somewhere out of regular cell phone range, and I'll be there soon."

  "More important?" Mastermental asks.

  "Possibly."

  ***

  "Is it the lady with the strange eyes?" Kirsten asks a bit breathlessly. She's being carried over this strange guy's shoulder like she weighs nothing, and his bony shoulder keeps slamming into her stomach with each step. She's grateful that she's tough, but still, it's annoying! "I can fix whatever it is she did to you!"

  "Really," he drawls. He doesn't seem bothered at all by this creepy, stinky area that they're going through. She swears she's seen things creeping through the shadows that he hasn't even blinked at. "Can you fix the way she's got an entire world brainwashed thanks to the norms' obsession with television?"

  "Wh—what?" she asks.

  "Even the ones that don't speak the same language," he complains. "They broke my NOSE with that shovel! You ARE a super, aren't you? Usually the ones I kidnap aren't so fat."

  "Fat?" she repeats. “FAT?"

  "What, prefer to be called chunky? Or are you one of those so-called ‘big-boned’ girls?" he taunts.

  "You're a real jerk, you know that?" she demands. "My best friend is going to notice I'm gone any moment now! She'll hunt you down!"

  "I really doubt she's in my league," he says, not impressed. "How do you know about the Wicked Witch?" he asks.

  "Wicked Witch?" she repeats.

  "The lady with the strange eyes," he clarifies. "She's punishing me for running off by sending me after the outed supers. I just happened to luck out when I picked up on your energy."

  "Wh—what?"

  "It's a nice little side ability of the family," he says cheerfully. "We can hunt you down."

  A cold chill runs down her spine as he steps through darkness and into a room. "Here," he says, dropping her on the ground, "the first one."

  Kirsten pushes herself up, looking around wildly. She has to escape, she has to—

  "How wonderful," a woman says, making her look over. "Welcome home, my dear. Good job, Shadowman, but you aren't done yet. I want ALL of them."

  "Yes… Mother," Shadowman grits out, disappearing through a wall.

  "Now, little one, why don't we get to know one another better?" the woman asks, walking over and offering a hand. Kirsten stares at it for a long second before pushing herself to her feet.

  "No thank you," she says, only to get caught by the strangest eyes she's ever seen.

  "Such good manners," Mother purrs. "But I'm certain you didn't mean to tell me no, now did you?"

  Kirsten swallows loudly, terror robbing her of words.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The bus pulls to a stop at the bottom of a mountain. I don't even have time to ask why before everyone is getting out. "A second, if you will," Superior says, taking to the sky and flying over the mountain. "Found a nice little cave this way," he calls over to us. I expect Skye to be the first to race over, but instead she looks downright shaky.

  "In—in the mountains?" she asks.

  "It's a good place to not be spied on," Superior says, flying back and landing in front of her with a frown.

  "But—but—" she says, glancing desperately over at Emily. "Can't we find a nice desert somewhere? Without big rocks that could come crashing down? Please, Pop?" she begs.

  The look on Superior's face is actually funny. He looks completely blank. I'm positive he has no clue about what to do right now. In fact I see him glancing over at Mastermental, as if looking for a way to hand her over to him.

  "Oh, Skye," Emily says, heading over and wrapping her arms around the taller female. "It'll be okay, I promise."

  "But—I can't lose you!" Skye says, throwing herself into Emily's hug. "I—I can't handle—"

  "Skye," Emily says, pulling back and looking into her eyes, "Superior, Mastermental, Nico, and you," she lists.

  "Yes?"

  "Dying in a cave-in," Emily says dryly.

  "Yes?"

  "That's the punch line," Emily says.

  "I don't get it," Skye says after a long moment.

  Malina snickers. Freddy starts to laugh. Even I feel a chuckle escape me as Skye looks over at us blankly. "It's funny because none of you could be taken out that easily," Malina explains when nobody else steps up to the plate.

  "She's right," I hear Nico say from above. "If all it took was a mountain dropping on him, Father would have died a very, very long time ago." He drops down in front of us, wearing his dark blue and silver uniform—in snow suit form. That's not what has me staring. There's a woman with seriously long brown hair who drops off of his back with a dark look.

  "I could have made it on my own, you know," she mutters before turning to Skye. "YOU!" she declares, pointing at her. "You just ran off without an explanation again! You had better have a good excuse."

  "I was brainwashed by this weird lady with googly eyes that went swirly-swirly," Skye says seriously, but with hand movements.

  "I… see. Good excuse."

  "Really? Because I could have thrown in some dancing girls and a llama," Skye says, touching her chin with a finger in a thoughtful manner.

  "YOU!" Emily says, storming over to the newcomer. "Are YOU the phone crushing roommate?"

  "If I might," Mastermental says, "we have more important things to discuss at the moment. Superior has yet to tell us of his grand plan."

  "We should go to the cave," Superior says.

  "No need," Nico says, taking to the air and holding out his hands. He turns slowly, palms out, and the lights of the tour bus go off. I hear the norms inside let out yelps. "Nothing within a hundred miles can spy on us now."

  "Check for people," Superior says to Mastermental.

  "We're good."

&
nbsp; "Then here's my plan."

  ***

  "I don't like this," Emily says finally as we settle back into the bus. Skye went with Nico and the others, waving goodbye to us with a brilliant smile. It's too late to stop them—Emily knows it. "I just—" she starts out, standing. "I'm going to get her back," she declares.

  "Emily," Falconess says, stepping in front of her. "You have a job to do, just like Skye does."

  "But—she's just—"

  "Focus on yourself," Falconess says firmly, placing her hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eyes. "We have a school to speak to, remember?"

  The meeting had been remarkably short. Mastermental, Superior, and Technico laid out all the information they had (including the fact that Senator Herold is probably a super) on the table, and declared the plan of action. Our part? Exactly what we were doing—except now we have a new driver. I look over at the white haired woman sitting in the driver seat with a hint of awe. THE Firefly. Sent here to be my own personal body guard, simply because she's one of the few that can take Shadowman down. She showed up shortly after they left.

  "Skye will be fine, Emily," she calls over her shoulder. "She's the first person I've ever met that could get away with adopting herself into the Superior line—and actually fit the role."

  "I thought you hated her, Mom," Emily says.

  "That was before we made a skele-dino together," Liz says with a grin. "She's entertaining."

  "But they're just throwing her into a dangerous situation!" Emily says. "This isn't right—she could really be hurt, couldn't she?"

  "It's part of the job," Falconess says sharply, glancing at me. Does she know? She must, I think, because a flash of something hard to read crosses her face before she goes on. "We all know that there are risks to the job, Emily. Most of the time it's just photo op, but there is always a chance something will go wrong. You, of all people, should know that."

  "But we don’t have to like it," I hear myself say. Half of the bus turns to look at me. "I don't think it's right—we shouldn't have to do a job that might get us killed just because of how we're born!"

  "If we don't do what only WE can do, who will?" Liz asks, not even looking back. "Ask yourself that, Justin. What would this world be like without people willing to take risks to help others?"

  "A life where my dad would be alive," I snap. I still have nightmares about watching Deathblow kill my dad. He’d been caught, the black suits were starting to restrain him, but he threw Dad off--

  "Millions of others would be dead, because he never stopped Deathblow," she says. The image of Dad slamming into a broken metal pipe flashes through my memory, but it hadn’t stopped him. The suits were thrown off as well, so he flew forward, getting in Deathblow’s face—

  "I'm sorry for your loss, Justin. I'm sorry for everyone that's lost a family member to this job, or to any other high risk job—but what they did was noble, and they should be honored for their sacrifices. They are heroes. Whether they were super or not, it doesn't matter.”

  Dad, with a hole in his chest from the metal pole, let out a scream that shattered the windows all around them. Deathblow covered his ears with his hands, but I’d seen blood coming out of them. I’d thought Dad had won. The team rushed forward, thinking the same—but before they got to him, Deathblow reached one massive hand out and grabbed Dad’s head--

  “They are the ones we owe so much to. It breaks my heart that you and Emily have lost the ones you love, but never--NEVER look down on them for what they did. Never look down on those that are risking the same thing, daily, either."

  I will never forget the sound of my father’s death. It haunts my dreams.

  "I don't look down on him!" I say, outraged she could even think such a thing. Had she not seen what happened? "I just—I just don't want to wind up like him, either," I add a little more quietly. "I'm—I don't—I can't—" I look up as Malina walks over to me, touching my shoulder and looking me in the eye. "I don't want to die that way," I hear myself whisper. She's tiny. To those that don't know, she looks like a child, but I'm the one that feels like the little kid right now.

  "We'll keep you safe," Malina says earnestly. "We won't let anyone kill you, or kidnap you, or anything—we're Cape High. We look out for our own."

  I feel so pathetic right now that it's impossible to describe. I'm the guy, here. I should be the one doing this speech, right? Especially since she's gone through so much, herself. I sigh, falling back against the couch and running a hand over my face. "I'm fine. Sorry… for sounding so pathetic," I mutter.

  "Being brave doesn't mean you're not scared," Falconess says. "It means you overcome your fears and do it anyway. But if you don’t feel right about this job, we won’t force you," she tells me, her expression turning serious. "You can stay in the bus for the school visit, and afterward Liz will return you to the school until this problem has died down."

  I feel like she's slapped me. I think it shows on my face, because Malina instantly protests, "It's not his fault he—"

  "This is not about fault,” Falconess says quietly. “This is about his choice. Every one of you has a choice to make, and we can’t force you to choose what we’ve chosen for ourselves.”

  "It’s not ‘a choice’--it’s having common sense!" I say, getting to my feet. "I stood up to Mother—I TRIED to save Skystep! I just wasn't a match for her! YOU aren't a match for her, either! Even MASTERMENTAL turned pale when he saw her the first time in my memories! It's one thing to say bravery is all you need, but it's another to actually survive it! My DAD was brave! He was the bravest man I ever knew—but he was NO MATCH for Deathblow!"

  Where is this coming from? I think it's been buried deep inside of me for a very long time, actually. "Mastermental said she wasn't a telepath, but she STILL brainwashed me and Skye. Who knows what else she can do? Who else she has under her control? She's controlling norms through television waves, Falconess! She is OUT. OF. OUR. LEAGUE!"

  The bus pulls over to the side of the road and I jerk as a spark of lightning crosses the room and Liz appears in front of me. She reaches up, almost gently, and shocks the crap out of me with a touch. I let out a yelp, falling back down and spasming for a second before I recover. "What was that for?" I demand.

  "Shock therapy," she says shamelessly. "You're right, though. You, Falconess, the others in this bus, we're not a match if she is what I think she is. That doesn't mean we're at a disadvantage. On our own I'm probably the one that would last the longest, but I don't think I would win. But we aren't on our own, are we? We have all of Central Hall on our side. ALL of the Hall, if it comes down to it."

  "What do you think she is?" I demand, daring her to say it.

  "I think she's an alien," she says, "and there's a chance she's the same type of alien my dad is. Is that what you wanted me to say?"

  "No… honestly, it isn't," I admit, my shoulders slumping. "I was just hoping you'd tell me I was wrong."

  "You're a smart kid," she says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You know what the risk of just what we’re doing now is. We won't blame you if you back out, but do you really think it's not worth the risk? There are healers out there—they're not as strong, or as tough as you are, and they're all alone."

  Something about that statement nudges my mind. I jerk, shocked that I'd forgotten. "We just left her," I say. "We have to go back!"

  "Left who?" Liz asks.

  "The healer!"

  The bus jerks into action, so no one even notices Emily pulling out her phone and silently saying, “Hey, Century? I know I shouldn’t do this, but—”

  ***

  The biggest names in heroism are conspiring right in front of her, Skye’s new “roommate” thinks with a hint of wonder. She’d dreamed of working on a team affiliated with Superior in the past—not WITH him, of course, more like being one of the lower tier heroes that fell under the Hall name, you know? He might have even gotten to know her name after a few years. That hadn’t happened—and honestly, a part
of her always knew that it wouldn’t. She’s a monster type. Monster type supers will never be big names in the industry, unless they become villains. She’s actually resigned herself to become a villain now—which means she should NEVER get the chance to work with these guys, right? But here she is, watching Mastermental, Superior, and the son of Superior all completely focused on—

  No, not her. Her roommate. The ACTING super villain.

  Doris follows the others, watching Skye as she pulls to a stop in the middle of the sky and turns in a circle. For a moment the girl seems like she’s dancing—her eyes are closed and she’s humming off-key. All of a sudden, though, she pulls to a stop and points in a direction. “That way!” she declares with a brilliant grin. “I found her!”

  “Good job, Skye,” Superior says. “Now are you prepared for what you need to do?”

  “I’m going undercover!” Skye says. “I’m the sexy spy that double crosses the power hungry bad guy,” she poses, putting her hands on her hips and thrusting out her rather flat chest in what Doris can only assume is her “sexy” pose. It’s completely ruined when a rush of wind shoves her hair into her face and she starts to spit out hair as she pushes it away. “I’m going to find out all sorts of things! Like if she’s like Pop and what her dastardly evil plan is. And then I’m going to yell at her for brainwashing me!”

  “No yelling,” Nico says, moving to stand in front of her, blocking Doris’s sight. “Got it?” he asks a second later. Doris could almost swear he touched Skye’s hair—but she doesn’t know why. That’s not the problem, she tells herself. This whole situation just feels WRONG.

  “Shouldn’t we be going after Herold?” she demands. “He’s the real threat here!”

  “No he’s not,” Skye says, moving into Doris’s face. “MOTHER’S the real threat!”

  “Ladies, ladies, they’re both a threat,” Nico says. “And that’s another part of this—find out if there’s a relationship between Mother and Herold, Skye. Now I’m going to go check on the kids again. Shadowman is still out there.” He flies away, leaving Mastermental and Superior to talk with Skye.