by R. J. Ross
“Now, Skye, I want you to act exactly like she’s your mother,” Superior starts out, pulling Skye away from her. Doris hesitates for all of a second before chasing after Nico.
He hasn’t gone very far—just far enough that the others don’t see him without looking for him, she notices. She flaps her wings, heading for him. “What are you really doing?” she asks.
“I can check on the kids from here,” he says blandly, but she sees a handful of parts racing towards them. She looks down and sees a junkyard in the distance. “Or I can put together a nice little monitor so we can watch what’s happening with Skye during her mission.”
She stares at him for a long moment. “You’re really nosy, aren’t you.”
“If you’re so offended, you don’t have to stick around,” he says blandly as a machine seems to build itself in front of her eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she declares.
“Good. Now take this and watch it while I distract the others,” he says, handing her the monitor. “If anything happens, yell.”
***
"This truly is fascinating," Mother says, lounging in a plush chair as she stares at the healer he'd brought in. Shadowman hides his irritation, forcing his expression to stay bland. "No matter what I do to you, it goes back to how it was within thirty seconds. Including your little… weight problem," she says delicately.
"That one actually really sucks," the purple haired healer girl says, looking downright depressed over the fact. "But the rest of it—HAH!" she goes on, pointing at Mother as if she's winning. It makes a tiny smirk pull at Shadowman's lips, which he quickly hides. Apparently, though, it wasn't fast enough.
"Really, Shadowman, do you find this entertaining?" Mother asks in a purr. He's grown to hate that tone. It means she's about to do something exceedingly evil. He's used to evil—it's the "exceedingly" part that makes him uncomfortable.
"No, Mother May I," he says, his new nickname for her slipping out unconsciously.
"Mother May I," Mother repeats, the purr switching to amusement. "I haven't heard that in years!"
"How old ARE you?" Kirsten demands, looking at him.
"Somewhere around eighty?" he says, not quite sure, himself. "You stop keeping count after a while."
"You old geezer," Kirsten says, snorting. "But you can't do anything to me, lady! I'm a healer!"
"Of course you are," she says, "which is why I'm going to keep you right here. Tell me, where are the others?"
Shadowman sighs inwardly. He'd been summoned back when it turned out the girl couldn't be brainwashed—now he's stuck on guard duty, in case she tries to make a run for it. He almost hopes she does.
"I have no idea who you're talking about," Kirsten says stubbornly, daring to glance in the direction of the door. Shadowman moves, blocking her view.
"Don't even think about it," he says.
"Thank about what?" someone asks from behind him. He turns, irritation and a hint of dread sneaking in. Skystep is standing there, looking confused. "I'm baaaack!" she declares when he doesn't explain. "Sorry it took so long, I kept running into stuff that needed to be looked at," she says cheerfully, walking around him and over to Mother. "Did you miss me?" she asks.
"Of course I did, my child," Mother says, but the look on her face is sharp. "Did something interesting happen while you were gone?" she asks after a moment. "It's hard to tell with you, it really is," she adds, almost to herself.
"I don't think so?" Skye offers, sitting on the arm of Mother's chair. "Oh! You got us a little sister!" she says, jumping off the chair as soon as she sits down, practically. "What a cutie!" she says, throwing herself at Kirsten. "Mother, Mother, can I keep her?" she asks, turning to look at Mother with a hopeful expression. "We can go for a ride on my skele-dino! It'll be AWESOME!"
"Perhaps later, sweetie," Mother says. "Shadowman, you can go back to your work—Skystep will take over here. Now where is Justin?" she asks, frowning and looking around.
Shadowman takes advantage of the moment and heads through the nearest shadow, not bothering to find out what happens next. He'll drag this out, he decides as he heads out, he’ll take as long as possible to find the next target. The only reason he even plans on going back at all is because she'll send out another "shovel to the face" message if he doesn't. He doesn't feel like getting a shovel to the face again.
Too bad he can't just move in down here, he thinks as he wanders through the Shadowlands, but there are too many repercussions for staying that long. Idly he wonders if he should warn his kid about that fact.
Probably.
Will he? Probably not.
***
"Is everything going well?” Mastermental asks as Nico rejoins them.
“Just fine. I replaced their driver with Liz, in case Shadowman comes back,” Nico says.
“Good. We need to focus on the task at hand. This is extremely risky," Mastermental says as both Superior and Nico start fidgeting ever so slightly. Most people wouldn't even notice the fidgeting—it's hidden extremely well, but he's known the two for a very long time. Nico's ticks are almost exactly the same as Superior's. "Even I shouldn't check in too often," he adds. "The only reason I can is because her mind is too active and, well, erratic for even you to notice when I do, Superior."
"True," Superior says, "but I still don't like any of this."
"It was YOUR idea, Father," Nico growls. They're high above the world, far beyond reach by normal means. So it's a bit of a surprise to see someone heading straight for them—it's even more of a surprise when the man slams straight into Mastermental, sending them both towards the ground.
"What in the HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Century bellows angrily as he takes the Central Hall leader down. They slam into the side of a mountain, but neither of the Superiors make a move to stop it.
"He really should have gone after you," Nico says, shooting a dark look at Superior.
"Of course he should have," Superior agrees. "But I'm no longer the Hall leader—that makes me 'not it.'"
"Would you two STOP TALKING and get him off of me already?" Mastermental calls to them, trying and failing to shove the other man away with his mind. The second he gets a good grip on him, it’s negated by Century’s time powers, nor can he attack the man mentally, because that would be a breach of contract. Defense is allowed, as are simple physical attacks, but Century can’t stop his personal time and he can’t attack the man mentally (unless, of course, other rules have been broken ahead of time.) So now, because of rules that HE helped make, he’s buried ten feet into a mountain by an outraged Hall leader.
Superior sighs and the two fly down, grabbing the angry southerner off of Double M. "We didn't have a choice!" Nico says as Century jerks at their hold. The fact that it takes more than one of them to hold him says just how angry the large super is.
"You sent MY SKYSTEP INTO THIS!" he roars. "I'll KILL YOU!"
"This is no time to be fighting," Mastermental says as he dusts off his uniform. "We need to keep our focus on Skye," he says. "She's in a dangerous position—we need to be able to go in and save her if she needs it."
"She's in a dangerous position BECAUSE OF YOU!" Century rages. "Of all of my branch, why did you pick her?"
"Because she's already been chosen by this 'Mother' woman," Superior says, his jaw tight. "She would have been hunted down, even if we hadn't interfered."
"Who is Mother?" Century demands, turning to look at him. "What does she have to do with my Skye?"
"We aren't certain yet," Mastermental says, his tone the calmest in the bunch. "We're trying to find out with Skystep's help. But you seem inordinately fond of a super villain, Century. If it was Voltdrain in this position, would you be trying to kill me right now?" he asks.
Century goes still. "Voltdrain can take care of himself," he says finally.
"And Skystep can't? If I recall correctly, she's the one that took out half of my team and almost all of yours, simply because one of her playmates lef
t without warning her," Mastermental says, watching him closely. "She's an S class, isn't she?"
"Class has nothing to do with this," Century growls. "She's vulnerable."
"We agree," Superior says, so simply that everyone turns to look at him. "My wife chose to accept her as family—Tatiana will kill me if anything happens to her, but she's still the best way to get information on our enemy.”
"Nico?" Doris yells from the ground, "Something is happening!"
"Who's that?" Century asks. "Is that the Jersey Devil girl?"
"She insisted," Nico says, dropping like a rock to get to the girl. The others follow suit. Doris is crouched in front of a monitor, her eyes glued to the screen. "What's happening?" he asks. "Did she discover the camera?"
"No, but there's a kid there," Doris says, motioning to the screen. The minuscule camera zooms out as Nico gets there, showing a purple haired female. "She doesn't look like a super, so why is she there?"
"That's where you're wrong—she looks EXACTLY like a super," Superior says with a scowl, "a healer type. Why is Skye wearing a camera? Are you TRYING to get her killed?" he demands, grabbing Nico by the front of his uniform.
"I used one that you never noticed, Father. If you've never noticed it, neither will Mother. Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Nico demands.
"When did I not notice it?" Superior asks.
"Every time you've seen Liz," Nico says. "She's always wearing it."
"Really?"
"Ever since I got out of the Cape Cells."
"Does Liz know about it?" Superior asks curiously.
"That's not the important question," Nico says quickly. "The important question is; how are we going to get that healer girl out without blowing Skye's cover?"
"Who else does she have under her control?" Century asks, taking a deep breath as he forces himself to calm down.
"Shadowman," Nico says.
"And she did have Justin," Mastermental says a bit reluctantly.
***
"I'm so sorry," Emily says over the phone as we pull to a stop in front of the building where Malina and I had been captives, "I can make it tomorrow? I'm sort of busy saving a life right now. Thanks. I mean it, I'll definitely be there," she says, hanging up. "We're here?" she says, looking over at me.
"We're here. But there's no way to be certain that the healer girl is—she might have gone home," I admit, getting out of my seat and heading for the door.
"Wait—" Liz says as it swings open. Before I can say anything, a black force field wraps around my body and I'm lifted from the bus.
"WHERE IS KIRSTEN?" the pink haired girl demands, right in my face. I guess she's gotten over the whole fan girl awe thing, huh? This black force field bubble is trying to break me in two. "Did you take her? Are you kidnapping her for your stupid school?" she demands. "You could have at least TOLD me you were going to do that! Kirsten, come out! I'm not going to yell at you!" she calls at the bus.
"Is Kirsten the healer?" I ask.
"Yes!"
"We don't have her," I admit. She visibly wobbles, falling to the ground.
"You don't?" she asks.
"We came back here to get her. Are you sure she hasn't gone home or something?" I ask.
"I called. Her mom said she never made it home—she thought she was with me," the pink haired girl says, looking worried. What IS her name, again… Rachel? I think? "Did—do you think Maximum kidnapped her? He threatened to kidnap the water girl—Kirsten's way better than the water girl."
"Max doesn't kidnap people," I say, looking over my shoulder at the people in the bus. "We've got a missing healer," I tell them. The guilt is racing through me like a flood. I feel like I'm going to throw up—it's all my fault. She was here because of me. Who knows who saw her? Are they norms? Or could it be—
"Justin," I jerk as a hologram of Nico overlays the pink haired girl. I jerk my arm, aiming the hologram away from her. "We have to ask you for a favor," he says. "We need to get a healer away from Mother without blowing Skystep's cover. Are you up for it?"
No. Absolutely not. How can he even ASK that of me? I take a step back, bumping into the bus as my head starts to swirl.
"If you know where she is, why don't you do it yourself?" I ask. "Why don't you just break in and take her out? Why don't you—"
"Because she's not the only one involved," Nico says. "We can’t risk Skye’s cover. There's also a connection with Shadowman and a good chance there's something between Mother and Herold, too. Who knows how many others she’s working with? We need to know what we're up against. But if you don't think you can do it—"
"The healer, is she a short, purple haired girl?" pink haired girl demands. "Is she Kirsten?"
"She has purple hair, yes, but I've never seen this Kirsten, so I can't tell you for sure," Nico says.
"It's her," she whispers. "She's been kidnapped—this is all my fault! I should have done my debut like it was planned. What will this—this Mother lady do to her?" she asks, tearfully. "Will she kill her? Or use her for some evil plan? Or—or—"
"We don't know, and we're not going to find out," I say. I'm so stupid. I'm going to die for a fan girl. I can't believe I'm even speaking right now. "I'll get her out." I just… maybe Liz and Falconess got to me, after all.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Nico says as the hologram disappears. A second later he appears in front of us physically, with Superior standing right next to him. Superior takes his hand off of Nico's shoulder and turns to me.
"You're not like Skye," he says after looking at me for a long moment. "Your mind is easier to scan. That could be a problem." He moves forward, his hand coming up. Look, we all know he's the biggest name in all of super heroes throughout the world—but that's WHY I suddenly feel terrified. Actually, it's reassuring to know that I'm more scared of this guy than I was of Mother. Not that I’m going to tell him that.
"Wait!" Malina says, running out of the bus and standing between us. "You can't just say his mind is too easy to read and do whatever you feel like!" she declares, her arms out to the side—she barely comes to his thigh, I think a bit hysterically. "He's one of us—we need to know what you're planning first, or we won't let you do it," she says, trembling slightly.
"I'm going to make it look like his mind is still tampered with," Superior says.
"But he'll be the same as he usually is, right?" she demands.
"No," Superior admits. "It'd be easier if he actually believes he's enthralled with this Mother lady. It'll stop as soon as the opportunity to run with the girl appears."
"I don't like it," she says, glancing back at me. "Why can't he just pretend?"
"Because if she is like me, she'll know," Superior says. "Do you want to risk his life more than it already is?"
I see the tremor running through her body—she's facing down THE Superior just for me. Malina, the girl that was so terrified after the zoo incident that she refused to talk to strangers for months. It's humbling. I feel a rush of calm run through my body and I step forward, touching her shoulder. She looks up at me.
"If you can stand up to him for me," I tell her, "I can stand up to Mother," then, because I'm terrible, "as long as you promise to go on a date with me after this is over."
She turns so red that it practically glows. "But—wha—you—" she stutters, tripping over herself and practically falling as she tries to pull away. "Quit teasing me! You playboy! Morgan was right about you!"
"Hey, I honestly liked Morgan!" I protest, trying not to laugh. "Morgan is awesome—but I love Ace like a brother, so if he's got a chance I have to support it," I admit. "One date, it's all I ask," I say. "Give me something to come back for."
"Okay," she says slowly, "but I get to pick the place, got it? No complaining! Even if it's the most horrible place in the world for you, you still have to go along with it!"
"No complaining," I agree, grinning. "Do it," I say to Superior.
He reaches out, not even moving around Malina, and touches
my forehead.
***
It's awkward, Doris thinks, since Century is sitting RIGHT next to her—so close that their shoulders are touching. He doesn't even seem to notice, his attention is fully focused on the small computer screen. His face looks as if it could have been carved out of granite, save for a slight tick in his jaw. He seems even more worried about this than she is.
"You don't… isn't she a super villain?" she demands abruptly. She's still a bit amazed at how quickly Skye had dragged her into her spell. As much as she hates the "family" game Skye keeps trying to play, she's still smack-dab in the middle of it.
"She plays by Hall rules," Century says coldly.
"She's still a super villain—"
"She's never intentionally hurt a norm in her life," Century says, his tone saying that's the end of the conversation.
"But they said she took out one and a half Halls—"
"I said 'norm,'" he says with a hint of amusement. "Those in the Hall are free game."
"Do you love her?"
He jerks slightly, his face losing the granite texture for a second as his mouth opens slightly. It closes slowly and she thinks he isn't going to reply. Then he says, "Love comes in many forms, sugar. I lost my wife a long time ago. I loved her with all of my heart. I'll never find that type of love again."
"So what type of love do you have for Skye?" she asks. "Before you go on, you should know she's got the entire Superior family claiming her as theirs," she adds. "I haven't met Tatiana yet, but she terrifies me, and she's just ONE of them."
He lets out a little laugh, shaking his head. "She's one of my favorites," he says. "Voltdrain is my right hand man, Flame is my hothead, but Skye always makes the day brighter. That's hard to do in Texas, you know," he tells her. "I'd take on the entire Hall—including the Superior family, for her if I had to. Don't tell her that, though."
"She's crazy, but she’s fun, and accepting, and… I like her," Doris admits. "I thought all those years in a tube made me insane—and then I met her. I'm positively sane in comparison."
