by R. J. Ross
“He knew her?” I ask eagerly.
“Of course,” Falconess says. “She wasn’t as big of a name as many of the male villains--back then they tended to focus on male heroes and villains a lot more than they do females. To a point they still do, but people like Liz and Jeanie are starting to change that fact.”
“And you,” I say.
She gives me a slight smile. “And me,” she agrees. “Soon, you will, too. Are you certain you want to partner up with Trent, though?” she asks, showing me a picture of Duplicitous and two of her doppelgangers holding up a bank. “It seems to me that you could do just fine as a solo act.”
I hesitate, staring at the image. I can practically picture myself in that position, with Ditto on my right and another on my left--I blink as something flickers in the corner of my eye, and I jerk, just in time to see a faint shadow of someone disappearing.
“I was right,” Falconess says with a satisfied expression. “You can do it if you try. Then, after we get you used to creating two of them, we’ll start with small changes--you can change Ditto’s clothes, can’t you?” she asks. “I see she’s not wearing the swimsuit from yesterday.”
“Yeah, we change her clothes all the time,” I admit.
“Then we’ll work on hair and eye color later, but first focus on the big things--you’re going up against Dragon, remember?” she says. “You need every trick you can think of if you’re going to make it look good.”
I nod, focusing on the idea of a second Ditto. Just think of all the stuff I could do with three of us! I would never have to stay awake in class ever again!
***
“So for just a moment I can bring up a third one!” I tell Trent excitedly as I get to our first official class. “I don’t know what she’ll be called, probably Repeat or something, but there’s going to be three of me!”
“Three of you,” he says, not looking nearly as excited as I feel. “Okay...”
“Is there a problem with three of me?” I ask, giving him a dirty look.
“Well, it seems a bit...”
“You’re kidding me, right?” Jack asks as he heads for us. “ANOTHER one of you?”
I grin at him shamelessly, knowing he’s not going to like that idea one bit and not caring. It’s only Trent’s less-than-happy reaction that bothers me. What’s wrong with there being more of me?
Well, other than the urge to fight with myself for stuff like hand-holding privilege... I mean, I’ve gotten jealous over Ditto before, and I’m pretty sure she gets jealous of me once in a while, too--which is ridiculous, since we’re the same person. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel like it, though.
“Hey, Ace!” Jack calls across the room. “Em’s working on a second Ditto!”
“What?” Ace asks, looking shocked. “You mean there’d be three of her for the debut?”
“Yeah!”
Ace looks at me, staring for a long moment before rubbing his temple. “I’m getting a headache already,” he complains.
“Hey, I’m not that bad!” I say. “And there can be as many of you as you imagine, so it’s still not a fair fight!”
“We need to plot it out,” he says, lounging in his chair and looking thoughtful. “Something the cameras can follow, right?”
“I’m so proud of you, man,” Max says as he drops down in his own chair, “you’ve been doing your super villain homework--unlike others I could mention,” he drawls with a pointed look at Jack.
“Hey, it’s not in my resume to be a brain,” Jack says with a shrug. “I’m just there for the brute force battles--Ace can do the thinking crap.” He pulls out his phone, tapping on it for a long moment before scowling and putting it away. He doesn’t even seem to notice Keliah stealing the seat next to his--Aubrey’s seat. I do, though.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, oozing sympathy. Jack looks at her blankly for a long moment before looking over at Trent.
“When’d we get a mini-blonde?” he asks blankly.
I can’t help the snicker that escapes me, especially when Trent just looks at him for a long moment before going, “She’s Falconess’s kid,” in a bland tone.
“I have a name, you know. It’s Keliah,” Keliah says sharply.
“It’s nice to meet you, Keliah,” Trent says. “Don’t mind my brother, he’s just in a bad mood.”
“A worse than usual mood, you mean,” Sunny says as he comes in, yawning hugely before dropping into the seat in front of me. “Sup, Em? How’s your training going?”
“I’m going to have a second Ditto!” I say, getting excited again. “And Falconess brought a file on the last duplicator--her name was Duplicitous and she was a super villain in the eighties!” I say, pulling out the file that Falconess let me keep and opening it to show the newspaper clips.
“A super villain?” Trent says, looking fascinated as he reaches for one of the papers. “I never thought about that...”
“I’m not going to be one, obviously--“
“Why not?” Max asks.
“What?”
“Well not yet, of course, but for a little bit we could hypnotize you to the dark side and let you go on a rampage. Then Trent would have to turn you back to the good side--it’s the sort of ridiculous plot that the norms eat up–after your debut, of course.”
The idea is intriguing--until Vinny walks into the room, talking on his phone. “Yeah... yeah... sure, Flint, but--are you okay? Yeah? Right. At least remember to eat something, got it? Yeah. See ya.” He hangs up, scowling slightly as he takes his seat. The entire room turns to look at him and he takes his sweet time before talking. “Skystep found him,” he says simply.
Right. That’s why I’m not going to go super villain.
CHAPTER FOUR
The official story of my parents’ death is that they were caught in an avalanche while trying to save a group of hikers. For a long time I believed that’s exactly what happened. Even heroes have a difficult time dealing with natural disasters. But then, one night before bed, I found out differently.
The first time that the sisters and I got into a one-sided fight, I was stunned. I had a black eye--it stung every time I reached up and touched it, and my eye was starting to swell shut to the point I couldn’t see out of it. I was going to tell the parents about what happened. They were in the front room, talking about something serious, though, so I found myself hesitating at the end of the hall.
“So...she’s back?” Geoff said almost off-handedly. “I thought they put her under lock and key after what happened to the Divines.”
“You know as well as I do that it was an accident. There were complications,” Marlina said, finger quoting the word. “Phasing ability is hard to handle--Skystep is worse. They should have never tried to, especially in a place like that.”
“So she accidentally set off an avalanche,” Jeoff drawled. “Yeah, right. She probably got irritated with the two and slipped through the rocks. She might be pretending to play the game, but we all know the truth.”
“Shush,” Marlina said. “Their daughter is just down the hall. She should be coming into her powers soon, we don’t want her hearing.”
“You mean Century doesn’t want her hearing,” Geoff said. I reached up, touching my eye as I realized I could see clearly out of it. I took a step back, then another, rushing for my bedroom rather than confronting them.
Skystep had killed my parents.
***
“I’ll never be a super villain,” I say quietly, making Max look at me curiously. “Never.”
He hesitates, and I can see his mind racing. I can almost feel him trying to look into my mind--Max is supposed to have telepathic abilities, you know? But so am I, I think, imagining a brick wall right in front of my thoughts.
“Whoa,” Max says, jerking back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” he says, holding up both hands in front of him. “Unless you want to explain, that is?”
“No,” I say, turning away from him and watching very pointedly as Banshee
walks into the room with her suitcase in her hands. Class is about to start, which means they won’t have the chance to grill me.
I can feel Trent watching me, a curious expression on his face. He’s going to ask, sooner or later. If he does I’ll have to tell him. I don’t want to.
“As everyone knows, we’ve got a few new students today,” Banshee says, drawing their attention to her, “Keliah and Rocco, why don’t you each introduce yourselves and tell us a little about your powers?”
I look over at Keliah, who hesitates for a moment before getting to her feet. “My name is Keliah, and I’m going to be a super villain,” she announces boldly. The entire room turns to stare at her.
“I see,” Banshee says far too mildly. “Interesting choice, but what we were waiting to hear was what sort of powers you have.”
“You--shouldn’t you be yelling at me for ruining the Falconess line?” Keliah asks.
“Considering that Max is the son of Mastermental, and Ace is the son of Blackjack, we can’t exactly start getting offended by things like that this late in the game,” Banshee says, sitting on her desk and crossing her legs. “I suppose we’ll take that as our introduction. You can sit down, now.”
“But I--“ Keliah starts out, looking around a bit wildly. “I have more to say!”
“You can say it later, I’m sure,” Banshee says. “Rocco, I know you’ve told the dorm kids some of this, but why don’t you tell the rest of the class your story? I think they’ll find it fascinating.”
“I’m going to be a super villain!” Keliah practically yells. “Isn’t anyone going to SAY something?”
“Yeah,” Jack says, making Keliah look at him with a brilliant smile, “siddown and shuddup,” he finishes coldly. “If you’re just going to rant on about how you’re slumming, I don’t feel like listening to it.”
“Wh--what?” she asks, automatically sitting down. “I don’t--“
“Go on, Rocco, I want to hear this, too,” Max says, finishing off the entire blow-off that Keliah is going through right now. I wince, actually feeling sorry for the girl now. Her thing for Jack is so obvious, but Jack just--ouch. I find myself watching Keliah, who’s looking very close to tears right now.
“Excuse me,” she mutters, getting up and walking out of the room.
“Well, um, I can walk through shadows,” Rocco says, standing and shoving his hands into his pockets in a slightly sheepish manner, “and it’s ah... gotten me into trouble once or twice--“
I REALLY want to hear this story, darn it! I stand up, irritated with myself for all of a second before I realize--Ditto pops into existence, sitting in my spot. “Go on,” she whispers, waving me away, “you’ll find out later.”
That’s all I need, I think as I head out the door. I look around, but Keliah is nowhere to be seen. Now I know what you’re thinking--I’m thinking the same thing. This is stupid. I don’t even like the girl, she’s out to steal my sister’s boyfriend, but here I am sticking my nose in something that isn’t any of my business. Seems out of character for me, right?
Wrong. I did the same with Adanna. I crossed half a country being carried by Liz to help Vinny. It’s part of my... I don’t know, entire soul, or something, to seek out the ones that are suffering, that are feeling as if the world has turned on them. I was saved once, the least I can do is try and help save others, even if they’re being silly.
There, I think, picking up the faint sound of a sniffle. There she is. I turn, heading for the girl’s bathroom and slipping inside. It’s coming from the final stall, I think as I pull to a stop next to the door. “I’m not going to agree to you chasing my sister’s boyfriend, you know,” I say, leaning against the wall next to the window, “but for now I’ll ignore that fact.”
“Go away,” she snaps in a nasally voice. “I don’t like you. I don’t like anyone in this stupid school!”
“You know,” I say, pulling myself up to sit on the windowsill. “It really smells in here. I thought that girl bathrooms were supposed to smell better, didn’t you?”
I hear a tiny snort, but she doesn’t reply, so I keep going. “I really wanted to hear Rocco’s story--that’s why I left Ditto in my place. I think he broke into Fort Knox or something.”
“Wh--what?”
“On accident,” I drawl. This time I’m sure I hear a snort. “Hey, have you ever met other cape kids before?” I ask. There’s a tiny silence and I start wondering if she’s going to reply.
“No,” she says, “not really.”
“How old are you, Killer?” I ask.
“Keliah.”
“Killer Keliah, right? Super villainess extraordinaire.”
“Whatever,” she says.
“We don’t care,” I say bluntly. “Being a super villain is the same as being anything else here--in fact the super villains get more work than the heroes. Do you want to know what being a super villain in this school will consist of?”
“What?” she asks quietly.
“It consists of going out there every week, working your butt off to make some prima-donna super hero in training look good,” I tell her. “It consists of dramatically losing on a regular basis, only to go out late at night and clean up all the messes you made earlier. It consists of cheesy villain lines and costumes--oh, and a mic of your own. If you think we’re going to be terrified or in awe of you just because you decided to take that route, well, you’re out of luck. We spend every day with three of the biggest super villains in our generation--and know exactly what they’re like.”
“What... what are they like?” she asks.
“Well Max is egotistical,” I say, grinning slightly, “a show-boat with a thing for greyhound buses, but he’s also the first to get the group together if he sees a problem. He’s the one that had half of the school traveling to Texas just to talk to Vinny. He’s the reason the zoo kids and the apartment kids are finally starting to work together. He’s not a bad guy, really. Jack is brash and a bully, but he’s also one of the two that goes to visit the children’s hospital to entertain them on a monthly basis. He’s the one that works night and day to make a good show--and to make sure no one gets hurt during it. He could easily take down most of the new capes they set up to go against him, you know? But instead he does his best to make it entertaining. He’s got kids all over the world wearing his t-shirts.”
“Yeah, I’ve got one,” she admits.
“He loves his girlfriend and his family, and has really changed since I first met him,” I admit, kicking my feet slightly. “He was one of the first to bring Ace into the group. Ace is...” I hesitate, thinking for a moment. “Ace is quiet, artistic, and smart,” I decide. “He’s an artist--Adanna says he’s started painting a mural at her place that’s absolutely awesome. He’s the one still looking for a girlfriend, by the way, so I suggest if you want a villain you go after him--although he might be too old for you. Heck, I think all of them are.”
“I’m thirteen!” she says, as if that’s an impressive fact.
“Then he’s DEFINITELY too old for you. How about Lance? He looks like he’s fourteen or fifteen! And he is SO cute,” I say, grinning. “Like seriously adorable.”
“If you’re so fond of him, why don’t YOU date him?”
“Nope, I love Trent,” I say. “I’m going to be his partner after I have my debut.”
“I... I like Cold Steel,” she mutters.
“Yeah, but do you like JACK?” I say. “There’s a big difference between who he is on screen and off. You’ll probably not like him nearly as much when you get to talk to him--shoot, he’s already shot you down twice, and he wasn’t even thinking about it.”
“You’re so nosy, did you know that?” she demands, coming out of the bathroom stall. “Who I like, who I know, none of it’s any of your business! You’re just a stupid super hero in the making! Following along in your parents’ footsteps just like the rest of them--you never even think for yourself! You probably even plan on dressing like your mom--�
�
I slap her. I can’t stop myself--in fact my hand is stinging before I realize what I just did. “Don’t bring up my parents,” I hiss. “You know NOTHING about my parents.”
She winces, touching her face gingerly. It’s turning red, I think without guilt. She totally deserved it. “So what?” she demands. “You’re talking about me as if you know--“
“You didn’t DIE because of your job!” I bellow, my hands fisting at my sides. “You’re just going on about how you don’t want to dress like your mother--well you know what? I would KILL to have my mother here to complain about! I would KILL to have her wanting me to follow in her footsteps! You have no right to look down on the people that plan on taking up their parents’ jobs!”
The door bursts open and I feel arms wrapping around me before I can even blink. “Shhh,” Trent says, hugging me gently. “It’s okay, Em, it’s okay.”
The dam breaks. All this thinking about Skystep and the Behts family and--I start crying. I’m not one of those pretty criers, either, I’m noisy and ugly and I feel stupid showing this to the entire school, but I can’t seem to stop myself, not when he’s hugging me.
“Hey,” he says, rubbing my back, “it’s okay.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Jack asks. Yep, I was right. The entire school followed him here.
“I don’t know,” Trent admits, picking me up, “but I don’t think we should do this in the girl’s bathroom. C’mon, let’s go outside. Some sunshine will cheer you up, right?” he asks me. I would reply, but I’m too busy trying to sniffle up my snot. Yes, it’s that gross. And I’m showing it to my seriously good looking, perfect boyfriend.
I will never live this down.
Trent sits down on the steps, cuddling me. “Is this about Skystep?” he asks quietly. I jerk, so shocked that the tears stop. I stare at him for a long moment before looking down. I can’t come up with anything. “Ditto disappeared in the middle of Rocco’s story, so we were pretty sure something was going on--then we heard you yelling,” he says. “You’ve been looking pale since someone said Skystep’s name, don’t lie.”
