Ditto Ditto

by R. J. Ross

  “I don’t know what happened with Melody’s parents,” he says in a quiet tone. Why isn’t he yelling at her? It seems like “yell at Skye” day, so he must not have gotten the notice. “I, of all people, know just how easily things go wrong in this job. I would like to know, though. I think there are some serious misunderstandings going on–“

  “Oh, I don’t misunderstand anything,” she snaps. “The only friend I have has already told me just what’s wrong. No, he’s not my friend, either, is he?” she says to herself. “Forget it. I’m going home.” She turns, starting off again only to slam into his chest. “There are things that need to be discussed,” he says in a firm tone, his hands on her forearms. “Running away won’t solve anything.”

  She looks up at him, wondering why she feels a sudden chill racing down her spine. She can take him, she swears she can. He’s just all hype and talk. “Let go of me,” she grits out.

  “Emily is part of my family,” he says, looking her straight in the eye. His eyes are a clear color of blue, and full of something that makes her phase out of his hold. Compassion. “She needs to know that you’re not a threat. You AREN’T a threat, are you?”

  She opens her mouth, closes it, and opens it again, trying to come up with words. It’s not working, she realizes. She takes one step back before turning and racing away again. A part of her expects him to show up in front of her. She dares to glance over her shoulder, but he’s just floating there with a frown on his face. That image seems to linger in her mind all the way back to Texas.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t sleep at all, I just kept rolling over and getting tangled up in my sheets, until finally the alarm went off and told me that I was done trying. I got out of bed, heading for the bathroom to get cleaned up, then dressing without thinking. I’m pretty sure nothing I’m wearing matches, not even my socks. Then again, my socks never DO match, so I don’t care.

  I find Liz and Aubrey sitting at the table as I come out of my room, talking quietly. They go silent as they see me, and I give them a dark look. “You can talk about it in front of me, you know,” I mutter as I sit down and grab the box of Fruit Loops and milk. I fill my bowl as they look at each other.

  “We were just talking about your training,” Aubrey says, making me glance over at her.

  “If anyone can help you with your new doppelganger, it’s Missy,” Liz says. For a second I’m positive she’s just trying to cheer me up, but she looks me straight in the eye. “She’ll get you on the right track in no time,” she says, giving me a little grin.

  “Aren’t you worried about what she–the other me is trying to do?” I demand, getting irritated. “She’s trying to hunt down Skystep! She wants revenge!”

  “Well, yeah,” Aubrey says, looking over at Liz.

  Liz shrugs. “There’s no way one doppelganger’s going to accomplish something that I couldn’t pull off, honey.”

  I stare at her for a moment. “Oh,” I finally say, feeling like an idiot.

  “Well, actually, I probably could have pulled it off, but it’s thanks to Ditto that I didn’t,” she declares. That sounds egotistical, right? Unless it’s said in the bland sort of way she just said it. “We figure–“ she goes on, looking at Aubrey.

  “Well... um, there’s reason for a part of you to want revenge,” Aubrey says quietly, looking at her cereal instead of me. She looks exhausted. I worry about my sister, she has a bad habit of overworking herself. “It’s even traditional–super heroes that have their parents killed by a super villain seeking revenge. It’s only recently that they’ve cut back on that line of thing–“

  “What she’s trying to say is that your anger is understandable,” Liz says. “I mean, I don’t know what I’d do if my parents were killed–“

  “Superior?” Aubrey asks.

  “Well, okay, maybe I don’t particularly understand it,” Liz admits, looking a bit sheepish. “I mean, Superior wasn’t–isn’t that... well, regardless, we’re talking about Emily, not me. But the thing is,” she says slowly, “revenge just gets uglier. I’ve seen it once or twice. Once you start down that path, well, it’s not easy to get off of it.”

  “What about your mom?” I ask, only to get a shrug from Liz.

  “Well I COULD get revenge for my mom,” she says in a light tone, “at least on the one that ran her out, but it would make family dinners upstairs rather awkward.”

  “What?” Aubrey asks, looking over at me.

  “Nico tossed her out,” Liz says, drinking the milk out of her bowl as if she hadn’t just dropped a bomb in our laps. “I haven’t heard from her since. Who knows where she is? She very well could be dead.”

  I wince. “Don’t you want to find out?” I ask quietly.

  “No,” she says, putting her bowl down. “You two are going to be late for school and I’m going to miss Judge Judy, if we don’t go now.”

  “Um... what about Tatiana?” I ask, having heard about the large woman from Zoe. They’d been Skyping the woman weekly.

  “She still doesn’t know about me,” Liz says. “I’d rather she not find out, actually.”

  My mouth opens, only to snap closed as Trent opens the front door. “You two coming?” he asks.

  “Yeah, we’re coming,” I say, getting to my feet and heading for the door. Aubrey follows and we both pause at the door, glancing over at Liz. Our foster mom is draping herself over the couch and flicking on the television without bothering to use the remote control. It looks like that conversation is over.

  I slip my hand into Trent’s, not about to give it up even as Sunny jumps on his back. I just need to hold hands right now. He doesn’t even grunt with his best friend’s weight, just gently tightens his hold on my hand and shoots me a questioning smile. “You better now?” he asks softly.

  “Not really, but I’ll get over it,” I says, glancing up at Sunny. I swear his brain doesn’t kick in until noon. If Adanna was here, she would so smack his leg for interfering. I’m tempted to, myself.

  “Sunny, seriously, can’t you just walk?” Trent demands.

  “I’m worried about Emily, too, you know,” Sunny says, shooting me a brilliant (if sleepy) green look. He seems to be looking into my soul, which is pretty rude, if you ask me. He lifts a hand toward me, making a fist and then opening it slowly, a flower blooming out of nowhere. “It’ll be better soon,” he tells me as I take it.

  “I hope so,” I say, looking at the flower. Liz’s expectations for Falconess give me a tiny ray of hope. This is about the time that Zoe comes out and grabs my arm–which I’m really looking forward to, right now–

  Nothing happens. I look over at Sunny, frowning. “What did you do with your sister?” I demand.

  “I dunno, I think she got up like, an hour ago or something,” he says, yawning loudly.

  “And you actually woke up then?” Trent asks.

  “Cuz she was talking to Adanna,” Sunny explains. “They were up to something, but I couldn’t stay awake long enough to find out.”

  I look over at Trent, who doesn’t look nearly as nervous as I feel at that idea. “She’s probably just working on the security system again,” Trent offers. “You know how protective she’s gotten.”

  I nod, a bit worried, and step out of the apartment building. There, on the other side of the security field, stand Zoe and Adanna–dressed in really strange outfits. Zoe’s wearing pink camo and black army boots, and Adanna is wearing a mini-Panther uniform, complete with the dramatic fur over the shoulder and a stick hanging over her back.

  “Oh, wow, I gotta get pictures of THIS,” Sunny says, sliding off of Trent’s back and heading for the panel. He’s out in a blink of an eye, even with having to dance on the steps.

  I look at Trent, a bit sorry to let go of his hand–but I’ve GOT to see this, too. I hear Trent laughing, but I’m too busy watching my footsteps to reply. I step out of the laser field and turn, looking at Adanna first. She looks AWESOME! I actually let out a little
squeal and jump up and down as I dig out my phone. “I’ve got to get pictures!” I say, even though Sunny already is.

  “We aren’t here to play cosplay,” Adanna says dryly as I snap more shots. She’s holding one of those Tommy guns that–oh. Oooooh. I look over at Zoe, who’s got a freaking CANON over her shoulder. “We’re here to walk Emily to school.”

  I love my best friends. “Are you going to spend the entire day in that outfit?” I have to ask Adanna. Right now I’m imagining them both going through the obstacle courses carrying their weapons. Somehow it’s not as hard to picture as you’d think. “Where did you get it from, anyway?” I ask as Zoe grabs the back of my shirt, pulling me between the two girls.

  “Mama and Kim are quite close friends,” Adanna says, with a hint of red in her cheeks, “she’s a super tailor for the Hall–she came over for dinner last night and, ah... I think she had a few too many glasses of wine,” she admits.

  “I think you look amazing,” Zoe says, turning with each step and surveying the area around us. I hear muffled laughter from overhead, where some of the most dangerous retired super heroes are flying to work, but nobody says a word.

  “Well, I didn’t want an entire outfit,” Adanna complains, “I just wanted the basic uniform, but one thing led to another and now I’m wearing faux fur.” She wrinkles her nose and it’s so adorable that I snap another picture. “I notice you didn’t ask Zoe where she got hers from,” she drawls.

  “I ordered it on Amazon,” Zoe says, looking over from her obsessive searching to give me a shameless grin. She’s enjoying this. “You’d be surprised how quickly a technopath can get things delivered.”

  “Um, okay,” I say, my attention going to the canon on her shoulder. “Is that more laughing gas?” I ask. I know what Adanna’s packing, we had that experience when Ace showed up, and saw it used again when Vinny went to Texas. The canon, on the other hand, is new.

  “Nope, it’s a specialized net that Dad helped me build,” she says, her finger lightly stroking the trigger. “NOBODY can get through this baby.”

  I honestly think that the more she gets into the technopath world the more mad scientist like she becomes. It doesn’t help that she’s got that evil little laughter down pat, I have to admit. “You guys are the greatest!” I declare, grabbing both of them in a hug. A tiny click sound makes all of our eyes widen and the whooshing sound that follows has all three of us looking to the sky in horror.

  “ZOE!” Taurus bellows irritably. He’s standing on one of the empty buildings near the canyon, covered in a glowing net. He tries to stand up, only to fall over again.

  I choke, especially when I catch sight of the guilty look on Zoe’s face. “Whoops,” she says. “Hey, Taurus, can I get that back? We only made one!”

  Taurus grunts, then shifts into his Minotaur form, dragging the net off of him and tossing it to her. “I thought nobody could get out of it?” I drawl.

  “Nobody NORMAL sized,” she says firmly. “Taurus is definitely not normal sized. He’s like... super sized in that form.”

  “Mmhmm,” Adanna says, “of course you didn’t think of size before that just happened, did you?”

  “We’re aiming for a female, not a Minotaur,” Zoe says.

  “Hey, Adanna, you should wear that outfit for our next date,” Sunny says. “Or maybe for Halloween–that would be AWESOME.” He’s still stuck on Adanna’s outfit, apparently. It’s pretty obvious by the way he keeps petting the faux fur hanging over her shoulder.

  “I’m not wearing this on a date–you said we were going to the mall,” Adanna says, giving him a look. “Can you imagine the looks I’d get?”

  “Exactly!” he says. Adanna rolls her eyes.

  “At least it got him off my back,” Trent says, coming up behind me. I let go of the other two, putting my hands down and reaching back discreetly. He takes my hand without a word, making me smile. The moment Zoe pauses to stuff the net back into the canon, he casually walks around her, taking her place.

  “Wait a second!” she says, racing forward as she slings the canon over her shoulder again, “I’m the armed one, I should walk beside her,” she declares to Trent.

  “I don’t need to be armed,” Trent says, “and she’s my girlfriend.”

  “I didn’t see you waking up at six this morning getting ready for Emily guard duty,” Zoe tells him.

  “It’s true,” Adanna agrees. “Which is why you get the back,” she tells Trent.

  “Emily guard duty?” I ask. “Is there a sign-up sheet or something?” I demand.

  Zoe and Adanna look at each other before Zoe pulls out a piece of paper and holds it up. “We’ve got the shifts set up already,” Zoe explains. “We were going to pass it around school when we got to second class.”

  “I’m sleeping over tonight,” Adanna tells me, not bothering to ask.

  “So am I!” Zoe says. “We’ll have a sleepover!”

  “You just amped up the already seriously dangerous wall of lasers the other day,” Trent drawls. “And there are four S-class supers, one Specialized S class super, and one A class super that WOULD be S-class if he could fly. Two teenage girls aren’t going–“

  I glare at him, not because he’s wrong, but because these are my best friends he’s talking to. “Trent?” I say almost sweetly, “shut up.”

  “Sorry,” he mutters, lifting his free hand and running it through his hair. “It’s just... frustrating,” he adds almost silently. “You know, I’m still not even classified, officially.”

  “Sure you are,” Nico says from behind us. I hadn’t even realized he was there until he spoke. “You’re an upper B, lower A class cape–it’s not anything to complain about at all of sixteen. But honestly, this is all a moot point. Skystep ran home just last night.”

  I go still, almost tripping in shock. “What?” I ask, turning to look at him.

  “She left last night. From what I’ve heard, Flame had a little chat with her,” he repeats casually. “The situation’s already been taken care of.”

  “Does that mean we have to call off the sleepover?” Adanna asks after a long second of silence. I never thought I’d hear the tough-as-steel girl sound like that, I think as I glance over at her. “I ah, already made cookies,” she admits, glancing at me shyly.

  “We’re definitely having a sleepover,” I declare. What? Adanna makes AWESOME cookies! I hug her, hiding the fact that I’m still feeling strangely adrift at Nico’s news. Stuff like this NEVER ends so easily. Usually there’s got to be a big showdown before the bad guy gets a clue, or even a trip to the past! Not just... leaving.

  It doesn’t sit with me right. I just have to ignore it, though, I think as Adanna hugs me back a little awkwardly. I can go back to my life–and focus on my training to control my second doppelganger. I want to have my debut soon, after all. Then I can get in on the whole Trent versus Max thing! Or maybe even do a few of my own big battles!

  That would be awesome!

  ***

  *Texas*

  Home. Texas. It feels hollow, Skye thinks as she lands on the roof of her apartment building. Flame’s not here, he won’t be back until that skinny twerp with fire powers is fully trained. Melody isn’t here, she won’t be back... ever. She feels like crying, honestly.

  She stops at the highway for a moment, watching the cars rush past crazily. For a second she’s tempted to go down and stand in the middle of the ruckus just to mess with people’s minds. She doesn’t. She’s not even up for a massive car crash. That’s definitely a sign she’s depressed.

  Slowly she heads off, walking on air over their heads. She could have gotten here much faster, but she didn’t even want to come in the first place. What would have been the point in hurrying? Instead she’d stolen some cash from a rich looking man and gotten a hotel room for the night. It had been nice to sleep on a real bed, but at the same time she felt too numb to really enjoy it.

  No, she thought as she stepped over a building and headed a bit furt
her south, this day is looking to be just as grim as–

  “Hola, Señorita Skystep,” a smooth Hispanic voice says, making her groan loudly. What is with this world? Up north they have the goody-goody America’s Son. Down here there’s the goody-goody Voltdrain!

  “Can’t we get at least ONE Hall that isn’t out to ‘save me’?” she demands in outrage, turning on the super hero. “You might not have noticed, but I am a SUPER VILLAIN!”

  “You ran into America’s Son, no?” Voltdrain says, holding out a Starbucks cup. “Do not worry, I will get another one,” he adds when she just stares at it. Since she hasn’t eaten in days, her hand shoots out, grabbing it from him. She doesn’t even blink when he offers her a donut to go with it. “I know a very good Krispy Kreme,” he tells her as she bites into the donut.

  She barely refrains from moaning–he hadn’t been lying, she thinks as she gulps his breakfast down. When she’s done she licks her fingers and looks away from him. “I did not expect you back so soon,” he says quietly. “Did something happen?”

  “Why do you always do this?” she demands, turning her best glare on him. “You’re always trying to calm me down, trying to make everything seem like it’ll all turn out okay–well you know what? It WON’T. Melody is dead and Flint just kicked me to the curb! You and your stupid accent can’t fix those facts, Voltdrain!” His accent isn’t stupid, but it was the first insult she could come up with off the top of her head.

  “You need a friend,” he says, looking her straight in the eye. Those glowing orange eyes of his should be intimidating, she complains internally. They aren’t.

  “I don’t. Friends only hurt you more,” she says before racing away. This time she doesn’t even dare to look back. The image of America’s Son watching her leave is still too firmly planted in her mind.

  ***

  I almost forgot that Falconess would be here, I think as the woman in question lands next to our group. She puts her daughter down, who shoots us all a surly look and heads for the panel, but Falconess heads for my group. She stops, though, looking at Adanna curiously. Without a word, she pulls out her phone and snaps a photo. “Good morning, everyone,” she says as she pockets the phone. “How are you feeling, Emily?” she asks me.