by Kai Strand
He frowned and squinted against the sunrise shining through the window across the aisle. Wait, sunrise?
“We’ll be starting our descent soon. Can I get you or your friend anything before I have to stop serving?”
“He’s not my friend,” Jeff said. He scowled up at the attendant who’d woken him.
A confused expression passed across her face before she amended herself. “Your travel companion, then.”
Jeff slapped Set’s arm with the back of his hand. “Yo, dude.” Set didn’t budge, so Jeff hit him more soundly with a fist to his bicep.
“Whhaa?” Set snapped awake with a furrowed brow.
Jeff felt the hairs on his arms raise and realized too late how stupid it was to wake a storm villain like that. “S’okay. It’s okay!”
Set took a deep breath, rubbed his face, and scraped his hand through his hair.
The flight attendant bravely offered them something to drink.
Jeff felt his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. “Do you have juice? Like orange juice?”
The attendant nodded eagerly.
“I’ll take a couple, if I can.”
“I just want water,” Set said.
The attendant scurried off. Jeff looked across the aisle at the white-gold sun cresting the clouds.
“Do you remember how long this flight was? We slept through the whole thing.”
Set shook his head. “Let me out of here. I gotta walk around.”
Jeff unfolded himself from his seat, feeling like he’d aged fifty years while he slept. It was a chore to unbend his knees and stand to his full height, not that he could stand at his full height in the plane. He had to keep his chin tucked to avoid scraping his head. While Set worked through his own aches and pains, Jeff shook his legs out and rubbed circulation into his arms. He was just sitting back down again when the attendant returned with their drinks. He put Set’s water bottle on the empty seat between them and downed the first cup of orange juice and handed it back before taking the second.
“Oh,” she smiled. “I was going to tell you to hurry and drink them, but I guess that won’t be a problem.”
“Thanks,” Jeff said.
“Don’t forget to turn that thing off when we begin our descent.” She gestured to his deionizer hanging from a belt loop. “What is that, anyway?”
“A newfangled medical thing for people with compromised auto immune systems,” Jeff said.
Her eyes grew large. “Oh.”
Jeff smirked to himself as he watched her walk away.
“At least you’re thinking on your feet again,” Set said.
Jeff sighed and pushed out of his chair to let Set back in. He knocked back the second glass of orange juice and went to use the restroom before he got stuck in his seat for the landing. He was glad the attendant didn’t find it necessary to check and make sure he turned off the deon. He didn’t relish the idea of charming her into believing him. Having women his mother’s age, or older, swooning over him made his stomach sour. He’d rather deal with the gigantic male nurse from the hospital than a hot and bothered forty-five year old female. At least he could punch the nurse if needed.
At the airport, they deplaned, found baggage claim, and headed toward the exit.
Set checked his watch. “We’re almost there, and school should be in session. We’re one step closer to finding Oceanus.”
Jeff closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Yeah. So, now what?”
“We go to the academy.” Set looked up toward the high ceiling as if praying for patience.
“We don’t know where it is.”
Set glared at Jeff, and then uttered a curse.
Jeff pulled out his phone to make a call, but saw that there was no signal. He spun slowly in a circle, holding his phone out hoping to capture one.
“Do you even have an international plan?” Set growled, coming to a stop next to him.
Jeff’s heart sank. “I don’t know, but I doubt it.”
“Here.” Set offered his phone.
“Thanks.” Jeff punched in his dad’s number. It rang an annoyingly long time before going to voicemail. Jeff slammed his eyes closed while he waited for his dad’s greeting to end. “Dad, we’re in Mexicali. I need the address to the academy. This is Set’s phone. Mine doesn’t work down here. Call back, fast.”
Knowing his dad wasn’t the best at checking messages, he hung up and called his dad’s office. “Hey, Hans, it’s Polar.”
“Hello, sir. I thought you were traveling.”
“I am. Is my dad there?”
“No, sir. He was called away. He had to accompany your mother on a particularly difficult situation in the Congo.”
“What? My dad’s fighting with the good guys now?”
Set arched an eyebrow questioningly.
“I was under the impression you were all good guys now,” said Hans.
“Something like that,” Jeff said. “Um, would you be able to find the address for the academy in Mexicali?”
“Certainly, sir.”
The clicking of a keyboard preceded Hans rattling off a strange series of numbers and foreign words.
“Uh…” Jeff patted his chest where a pocket would be if he had one.
Set rolled his eyes and reached into Jeff’s back pants pocket.
“Whoa!” Jeff jumped and twirled away.
With a baleful glare, Set requested the address and punched it into Jeff’s phone.
“Thanks, Hans. Do you know when my parents are expected back?”
“Not a clue, sir.”
Jeff hung up and traded phones with Set with a mumbled, “Thanks,” which elicited a curled lip from the storm villain.
The taxi they hailed had seen better days. Torn seat cushions and a sticky floor were framed in by graffiti covered sides and ceiling. The bushings creaked as the driver pulled away from the curb. Jeff leaned forward to show the driver the address, when Set spoke to the man in perfect Spanish.
The driver nodded once and hit the accelerator, yanking the steering wheel to avoid a group of tourists.
They drove for a good twenty minutes. Jeff tried to identify sights that looked familiar from his last trip, but the buildings and streets were nondescript, so nothing stood out as familiar. The city gave way to residential areas, which eventually thinned to the occasional warehouse or farm. Finally, the taxi pulled to the side of the road, next to an empty field.
Set barked something at the driver, who shook his head and gestured wildly as he replied. He pointed emphatically down the road again and again. Finally, Set threw some American money at him and climbed out of the cab. Jeff followed.
“What’s the deal?” Jeff asked, watching the taxi flip a U-turn and barrel up the dusty road back toward the city.
“He said the address we gave him is a bad place and no one will go there. This is as close as he was willing to take us. He said it’s in that building way up there.” Set pointed to a spec on the horizon.
“That looks right,” Jeff said, shrugging. “Let’s go.”
The hot sun beat down on them. Perspiration soaked Jeff’s shirt under the strap of his bag and under his arms. His jeans felt like they were going to spontaneously combust. It took them another half an hour to reach the building. A tall stucco wall surrounded it, and a bulky guard sat in the shade of a bright red and white umbrella next to the entrance. The festivity of the umbrella was in direct conflict to the prison-like atmosphere of the wall and guard. Jeff’s heart raced as they got closer and closer. Then panic set in. “Set, that’s not him.”
“Relax. Maybe he’s at lunch or something.”
As the boys approached, the guard stepped directly in front of the entrance, thick arms crossed over a weightlifter’s chest. Jeff couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark glasses, but his mouth was set in a stern, unwelcoming line.
“Um…” Jeff looked at Set and shrugged. “We’d like to see Señora Valdez.”
“She’s not expecting you
.” The man’s English was heavily accented, but understandable nonetheless. He was the same height as Set and looked like the Hispanic version of G.I. Joe.
“No, she’s not. It was a last minute trip,” Jeff said.
“She will not see you.”
Jeff raised his eyebrows and looked at Set. The guard’s dismissive attitude ticked him off.
Set studied the man like he was a curiosity. “How do you know? You haven’t asked her?”
“She sees no one without an appointment. Go away until you are expected.” The only thing that moved on the rock of a man was his mouth.
Jeff’s anger burned hotter than it should. He worried that it would spin out of control if this guy continued to refuse them. “Look…”
Set interrupted. “We really did come here unexpectedly. Polar, here, needs to find a guard who was working here the last time he came. We really don’t even need to see the headmaster, if you can point us in the direction of the other guard.”
“There is no other guard.” G.I. Jose said. “I am the only guard.”
Panic swirled in, mixing with Jeff’s anger, making an explosive combination. “Then we do need to see the Señora. We have to find that guy.”
“I am feeling that you are threatening me,” the guard said. He cocked his head ever so slightly in Jeff’s direction.
Set said, “No, of course not.”
At the same time Jeff said, “You bet your ass I’m threatening you.”
The guard reached up, shifted his sunglasses onto his forehead, and caught Jeff’s gaze with his own. With a spike in the panic meter, Jeff realized he was completely immobile. He couldn’t even shift his eyes to break whatever hold the guard had on him.
Never breaking eye contact, the guard strode forward, grabbed Jeff’s wrist, and spun him around capturing both hands behind his back. As soon as they broke eye contact, Jeff was released from the binding, but the guard was fast and strong and already held him in a vice grip. If Jeff struggled to free himself, he’d probably end up pulling his shoulders out of their sockets. The guard snaked cuffs around Jeff’s wrists and clutched his arm to hold him in place. When he stepped beside Jeff, his sunglasses were back over his eyes. Looking at Set, the guard asked, “Are you threatening me?”
Set chuckled making Jeff see red. “No way. I would never threaten a super before knowing his power.”
Jeff glared at Set. How dare he dress him down like that?
Set smirked and winked at Jeff before saying to the guard, “Do you have a holding cell or something for him?”
“Sí.”
Set followed along like a kid wandering after his family in the park, while the guard marched Jeff into the compound. They entered the academy through the front doors, but instead of following the grand hall to the headmaster’s office, the guard steered Jeff down a short, poorly lit hallway that ended in a low ceiling, cinderblock room. When they entered, a woman looked up from the paperwork on her desk and raised her eyebrows at the three men.
She said something in Spanish that made Set snort. The guard answered and she dug some keys out of the center desk drawer. She continued to prattle in Spanish and chuckled as she crossed the room to unlock what looked like a prison cell.
“You can’t put me in there!” Jeff blurted.
“It is secure from super powers,” the guard said. He sliced through the cuffs as he pushed Jeff through the open door. The slick plastic binding slithered to the floor.
The woman pulled the door closed and locked it. Then she turned and nodded her head at Set while addressing the guard.
When Set answered her question in Spanish, both she and the guard pulled back in surprise. As their conversation continued, Jeff became more and more annoyed. Set had managed to put both the guard and the woman at ease and they were laughing together, probably at him.
Jeff stepped forward and clasped the bars. “Hey…” A jolt of electricity coursed through him. He fell away from the bars; feeling like his brain was shorting out.
“Careful with that,” the woman said.
“Anything else I should be careful of?” Jeff asked, looking around the room for booby traps. He almost hit himself in the forehead when he realized what an idiot he was being. He slipped his deionizer into his pocket and cocked a half grin. “Besides you, that is.”
The woman frowned. “Just don’t try to escape. You will be fine.”
“What’s your name anyway?” Jeff let his eyes scan her from head to toe, hoping it looked like he was enjoying her brittle brown hair and dumpy figure.
“None of your business.” She spun away and marched back to her desk.
Jeff looked at Set questioningly. Set shook his head.
Pulsing out all the charm he had, Jeff said, “Oh, I want it to be my business.”
Set continued to shake his head. “Nothing’s getting out here, Polar.”
The guard smirked. “The cell is impervious to powers. None get in and none get out.”
“Set?” Jeff said, pleading with his eyes.
He shrugged. “I’ll do what I can, Polar. We did come without notifying them. Really, you can’t blame them.”
“You seem nice and chummy.”
“I didn’t threaten their guard.” Set rolled his eyes like he still couldn’t believe Jeff had done it. “Do you want me to call anyone? Your dad, maybe? He may be able to come bail you out.”
“I’m not in jail, for cripes sake.”
“Actually, for now, it is much like jail,” the guard said.
Jeff scowled at him. “What do you mean?”
“Until we know why you are here, you stay.”
“I told you why I’m here!” Jeff said. He reached to grab and shake the bars and remembered at the last minute not to touch them. He threw his hands into the air instead and bellowed in frustration.
“I must return to the gate,” the guard said. Turning to Set, he said, “You must leave now.”
“What?” Jeff exclaimed.
“Why?” Set asked, startled.
“I can’t watch you and get my work done,” the woman said. “You can’t wander around the academy.”
“Wait, Set, that might be okay,” Jeff said.
Set walked closer to the cell door. “What do you mean?”
“Leave here. Call and make an appointment for us. Then pick me up on your way to the appointment.”
Set eyed the door, then looked over to the guard and the woman. “Okay, fine.”
“Please hurry.”
Turning to the woman, Set asked, “And who would I contact to make an appointment with the headmaster?”
The woman regarded Set before picking up a business card, and writing a name on the back of it. “Call and ask Sylvia for an appointment. Tell her your friend is in confinement. She might make an exception.”
Set nodded. “Thanks.”
Jeff and Set looked at each other in surprise.
“Did you just thank her?” Jeff asked.
Set grimaced and then stormed out of the office, followed by the guard.
Chapter 32
“This is an academy! Why would you even have a room like this?” Jeff asked. He’d learned that the brittle haired woman’s name was Sadie, not that she was forthcoming with that information; he only knew because someone had walked in and greeted her by name.
“Though we’re balanced now,” Sadie said, “this did start as a villain academy. Besides, heroes can cause trouble too. They aren’t saints.”
Jeff considered Sadie for a moment. “What side did you start out on?”
Sadie looked at him with a deadpan expression. “Guess.”
“Oh no you don’t.” Jeff laughed. “I’m not gonna touch that. If I say villain, and you were a hero, you’ll be insulted. If I say hero, and you were a villain, you’ll probably use me as a laser target. Though Sadie seems like a regular ole hero name.”
“You think so, do you? The younger generation doesn’t watch old movies, do they?”
; “Which movie?”
Sadie only chuckled.
“You’re pretty when you smile, Sadie.” Jeff resumed his pacing. “How long do you think I’ll be here? Don’t I at least get one phone call? What if I have to go to the bathroom? Will you feed me dinner?”
Jeff knew he was acting like a five year old, but he was seriously annoyed. Ice had filled his veins when he’d discovered a cot folded neatly into the wall like a mini Murphy bed. He did not want to spend the night here. This was absolutely ridiculous.
“You know, my dad is pretty important in the villain world.” He grimaced when he realized that probably didn’t carry any weight anymore, but he was desperate. “And Mother is like white hat royalty. I wouldn’t be surprised if they closed your school down.”
“Wait,” Sadie interrupted. She jumped up and ran to the door and studied Jeff’s face like it was the first time she was seeing him, which it probably was, since no one had even bothered to find out anything about him since throwing him in the powerless room. “You’re…” With a hiss, she scurried back to her desk and picked up the phone. Her finger turned white from punching the phone’s buttons so hard. She tossed a few nervous glances in Jeff’s direction while she waited for someone to pick up the other line. She checked her watch. Then she stood perfectly straight, as if at attention.
“Hemlock, I’ve, um. Well, I seem to be holding Polar Tohler in the confinement room.”
Jeff grinned at her. It was about time being a Tohler got him something.
“Yes, sir.” Sadie hung up and gnawed her lip as she stared at Jeff.
“You’re going to let me out, right?” Jeff asked, stepping to the door.
“No.”
“What? Why not?” Without thinking, Jeff grabbed the bars and shook. A bolt of electricity shot up his arms and across his back. He staggered backward and shook his hands like they were wet, trying to shake the buzz out of his veins.
“Are you okay?” Sadie asked, gnawing more frantically as she appraised him.
“No, I’m not okay. That hurt like hell!” Jeff felt his anger building. He was like a wild animal looking for something to maul. He worried what would happen if he lost control of his abilities in a confined room. Would he end up scorching himself with the blue fire? Levitating the heavy wooden chair into the side of his head? He desperately tried to find his chi so that he could center it, but instead of the warm inner ball of light he’d been taught to imagine, he found a live roiling ball of fire ready to burst from his hands and singe death threats onto the walls.
