Super Villain Grandpa (Cape High Series Book 15)

by R. J. Ross

  “You were friends?” I ask, stunned.

  “Up until he set the thing to play Mr. Boombastic on repeat for an entire week,” he says dryly. “Then I was irritated with him for an entire year.”

  “Mr. what?” I say blankly.

  “It was before you were born,” he says, “thank God for that,” he adds dryly. “The rest of the Cells have called me Boombastic ever since.”

  “Isn’t that your name?” I ask.

  “Bombastic and Boombastic are different,” he says. “Don’t you go calling me it, too.”

  “Grandpa Boombastic sounds kind of okay,” I say, trying not to laugh.

  He groans and takes off, heading through the sky at top speeds. A smaller island soon appears on the horizon and I let out a sigh of relief. Land—we’re going to be on land again! He lands on the beach and looks around, heading for one of the trees to the right and pressing his hand to it. A panel flips open under his touch and he pushes a button. The ground slides open and he heads down. I hesitate, walking closer and peeking into the hole.

  “Grandpa?” I ask.

  “Just checking the backup supplies,” he says.

  “Did you tell Technico about you and Grandma?” I ask, sitting down next to the hole. “Also, do you have water down there?”

  “There’s a freshwater stream further inland,” he says, “along with several fruit trees. We won’t starve or die of dehydration.” He comes out, carrying some tins. “Most of this is too old, but a few things survived,” he announces. “The Twinkies might still be good!”

  “Twinkies,” I repeat. “You’re joking, right?”

  “Want to find out?”

  “No thanks.”

  He tosses a box over his shoulder. “Maybe later, I could seriously go for a cheeseburger right now,” he adds under his breath.

  “Me too,” I say. “Um… should we tell Grandma that we’re here?” I ask. “She’s going to be looking for me—”

  “I can’t,” he says.

  “What?”

  “Your grandma would throw me back in the Cape Cells as soon as she saw me—what’s your name?” he asks abruptly.

  “Keliah,” I say.

  “Okay, Keliah, here’s how this is going to go. We’re going to hide from the family for the next two days. All I want is two days,” he says. “After those two days we’ll go find your Grandma… and I’ll go back to the cells.”

  “What did you do that got you put there?” I ask.

  “I blew up a building… or four,” he says, looking at his hands.

  “What? Were people in them?” I demand.

  “Yeah,” he says, “there was. At least in one of them there was.”

  “How?” I ask, not sure I want to know.

  He holds up a hand and I watch in horror as it turns black with orange glowing cracks. He touches the tree nearest us and I watch as the black spreads over the plant. It explodes a second later. “Did you—did you know?” I ask in a tiny little voice.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he says. “They’re dead and I’m the cause.” There’s a rawness in his expression that hurts my heart.

  “But it’s NOT FAIR!” I say. “You didn’t know, did you? You thought they were empty—” I have to believe he thought they were empty--I HAVE to. If they weren’t empty and he knew they weren’t, he would be—he would be a murderer.

  “It was Manslaughter, which means I didn't know they were there, but I still killed them,” he says. “It was the middle of the night. I was casing the joint when Superior caught me getting a bit too close. I should have run, but there was only one of him. If I came back later, I was sure I'd be facing the entire Hall. I thought I had a chance, even if he was Superior. I was wrong.”

  “Why were you fighting with Superior?” I ask. “Weren’t you Grandma’s nemesis?”

  “Sure, your grandma and I fought a lot, but this wasn't a typical job--I was planning on breaking into a government building,” he admits with a shake of his head. “Superior had ties with the government back in the day and even if he hadn’t… I was the first person tossed into the Cape Cells.” He shrugs and runs a hand over his face. “Now isn’t the time to dredge up old problems, Keliah,” he says, looking at me.

  “Now is the only time we’ll have!” I say, my hands fisting. How has it gotten to this point? I’ve started to care for him in—in like an hour! I can’t even imagine how hard it must have been for Grandma to lose him! “Did you love Grandma?” I demand. “I want to know—was it like Mom and Vertigo, or was it—was it like America’s Son and Star Spangled?”

  “America’s Son and Star Spangled?” he asks.

  “They—they’re married and have two sons,” I say, wiping at a tear that’s threatening to fall.

  “I could lie to you really easily right now,” he points out.

  “You won’t,” I say.

  “What do you want to hear?”

  “The truth, duh!”

  “The truth is that I have a tiny window of time before they capture Deathblow and go for the next most powerful cape,” he says. “That’s me, at least it is unless Mimic finds a powerful one early,” he admits. “Honestly, power-wise I might be number one, but D.B. has no self control. If I keep my head down there's a chance I'll be ignored for a bit, but I can’t swear to it. There were only seven of us in the cells, and the girl stayed behind.”

  “The girl?”

  “The new one—I never met her face to face before the escape, but you’d be surprised how robots gossip,” he says. “I think all those years with Technico in the building had something to do with it. Enough talking,” he says, turning and looking around. “Let’s get started with your training.” He never answered my question. Instead he holds out one hand, offering it to me. I stare at the hand—the same hand that blew up a tree. He watches me, and I realize that this is a test. If I don’t take the hand offered, what will he do?

  I look at the tree chunks scattering the ground. He could easily kill me, and we both know it. I might have broken Jennifer’s nose, but I’m nowhere near this man’s league—he survived a fight with SUPERIOR. That’s got to place him in the A-class range, at least! And he kidnapped me!

  “Afraid?” he asks.

  “Absolutely not!” I say, grabbing the hand. For a second it feels too warm to hold onto, but I wave it off as my imagination. “What are we going to do?” I ask him.

  “We’re going to get you closer to the sky,” he says with a grin. With a flick of his wrist he tosses me into the air, catching one foot in his hand. “You ready?” he asks as I wobble and try to catch my balance.

  “Ready for what?” I ask, slightly terrified.

  “To fly,” he says, sending me flying straight up. I scream, waving my arms and closing my eyes tightly. I didn’t see that coming! I plummet to the ground, only to blink as strong arms catch me. “Eyes open, fledgling,” he says as I dare to look up.

  “What am I supposed to do?” I ask.

  “You’re supposed to keep your eyes open,” he says dryly. He tosses me again, high above the trees. I look around in wonder before I start to fall. “Try staying upright!” he calls as I fall. I twist, landing on a foot in his hand. “Good,” he says. “This time shove off when I throw you, you want to get higher with each toss, got it?”

  “Yeah!” I say, grinning from ear to ear. “This is AWESOME! Let’s do it again!”

  “That’s what I thought you’d say,” he says. “You were born to fly, sweetheart, just like your Grandma.” He throws me again and I spread my arms as I reach the sky, imagining having wings like Mom. I can’t wait to fly on my own! “Now spread your wings!” he yells with a laugh.

  I spread my arms out, just picturing the wings I’ll have one day. For a second I can pretend I almost feel them. I was born to fly.

  ***

  She feels a little like a voyeur, Angela thinks as she sits in a tree a quarter mile away from the pair. She should break it up, she should send Austin back to the Cape Cells
—but she can’t. The very idea of stopping this family moment makes her sick to her stomach. They’ve never met, never even knew the other existed, and yet—and yet here they are, clearly infatuated with one another. She’d lied to Nicolas. If Mastermental came, she’d probably lie to him. That’s one thing—lying to her daughter is another. She knows that Melissa has only fear for her father, since she’s never met him. All she knows is the information the Hall has.

  All these years and Angela has never told her everything. How they were married on a tiny island like this one, and drank cheap beer as they tattooed one another’s ring fingers that night. How he’d built her a tree house just because she couldn’t handle living on the ground. How often she’d dreamed of him helping her raise their child. It’s so easy to picture a younger Melissa jumping into the air like Keliah is now. Keliah looks almost exactly like her mother had at that age.

  “You moron,” she whispers, glaring angrily at him, now. All these years—and as soon as he was caught, it would be longer. The buildings he’d blown up? Not just ordinary buildings, oh no. He had to go in and destroy government buildings! She had TRIED to stop him—

  She takes a shuddering breath as the memories race back. Her hand tightens into a fist and she wipes the tears away before they can fall. There has to be some way… isn’t almost thirty-eight years long enough? Isn’t it?

  ***

  *Kansas City*

  “Here’s the list of escaped capes,” Nico says, standing in front of the small group of heroes. They’re in the Central Hall’s meeting room. There’s a half circle table in front of him, with either the Hall Leaders themselves or a holo-screen so they can watch. “You all know that already, of course, but none of you were stuck in the same prison as they were. In order of most dangerous to least, we’ll start with Deathblow.” He glances over to Rocco and Shadowman, who are sitting in the chairs behind the Hall Leaders. “You two, especially, need to pay attention,” he says.

  “Got it,” Rocco says. Shadowman just waves, motioning for him to get on with it.

  “Deathblow is a cape killer. Justin’s dad died during his capture, but Deathblow took down five solid B-class capes before that. He enjoys killing his own kind—he brags about it. He is NOT someone I’ll be sending you after, Rocco,” he says. “Shadowman, he’s all yours. Start by finding him. He’s traditionally a West Coast cape, and there’s a good chance he’ll head back that way. He won’t be hiding. Our goal is to find him and take him down as quickly as possible. If he resists, I suggest we take him out. Now that we have Star Born’s power stripping serum, that’s a definite option.”

  “How are the Cape Cells coming, son?” Century asks.

  “I’ve got the crew that built Cape High working on it,” Nico says. “We should have it back up and running by the end of next week.”

  “I would like to add some information about Deathblow,” Negatia says from one of the holo-screens. “He has no family that we know of, he was an orphan. He came into his powers unexpectedly, and the norms raising him didn’t know how to handle it. He has also had a sadistic nature since childhood—tormenting small animals, bullying weaker kids. Things rapidly spiraled out of control, resulting in him killing several norms before fighting and killing his first cape. Apparently that became a sick obsession. I really doubt he’ll wait to get to my branch before starting up again.”

  “Very likely,” Nico admits. “Mastermental?”

  “My best are on it,” Mastermental says. “Our S-class capes are on patrol twenty-four-seven.”

  “Can he take down an S-class?” Marigold asks.

  “Not likely,” Nico says. “Next on the list is Mimic—”

  “I disagree,” Mastermental says. “Next would be Bombastic. Truthfully, if it weren’t for Deathblow’s personality, Bombastic would be first. He’s a very high A-class.”

  “No, I would be,” Nico says. “Let’s all be honest, here. If we’re talking purely power, I should have never been let out. Boombastic isn’t a threat—he’s just a man that made a… huge mistake in the past.”

  “I thought his name was Bombastic,” Isotonic says.

  “It’s an inside joke, sorry,” Nico says. “Look, if it was up to me, we’d let the guy go.”

  The Hall Leaders stare at him, as if he’s suddenly going rogue. Century and Mastermental glance at each other before Century speaks. “Son, he took out two government buildings. It resulted in the death of a two norms and the hospitalization of five. Not to mention he’s a jail-breaker—that in itself is something that doesn’t lend to letting him off the hook.”

  “Then…” Nico says, his mind rushing, “give him to me.”

  They start to laugh at the idea, only to stop as he just stares at them grimly. “Don’t you think you have enough on your plate, Technico?” Isotonic says finally. “With the school and the sister schools being built soon—”

  “I’ll make him a teacher,” Nico says.

  “ABSOLUTELY NOT,” the Hall Leaders shout. Even Mastermental says it, although not as loudly as the others.

  “Our children are in that school,” Isotonic says. “Having a norm ex-con is one thing—even our most vulnerable children could deal with him if needed—”

  “The kids are really fond of Tony,” Nico points out. “He’s one of their favorite staff members.”

  “Regardless!” Negatia says sharply. “I will not expose Justin to a Cape Cells criminal—” she stops as he just raises an eyebrow at her, “that hasn’t been released officially by us, on good behavior,” she finishes.

  “He’s BEEN behaving for almost forty years!” Nico says, his temper flaring. “I should have honestly said this earlier, but it slipped my mind with all the crap that’s been going on since I got out. Boombastic made a mistake, but he had a legitimate reason. He was fighting SUPERIOR. How was he to know there’d be norms in the building that late at night?”

  “All buildings like that have late-night security.”

  “That doesn’t mean HE knew it,” Nico says. He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “If he comes back willingly, will you consider a hearing?” he asks, moving to the table and leaning on it. “If he comes back without a fight—if he comes back after Rocco over there asks him nicely, will you at least consider it?”

  “You’re risking the life of my boy,” Century says sharply. “He’s not just Central, you know. I should have a say in who he’s sent after—especially if you plan on sending him alone.”

  “I’ll send someone with him, then.”

  “Who?” Mastermental asks.

  “Me,” he says.

  “Won’t that just intimidate Bombastic?” Isotonic asks. “Can he beat you?”

  “No, probably not,” Nico says. “It’d be interesting to find out for sure, though.”

  “Why don’t I take Skye?” Rocco asks. “She doesn’t look that intimidating, right? But I bet she could win in a fight.”

  “Skye and her ladies are busy moving back into her secret base,” Century says.

  “Then who should I take?” Rocco asks.

  “It’s an island, right?” Nico says. “Take Malina.”

  “Malina?” Negatia asks, startled. “You’re not taking Malina to square off against an A-class villain—”

  “Surrounded by water? With the two paired together, they would have a decent chance,” Nico says. “But I’m waging my bet on them not having to even fight. We’ll send an adult with them, but one that only interferes if it gets too dangerous.”

  “What adult?” Mastermental asks.

  “How about Falconess?” Nico says. Mastermental looks at him sharply, but Nico just smiles a little. “You’ve already said that our S-class are busy. How about this—we send them in, Falconess watches from a distance, and I keep my teleporting watch at the ready. If things get too violent, I’ll step in and take over. I’ll also throw him into the Cape Cells, myself.”

  “I’ll agree to that,” Century says.

  “I won’t!”
Negatia says. “Let’s be blunt here, people, he’s sending in two barely trained children to face off against a dangerous criminal!”

  “You’re aiming for Malina, aren’t you,” Nico says. “You think she’s amazing and a crowd-pleaser, and she is, I’ll be the first to admit it, but you’re underestimating her. Malina is well on her way to becoming a Specialized A-class, possibly even a Specialized S-class with time. If you can’t put faith in her for this mission, how will you ever trust her for your team? She’s only two years from graduation.”

  “But she IS two years from graduation,” Negatia says. “She is still a—a young adult, and this isn’t some silly story where throwing teenagers at the end of the world always works out!”

  “Of course it’s not,” Nico says, “but what do you think she’ll say if she finds out you didn’t even trust her to try?”

  “Nico, you were the one that said the escaped convicts would be the biggest problem,” Mastermental says, “and while I understand the necessity of sending Rocco to find them, I’m not sure we should let our students actually confront them. You, of all people, should know how important your students are to all of us. They are our future.”

  “Why don’t I just take a power blocker gun with me?” Rocco offers. “I mean, it’d be easier all around—”

  “He’s faster than you are,” Nico says, “even with your shadow walking. We’ll send Falconess as a distraction—”

  “Wait,” Negatia says, her eyes glowing slightly. “This changes things. With a power blocking gun I’ll let you take Malina, as well—and insist that we send West HTV drones to cover the situation.”

  “You realize that you’re going to have to talk to her about joining your hall before I give you special privileges, don’t you?” Nico says. “Since she’s Central at the moment, Central HTV will get to send the drones.”

  “As long as we can play it on ours, as well, I’ll agree to that,” Negatia says.

  “Agreed,” Nico says. “And we all know what Mimic can do, so we’ll move on to—”

  “What about Star Born?” Isotonic asks. “How are you going to deal with her?”