by R. J. Ross
“It’s okay, Carla,” he says quietly, patting her on the head and giving her a little grin. “I heard. Let me see them?”
“Okay!” she says, holding up one foot. Then, since that seems awkward, she pulls the shoe off and hands it to him. “I should be able to run all the way home with these with no problem!” she adds proudly.
He looks it over, turning it this way and that. “They’re good,” he says. “We’ll see about getting you more when we get home, okay?”
“Really?” she asks excitedly. “In different colors?”
“You don’t like the purple?” he asks.
“I do! I picked it! But I want other colors too!”
“Okay, okay, different colors,” he agrees, handing back the shoe as he turns to me. I’m wearing my new uniform, the charcoal gray and orange one. The gray suit is outlined in a bright orange, as is the mask. “Have you tried lighting up in that?”
“No,” I admit, “I was too busy getting dizzy from Carla running in circles.”
“Light it up,” he says. “Let’s see how good they are down South.”
I feel like I should take my shirt off, I think as I look down. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly before holding my hands out to either side. They light on fire. My hair goes up next. Slowly my arms light up. The sleeves are still there, I can feel them. “I’m good,” I say, letting the flame leave. My sleeves don’t even look singed. “This will work.”
“Good,” Nico says before looking at Trent. “I brought your uniform, since it looks like it’ll be a battle. They’re in the changing room.”
“So I have permission to interfere?” Trent asks.
“We’ve actually accomplished everything I wanted--save for your training,” Nico says, looking over at me. “Cleaning up this little mess is just a side job and the sooner it’s done the better. In fact I had several volunteers wanting to come down with me--Morgan, Justin, Ace, Max, Aubrey--basically the entire school. If you get beaten, I won’t stop them,” he admits.
“Justin offered to come down?” I ask, feeling a bit stunned.
“Yeah.”
“Wow.” I look down, not knowing what to say. Look--we all know that the zoo kids didn’t like Justin that much when he showed up, but recently he hasn’t been that bad, okay? And since Ace has been dropping by to hang out with him Justin’s been downright tolerable. Not to mention it isn’t completely bad to have a guy that sings and plays the guitar hanging around, now that he’s stopped hiding in his room all the time. We get free concerts!
“Want me to go get him?” Nico asks.
“No, if I was going to ask for more backup I’d ask for...” I hesitate, looking at the two I brought here.
“Lance!” Carla says. “He could shape-shift into a dinosaur!”
“I vote Zoe or Sunny,” Trent says, making me glance over at him. “What? Sunny could surprise you. Or how about Aubrey? She could heal everyone, right? Even Tank.”
“Mastermental doesn’t want Aubrey anywhere near here,” Nico says. “Healing a kid that’s been terrorizing the area isn’t worth bringing her to anyone’s attention, in either his eyes or mine. If you get hurt, we’ll tape it up and take you home to be healed.”
“I think Morgan would be good,” I say finally. “Can I get Morgan?” I ask Nico. “Would she work in this instance?”
“You could,” Nico says, for some reason glancing at Jimmi. “She did offer to come.”
“Who is Morgan?” Jimmi asks.
“Morgan’s the greatest,” Carla says. “She’s our leader--she can steal people’s powers!”
“Oh,” Jimmi says, glancing at me before looking down at her dark purple and orange uniform. “I guess you wouldn’t need me, then, would you?”
Probably not. It’s the first thing that goes through my mind, and then I realize I’m wrong. “No,” I say slowly, looking at her thoughtfully for a long moment before turning to look at Trent and Carla. “We don’t need any backup with you here, do we?” I decide. It’s true. With this crew amped up, we could take ALL of the Glowstick Gang down. I hope. I wonder why she’s staring at me like that, though. Or why Trent is suddenly looking at both of us a bit strangely.
“So you expect her to amp all three of you up, right?” Nico asks. “With that coat she might be able to for a bit, but I think we might need a bit of reinforcement,” he says. “Come on, one last toy before I toss you out for your first battle.”
“We can stay here while you take Jimmi,” Trent says. “Since she’s the one that needs it, right? I need to change into my uniform.”
“Sounds good,” Nico says, heading out. “Come on, Jimmi, before they realize I’ve been messing with their computers this entire time.”
“You what?”
“What do you think of knee high combat boots?”
The rest of us look at each other silently until they’re gone, only laughing when we’re sure no one is listening. “I heard he’s hacked the Central Hall so many times they call it being Technico’d,” Trent says before strolling over to me and draping a heavily muscled arm over my shoulders. Is it just me or has he gotten bigger since I left for Texas? I know for a fact that he’s bigger than he was when I first started going to Cape High. “So?” he asks.
“So what?”
“You and Jimena, there’s a thing, right?” he asks. “It’s pretty obvious.”
“What? It’s not obvious to me!” I say, shoving his arm off of me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“She’s got a thing for you,” Trent says. “You see her face when you said she was all we needed? She looked like she was going to hug you.”
“It was a logical conclusion. She has the ability to amp our powers--that’s how I did my first full body burn. If we amp a Liberty boy, what do you think we’ll get?” I ask him. He pulls back, looking stunned at the very thought. “Exactly. And I’m not even sure we SHOULD amp Carla--we gave her coffee once and she burnt all the carpets in the dorm from friction.”
“Wasn’t. My. Fault,” Carla says in several passes as she races around the room.
“See what I mean?” I say, watching her--or trying to, at least.
“Doesn’t change the fact that Jimmi saw it as a compliment,” Trent says. “She’s got a thing for you.”
“She just dumped her boyfriend an hour ago. She’s not going to start looking for a new one this early!” I protest. “And I’ve given her no reason TO like me,” I add. “I even hacked her phone.”
“How about coming all the way out here to save her from a gang?” Trent asks. “Pretty hard to beat that.”
“I did it for the bike,” I say.
“So you don’t like her at all?”
“She’s a spoiled brat. I told you all of this already!”
“But she’s willing to fight with you,” he says. “A girl willing to fight with you isn’t one a cape can turn down that easily, Vinny, either as a friend or a girlfriend.”
I just look at him dryly and then shake my head. “No. I’ve already decided what I want out of this life--a spoiled brat girlfriend isn’t on that list.”
He just gives me a slight smile, clapping me on the shoulder twice with an extremely heavy hand. I grunt with the hit, but he ignores it. “Let her grow up before writing her off completely.”
“She’s older than Emily.”
“Emily had to grow up far earlier than she should have--although, seriously, she’s not THAT grown up, still watching My Little Pony and Pokemon. Then again, Aunt Liz watches it too.”
“I’m not dating Firefly, either,” I have to point out before he says anything about it. He starts to laugh.
“She’s dating Taurus,” he says. “You wouldn’t have a chance even if you wanted to.”
Before I can answer that, Nico comes in again. “We have news,” he says. “The Glowstick Gang is making a mess at a smoothie store. Time to head out--Trent why aren’t you changed yet?”
Trent speeds off to the restroo
m, changing and coming back in a few seconds. It’s surprisingly reassuring to see him in full uniform for this. “Carla, your mask,” he calls out to Carla, who pulls to a stop and slaps her mask on. “Good. Jimmi, your mask,” he adds to the other girl.
“Oh, right,” she says, pulling out a dark purple mask and putting it on.
“Vinny, you’re still in charge,” Trent says. “You know what to do?”
“Not a clue,” I admit, “I’d be happy to hand over the reins.”
“Nope, your job, you finish it.”
“I can do it if you don’t want to,” Carla offers with a huge grin and a pat on my arm.
“I think I can handle it,” I tell her, giving up. The idea of Carla in charge of a battle is a terrifying thought. “Carla, there’s going to be several of those guys like we just fought--the tallest one is the one I want you to watch out for. He calls himself Speed, I figure it means he becomes a speedster like you.”
She nods, frowning slightly. “That’s something I’ve never ran into,” she admits, her grin falling as she thinks about it. “Can I beat him?” she asks me.
“You--” I hesitate, wondering why the idea of telling her “no” feels so utterly wrong in this situation. “You might be the only one of us that can,” I hear myself say. I place both hands on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. “But when I tell you to do something, you do it, got it? No questions. Or if Nico tells you to do something,” I go on, looking at him. “You talk the others through their fights, will you do it for me?”
He grins. “Why do you think I gave you the earring? Trent, Carla, earbuds in. Jimmi, yours is built into your hood.”
I look over at Flint, who’s just come in with Century. He looks at us, a frown on his face. “Should we trust this to a handful of kids?” he asks bluntly. “Vinny doesn’t even have his head in the game during practice.”
“He’ll have it for this fight,” Nico says so confidently I can’t help but stare at him. “He’s got more at stake than himself.”
I look at Carla, and then at Jimmi, knowing both of them have never been in a real fight except the one with Tank. I haven’t either. It doesn’t matter, I realize. There’s a reason I’m called second in command of the zoo kids, after all.
I’ll do whatever I have to, to keep my group safe.
***
Jimmi hops on the newly-fixed bike behind Vinny, wrapping her arms around his waist and thinking how much their uniforms work together. No! Definitely not something she needs to think about right now. As soon as they’re finished here she’ll be leaving her home and going halfway across the country to live with strangers--that’s way more important!
“Vinny?” she asks quietly as he starts down the road.
“What?”
“Can I make friends there? At Cape High? In the dorms?”
He goes silent for a moment. “Not with all of them,” he says quietly, “at least, probably not. It’s difficult to get along with all of the zoo kids, even for me, and I AM one. But you’ll have Carla and Emily, and I’m sure Aubrey and Zoe and maybe even Adanna will get along with you. The guys, too.”
“And you?” she asks.
“Sure, if you want,” he says. “More likely you’ll forget all about me when we get there, though.”
“Yeah, right,” she says with a snort, hiding the hint of rejection she feels. “Why would I do that?”
“Because Justin lives in the dorms,” he says, “THE Justin.” She goes silent, stunned. “He’s single, by the way. So if you’re looking to replace Tank, I would wait until we get to Cape High.”
Her teeth grit at the condescending tone. “That’s what you think I’m doing?” she asks coldly.
“It seems like it.”
“You are SUCH a jerk, Vinny,” she snaps, “seriously!” She’s tempted to get off the bike, but they’re going almost a hundred miles an hour, and the smoothie shop is right in front of them, so she waits until they pull over. She jumps off as soon as he stops, turning to glare at him. “I want to be friends, not date you! But you can’t accept that, can you? I bet everyone in your life has some sort of big hidden motivation in your head!” But she had a crush on him, a little voice whispers. She shoves it aside violently.
“Yeah,” Vinny says, “they do. Why did you date Tank, anyway?”
She goes silent, not wanting to tell him that, but knowing she might as well. “Because my dad--all he ever does is get pushed over or ran over or bullied by norms when he’s not in uniform. He LETS himself be! I wanted--I wanted a man that wasn’t like that, okay? I wanted him to see that--that guys don’t have to be such pushovers! Especially when they’ve got such awesome powers!”
“Maybe it’s because he’s got such awesome powers that he lets them do that,” Vinny says quietly. “Your dad didn’t strike me as a wimp, Jimmi. Sometimes what people need isn’t a guy that’s willing to throw around his powers.”
“Sometimes--not ALL THE TIME!” she says. “Sometimes you need to assert yourself! You’re doing it right now, you know, by fighting the gang!”
He gets off the bike. “I’m just finishing a job,” he says calmly, “it’s how I’m paying for my bike.”
He is SO frustrating, she thinks, tempted to kick the bike in question.
***
She is SO irritating, I think as I turn to face the Glowstick Gang. They’re in the middle of tearing the smoothie shop down brick by brick. Onlookers are screaming or snapping photos while the police try to stop the gang with foghorns and guns aimed.
I hesitate, an evil thought running through my mind. “Hey, Nico?” I ask, touching my earring.
“Yeah, kid?”
“Can I get one of those laughing gas cannons? The best thing I can do against this crowd is knock out the slower ones.”
“Sure, pop up the seat of your bike,” he says. My eyes widen in surprise and I walk over to the bike, ignoring the flash of speed that races towards me. A heavy arm shoots out, catching Speed before he gets to me and clothes-lining him to the ground.
“No you don’t,” Trent says in full Kid Liberty uniform. “The big battle between leaders takes place AFTER we take out the small fries.”
Speed gets to his feet, brushing himself off. “Aren’t you the leader, though?” he asks.
The seat of my bike pops open and a tiny version of the gun Ace had shot off sits there. Beside it are five different canisters, each marked with a ridiculous looking symbol. “Which one is it?”
“Not the one with the skull and crossbones,” he drawls. “Use the one with the freaky looking clown face.”
“Alright,” I say, sliding the canister into the mini-canon and aiming it at the smoothie shop remains, where most of the group is starting to notice us. “Carla, Jimmi, Kid, hold your breath,” I say, then pull the trigger.
“What--” Jimmi starts out, only to blink as Carla grabs her and runs off at top speed. The canister hits and starts to spin, spreading the strange gas through the entire area. Even the cops and the onlookers will be affected, but I don’t care, I think as I hold my breath. I’m not sure it’ll even affect me and Kid, honestly, since we’ve been through it before, but better safe than sorry. I watch with a hint of satisfaction as the gang and the crowd slowly drop to the ground. One cop even curls up around his gun on the concrete, snoring loudly.
“Is he allowed to do that?” I hear Century ask over the earring.
“Why not?” Nico says. “If there’s a quick way to take out the weaker ones without killing them, I say go for it.”
“Seeing as you’re the one that equipped him for it in the first place,” I hear Flint say. “Century, you didn’t notice that when you got it licensed?”
“I didn’t expect them to arm a seventeen year old kid,” Century mutters. “What kind of cape are you raising that boy to be, anyway?” he demands.
“A leader,” Nico says simply. “If you’re nicer to the kid, you might have a chance at borrowing him later on.”
T
he cloud has settled somewhat. “Carla!” I say over the com. “Grab the unconscious guys in black and pile them to the right. Jimmi, take their powers before they wake up. The ones that are still awake are the ones we’ll have more trouble with.”
“Sir, yes sir!” Carla says cheerfully, racing back and starting to work.
“Trent, the gang members that are woozy, tripping over themselves, or that sort of thing, knock them out,” I say. It’s only Speed that looks like he’s starting to recover already. Trent trudges into the mass of bodies, punching one here and there and laying them out. “Carla, take the ones Trent takes out,” I order.
“Okay!”
“How are you doing, Jimmi?” I call.
“They’re all amped to the max, I can’t hold it all!” she says.
“Take your shoes off,” I say.
“What?”
“Do not question me when we’re in the middle of a battle!” I snarl, only to wonder what’s gotten into me. “Take your shoes off, direct it into the ground, not all of it--”
“Vin, they’re waking up,” Trent says.
I curse. “Jimmi, boost Carla,” I say, knowing I’m going to regret it.
“Oh yeah!” Carla cheers happily. I feel a breeze and almost am thrown over by it. She’s been boosted.
“Now boost me,” I say, seeing Speed, fighting Trent. Trent is keeping up--somewhat. “I’ll take Speed on while you boost Trent. Once Trent is boosted we’ve got this in the bag--”
“I don’t want boosted,” Trent says, slamming a fist through the air. It hits nothing, but I see Speed rush into him, literally pushing him back with a flurry of punches.
“Why not?”
“Because it would be like saying these fakers are tougher than Max,” Trent says, hitting the air so hard that the pressure sends Speed backwards. “I won’t insult Max like that.”
“Fine, then boost me,” I say. “I haven’t gotten anyone to compare them with and I want this over quick.”
“Jack will be offended,” Trent says, sounding amused before falling silent. Speed has changed targets. He’s heading straight for Jimmi, who’s still busy taking the powers from his friends.
