by R. J. Ross
"She's got a point, though," I point out. "I never lost my powers before coming here."
"But you never got to use them, either," she says. "I'll let you think about it." Then she's gone, disappearing into the dorm and leaving me out here, shivering as another breeze hits me.
CHAPTER FIVE
It's awkward, being walked home by Dad. Mom had hesitated before getting in her car to drive, saying that she expected me home before ten, then left me to deal with Dad. I mean, sure, I guess he's got this huge idea about "talking it out" or whatever, but I can't even remember the last time we had an actual discussion that didn't involve a lot of yelling, or more likely, him giving up a few minutes into it and walking away.
You know, Dad might come off as a playful, goof-off sort of hero, but when it comes to family relationships? He sucks. Like really, really sucks. "I..." he starts out, making me glance over unconsciously. "I... am sorry," he says. "I'm good with details, have I told you that? A light hits an object and it refracts a certain way. You need to notice those sorts of things when building an illusion. Little things, like if someone is wearing a ring, and what type of ring it is, or if your uniform is supposed to have this at the sleeve or that. But when it comes to the big stuff, I guess I'm blinder than most."
"You ain't whistlin' dixie," I mutter, using a term he used to say all the time--back when we used to talk. It startles a laugh out of him, which fades into a mild smile playing at his lips.
"I'm going to get your powers back, Ace," he says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "But I think, just for now, we should consider this little problem an opportunity in disguise."
"HOW is this an opportunity?" I demand, jerking away from him. "You might not have noticed what I was, but I did! I AM a super, Dad! I have super speed, I have super strength--I have... I had--" I let out a curse, kicking a rock and watching as it pathetically falls only a half dozen feet away. "I'm not ME anymore, Dad," I say, feeling just as pathetic as the rock. "And here they're talking about sending me to a school for heroes when I'm actually a norm! A real norm!"
"You're not a norm, you've just... a bit... Look," he says abruptly. "There's been several cases where Mimic's taken someone's abilities before. They don't just get turned into a norm, they get knocked out completely. They're stuck in comas until they die. YOU are alive, Ace. You're awake and you're talking and you're yelling at me, and I think--no, I KNOW that's the most important thing in the entire freaking universe! I almost lost you today, kid. If we hadn't had Aubrey, I would have. Do you know how serious that is?"
I can't answer. I didn't realize it was so serious. Now I feel like an idiot for being so hung up on losing something that, like Adanna said, I never got to really use anyway. "I still don't see how this is an opportunity," I say, staring forward blindly. I still feel empty and angry, like I've been robbed. I have been.
"Because we can start on your training. It'll be easier to set up the basics," he says. "I should have done this when you were twelve."
"Ace?"
I stop at the voice, turning and looking behind us. Jetta is standing there, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "I uh... wondered how you were feeling," she says.
Oh. Wow. No, seriously, she was worried about me? SCORE!
Er, I could have put that differently, couldn't I have? Oh well, hot chick worried about me, you guys can just deal with it. I walk over, forgetting that my dad entirely. "I'm... um..."
Oh, right, she's a super.
"Your eyes," she says. "They look... different."
"Yeah," I say, looking away. "I... had something happen to me," I tell her. All these awkward pauses. Real smooth, don't you think? "I guess, y'know, you could call me a norm for now."
The silence stretches thin before she goes, "Say what?"
"I said for now, I'm a norm," I repeat, daring to look at her.
"A norm."
"Yeah."
"How? Why? How could you let that happen?" she demands.
"I didn't really have much choice?" I say, starting to frown. She doesn't sound like she's worried about me anymore. If anything, she looks like she's angry at me. "That girl that I pulled off of you, she was Mimic."
"Who?" she asks blankly. "Look, is it permanent or can you reverse it somehow?"
"We--"
I blink as Dad's hand comes down on my shoulder. "Why don't you introduce me to your friend, son?" he asks mildly.
"Um--" I say. Look, there's some seriously conflicting thoughts going through my mind right now. One, do you really want to introduce a hot girl to your father when you've barely said more than five words to her? Two, is it embarrassing when your Dad wears a skin tight outfit when it happens--wait, that one's already taken for granted. Yes, yes it really is. "Dad, you're in TIGHTS," I hiss out as quietly as I can.
"Ah, right," Dad says, the hand on my shoulder twitching slightly. All of a sudden he's dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, which we ALL realize right now, is several minutes too late. Or, if you ask me, several hours. Years, maybe? Well, either way, she's staring at him with a stunned expression. "Nice to meet you," he says, holding out his hand.
"You're Blackjack?" she says, taking the hand and shaking it.
"I am," he says. "And you are?"
"Jetta of the Airstream family," she says, still holding his hand. "We're from the East Branch."
"You were supposed to be going up against Jack tonight, weren't you?" Dad asks in an almost pleasant tone. "At the park?"
"Yes, sir," she says hesitantly.
"And why, exactly, were you at the Power and Light District when this happened?" he asks, still keeping that unsettling tone.
"I ah--followed Jack--"
"He told Nico what you did," Dad says, his tone getting darker. "Nico told me. Do you really think endangering a large group of norms just for a bigger spotlight is the act of a hero?"
"He--He's not a REAL super villain!" she snaps. "He's just pretending to be one--he wouldn't have hurt anyone!"
"How do you know that for sure?" Blackjack asks. "Sure, he goes to Cape High, but he's being trained by a real super villain--an ex super villain, sure, but that doesn't change his past status."
"You're just trying to scare me. It's not working," she says, glaring at him. I'd just like to mention that I feel really uncomfortable right at the moment.
"Look at my son," Dad snarls, pointing at me. "There WAS a real super villain there. He took my kid's abilities, he could have taken his life if we didn't have a healer. And it was all because your little stunt took you, Jack, and him away from a safe, overseen area. Don't even doubt that I'm going to have a discussion with your parents."
"Dad--" I start out, trying to calm him down.
"Her recklessness kept us from stopping Mimic before he got ahold of you, Ace. Don't forget that."
"I decided to go," I say, looking him full in the face. "I volunteered. I wanted to make sure she looked good--"
"So you were stupid over a pretty face," Dad says bluntly. "That doesn't change the fact that there was an agreement over how this debut would take place and she broke it. You might not know this, girl, but I'm not just an old has-been hero. I was fighting alongside Mastermental while your parents were still teething. My son promised to be stronger than me--he still will be," he adds, looking at me. "But if you think I'm going to let you talk to him now, to try and convince him to bail you out? You're out of luck. Ace, come on."
I look at him, I look at her, I think of just how hot she looks in the moonlight.
Then I think of my empty field.
"Sorry, Jetta," I say. "I'll... talk with him." I turn and follow Dad, my shoulders slumping as I try and come up with something to say. It's almost half a mile before I venture, "She really was cute, though."
It startles a laugh out of my dad. "I don't blame you for chasing a cape girl," he says. "But I'd prefer it not be her."
"Why do I need to? I'm a norm, now," I say, going right back to the problem that's gnawing on my brain.
"You won't be for long," he says seriously. "I think... I know someone that might be able to help."
"Seriously?" I ask, trying not to sound like an eager little kid. "You seriously know someone that can get my powers back?"
"Maybe... but Ace--"
"Who? It's a cape, right?"
"Ace, are you really certain you want me to do this?" he asks, his serious tone making me pause. "Can you give us a month or so before we go to drastic measures? Because... well, I'm not sure even I can get away with what I'm thinking."
A month. A month of feeling empty. "I... as long as you try, if it looks like I'm never getting my powers back, I guess?"
"I promise," he says with a serious expression. I haven't seen that look on his face before. It makes me uneasy. Whatever he's thinking of doing seems pretty drastic. "If you promise to switch schools willingly. You can still live with your mother, I'll come and pick you up in the mornings, or send one of the black suits to get you. But you can't stay in your old school."
"What about Matt and the teacher that was in there when you came?" I ask.
"I'll have a talk with them," he says. "Don't worry about that. Everything will work out, son. I promise."
I want to believe him.
"Besides, there's cute girls in the school!" he goes on.
"Dad," I say. "Just stop."
"I mean, if you're going to get in trouble for a pretty face, it might as well be one from your own branch, right?" he goes on.
"Just stop," I repeat.
***
I don't dream that night. I don't usually dream, actually, or if I do, I don't remember them. But this lack of a dream is eerie in a way, because I wake up knowing that I spent my entire night sitting in the middle of my paint field, staring at nothing. So was it a dream of not dreaming? Whatever it was, I'm still feeling a bit off when I wake up. I get up and head for the bathroom to take a shower, accidentally looking in the mirror.
I shouldn't have done that. The guy looking back at me has gray eyes, not dark, swirling, eerie eyes that I used to hate looking into, but now feel boring without. Skinny, pale white guy with... nothing that makes him stick out. Nothing that would make the kids at school unwittingly move out of the way, nothing--
Shouldn't I be enjoying that fact? No, seriously, I've never been a normal looking kid. Even before I started getting tougher I stuck out, because of my eyes. Now... now I could run off and live like a norm--because I am a norm. I'm not just pretending to be a norm, I AM a norm.
I get in the shower, that little pep talk doing absolutely nothing for me. I brush my teeth after I'm finished and head for my bedroom to get dressed. This is my first day of school, so what should I wear? Am I trying to make some sort of impression? I mean, if I get picked on at this school I'll probably die...
"Ace? Honey?" Mom asks at the door, opening it before I can respond. "Honey, we have a... um... problem."
"What's that?" I ask, tugging on a shirt.
"Well, the person they sent to pick you up is--um--"
"A super villain," I hear someone call from the front.
"Yes. That."
It doesn't sound like Nico. "I'm here as well," I hear a more familiar voice say.
"Oh, uh, it's Adanna, Mom," I say, grabbing some socks and sitting on my bed to put them on. Then I stop, jerking as I catch a clue. "Mom? That super villain--what's he look like?"
She pauses and looks out the door before whispering, "A massive black man."
I almost trip over myself as I run into the front room, not even wearing my shoes yet. The man standing in our front room--I think it's--
"Panther?" I ask.
He turns to me, smiling slightly. "Nico mentioned that you lived on a street along our way to school. He said that he prefers an actual working cape bringing the students rather than them driving themselves," he says, offering his hand. I shake it, feeling a bit stunned. "And I believe I saw a picture done by you on my fanpage last night."
"What?" I say blankly, jerking as I realize something. My backpack isn't here. I must have left it somewhere--"Banshee," I mutter.
"Banshee?" he asks.
"She must have found my backpack. Um, Mom, this is Panther. Panther, this is my mom. Um--we should get going, right? School starts soon?"
"Oh no you don't," Mom says, stepping forward. "One super villain took my boy's powers from him, how am I to trust another to take him safely to his new school? I have no reason to believe that you're going to. And trust me, I've heard about the large man--I know it wasn't a large cat that maimed him."
"Collector," Panther says calmly. "Yes, I admit I went to see him, but the reason he's still unconscious is because of his own doing. He slipped and hit his head."
"Like I believe that," she snaps.
"Papa?" Adanna asks, looking at him.
"It's been brought up before the Hall," Panther says. "My punishment has already been decided."
"And what punishment would that be?" Mom demands.
"Yes, Papa, what punishment would that be?" Adanna asks, looking almost as irritated as Mom does.
"Really, Adanna, must we discuss this?" Panther asks, looking a bit abashed.
"Papa," she repeats, her hands on her hips. "What is your punishment?"
"I am spending the next three months assisting as a generic hero," Panther says with a sigh. "That means I can't shift, of course, but when dealing with small time villains and their like, really, who needs to?" He looks to Mom, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I promise I will not hurt, endanger, or even let your son be late to school, ma'am. I hardly see the point in doing that to a young man who's so good at capturing my good side," he adds, holding out the piece of paper.
She takes the piece of paper, looking at it with a sigh. "Ace," she says.
"At least it's not someone naked?" I offer.
"You know who my hu--my ex-husband is, don't you," she says in a threatening tone, turning on Panther again. "He's Blackjack. He won't hesitate to deal with you, you know."
"MOM!" I yelp. "Don't threaten him! He's already promised. I'll be fine! Adanna's a student at Cape High."
"You are?" she asks Adanna.
"Yes, ma'am," Adanna says. "I've been going since it started."
"How's the education? Are the classes hard?" Mom asks.
"They aren't as difficult as what I'm used to," Adanna admits.
"She's already at a college level. We aren't really sending her there for the education," Panther says. "She's learning social skills. But I honestly need to leave, if we're going to get there in time for the first bell. Adanna hates being tardy." He looks at his watch, to prove the point.
"Fine. Ace, have a good day at school," Mom says, grabbing her briefcase and slipping on her heels. "I need to get to work, as well."
"Yeah, thanks, Mom," I say, feeling a bit naked without my backpack... and my eyes. No, seriously, I can almost feel the lack of swirling. I feel a distinct lack of super, especially as I head out of the house and stare at the sleek black car in front of our house. "I thought crime didn't pay," I mutter.
There's a grin on Panther's face as he unlocks it with a car fob. "I paid for this with my legitimate work, Ace," he tells me, not saying a word about whether crime pays or not.
"Papa is a scientist," Adanna says, getting into the front with her dad. I slip into the back, looking around with admiration. Leather seats, sleek lines, it's a seriously fine car--except--
"What make is this, anyway?" I ask blankly. There's no signs to be seen, nothing to say what car company made it.
"It's a Technico," Panther says.
"A--"
"Technico," he repeats. "When your college roommate and best friend happens to be a technopath, you can get an extremely nice environmentally friendly car. For the right price, of course."
"We're very big on keeping the environment safe," Adanna says over her shoulder as she straps on her seatbelt. I... no, seriously, what? Well, I mean, I guess even super villain
s can be tree huggers. If they do it this classily, who wouldn't be? "And Technico used it in Zoe's training," Adanna adds. "She had a very big hand in developing the motor, right, Papa?"
"Yes, she did. This is what you get when a technopath is training his daughter. Now tell me, Ace, how long have you been drawing that well?" Panther asks, making me look at him.
"Um... a while?"
"Do you take mural jobs?"
"Papa, we're here already," Adanna points out.
"I was thinking of having him paint the cage walls, something pleasing for the cats," Panther says. "I'm sure your mother would enjoy it--"
"Papa, Sunny's knocking on the window," Adanna says. "Ace and I need to get to school." She opens the door and slides out, leaving me with Panther.
"Um, I sort of promised Banshee a painting first, but maybe after?" I offer. What? This is PANTHER.
"I look forward to it," he says with satisfaction as I get out of the car. He drives away, leaving me facing a wall of students, each looking somewhat intimidating in the light of day. Or maybe it's in light of me having no powers of my own.
"Hey, goth boy, you got the right place?" I jerk, my hands fisting as I turn around to face the ones behind me and--Jack. He's grinning. No, seriously, does this guy ever NOT grin? He seems way too happy to be normal, especially when he walks over and pats me on the back hard enough to send me flying. Thankfully Trent grabs me before I go too far. (And have I mentioned how creepy it is to see a guy with a metal mohawk and metal teeth grinning? It is. Way creepier than I used to be.)
"He's gotten his powers stolen, Jack," Trent says, standing me upright. "Remember?"
"Oh, right. Sorry," Jack says.
"He's the school bully, isn't he?" I ask Trent.
"Just don't irritate him anywhere near a bathroom," he says. "He believes in old school style bullying."
"Now, I let you come up for today, but honestly, this is plain stupid," Dad says, moving through the crowd of kids in front of me. "Get back inside, we've got work to do."
