The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus)

by R. J. Ross

  "It's a shame we lost our subjects," Star says as she brings in a file cabinet. "But I think we can recover quickly enough in this area."

  Distort nods, not looking at her.

  "Well, except for one," she goes on. "Distort, why don't you tell me exactly how you lost a woman that could barely walk, now." She walks up to him, touching his chin and forcing him to look in her eyes. "I won't be mad," she says.

  "Well... she... she... she beat me?" he offers.

  "She beat you," she repeats.

  "Yeah," he says. "She was really good."

  She slaps him across the face so hard that his head turns. "She. Beat. You," she says, slapping him with each word, first one cheek, then the other. "You who are the perfect specimen, you who are a SUPERIOR--not just any Superior, but the superior Superior! She. Beat. You?"

  "She was... she just wanted to be with her kids, Star," he says, looking down guiltily. "I don't want families to be broken up! Not the super families!"

  "What do you know of families, Distort?" she demands. "What would you know? You don't have one!"

  "I have a brother," Distort says, his head coming up. "His name is Technico, he looks just like me!"

  "He isn't your brother!"

  "What?"

  "Technico is not your brother, Distort. Technico will never be your brother, either. You are not his brother!"

  "Then who am I, Star? Where did I come from? Who am I?" he demands.

  "You are--you are who I made you to be! Nothing more and nothing less, do you understand? You are here to do what I tell you to do," she says, poking him in the chest several times. "Don't ever forget that. Now, because of you, we've been put back YEARS. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find an elementa--" She stops, her eyes widening. "Distort?" she asks.

  "That doesn't make sense," Distort is muttering to himself. "Everyone comes from somewhere--"

  "Distort!" she snaps.

  "What!" he snaps back.

  "Don't take that tone with me!"

  "Don't take it with me, first!"

  Star takes a deep breath, pushing her hair back as she calms herself. "Honey, I want you to answer a question," she says in a much calmer tone. "Remember when you told me about the boy?"

  "What boy?" Distort asks in a sullen tone. "I don't know any boy."

  "The really good one, the one that the earth rose up for," she says. "You remember. You thought that he was really special, remember?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Well, honey, we need to bring him here. He can be your family!"

  Distort looks at her for a very long moment. "Really?" he says finally.

  "Would I lie to you?" she asks. "You can play together and read comics together, it'll be fun, right?"

  "Yeah... but what if he has a family already?" he asks with a frown.

  "Then we can bring them here, too."

  ***

  Shadow sits in the corner of the glowing cell, hating his life at the moment. Taken down by a handful of kids, he thinks in self-disgust. Him! A world class super thief! Taken down--well, okay, one had to be the son of America's Son and another was Maximum, but still! In the world of supers, they're kids!

  He doesn't even look up as the door at the end of the hall slides open. He assumes it's one of those annoying assistants come to try and get him to talk. The light getting blocked out, though, tells him something different.

  Slowly he looks up at the man that's stepping through the force field strong enough to kill an A class super like it's nothing. "Technico?" he asks, jerking as Technico's hand shoots out, grabbing him by the throat and hauling him up so he's looking him in the eyes.

  "You touch one of my kids again," Technico says, "any of the Cape High kids, and it won't be teenagers knocking you around, do I make myself clear?"

  "You think you can kill me?" Shadow asks.

  "I know I can." The certainty is clear in those steel gray eyes and Shadow finds himself feeling the urge to retire quickly. Even as Technico puts him down again and steps through the force field a second time, Shadow still sees those eyes.

  As far as he knew, Technico had never stepped over the murder line, but he suddenly questions that fact. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out his smartphone and tapping out a message.

  I'm out.

  ***

  I can't sleep again. None of us can. We're just sitting on the floor of the meeting area, staring at the ceiling as we wait for the ambulances. Sunny's got his head on my thigh. I really should toss him off, I think, but he looks so stressed that I can't bring myself to do it. He's got his mother's hand, and is holding it so tight that I'm glad she's a super.

  "I need to get stronger," he says quietly.

  "You are," Summer says. "Every day you're going to grow stronger and stronger. But you know we were both at a disadvantage in here."

  "Yeah, don't exactly have plants growing in the Hall," Max says. He's sitting next to Zoe, who's wrapped tightly around Summer. "I'll talk to Dad, we'll get that changed. And you need more plants in the apartment building."

  "Yeah," Sunny says. He looks up at me, giving me a little smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "You okay?"

  "For something so empty your head weighs a lot," I say, poking him in the cheek with a finger.

  "Sorry," he says. "I'm trying, but I can't sleep."

  "Which is a miracle, in itself," Trent drawls. "Summer, are you sure you should be in here and not the hospital?"

  "I'm not going anywhere I can't be with my kids," Summer says. "And honestly, I feel much better already."

  I'm trying to think of how to bring up something that's been bothering me. It's been bothering me since we talked with Shadowman, really. "Why?" I ask finally.

  "Oh, I think it's because I'm a super." Summer says

  "No, not that," I say. "Why are you all so easy to accept me as one of you? I've not been nice--"

  "You baked us cookies," Trent says.

  I turn, staring at him for a moment. "You're really going to be an easy mark as a hero," I say flatly. "All they'd have to do is feed you and you'd assume they were good." He grins back.

  "Then there's that sort of comment," he says.

  "It's like... with the sisters, I thought they were nice at first," Emily says. "They did all sorts of nice things, convinced me that I was part of the family, right? And then they started ganging up on me whenever I tried to go against what they wanted. You're the exact opposite," she says.

  "Well, of course I am. There's two of you and only one of me, so ganging up on you would be pretty much impossible," I say. "Unless I took up cloning or something... or gathered a lot of big cats and turned them into my minions. I could do that!"

  "Well actually--" Sunny says, only to blink, "wait, you could? Are you an animal speaker, too?" he asks, showing he just got distracted.

  "I'm part cat," I say. "I can't talk to other species, but I can talk to cats of any size."

  "That's pretty cool," Max says.

  "Not really," I say. "They're temperamental and tend to be extremely selfish. You just sit there and listen to them talk about themselves more often than not. That or they're easily distracted and a bit silly."

  "Kind of like you in cat form, huh?" Sunny says.

  "What?" I ask.

  "You're really silly in cat form," Emily agrees.

  "Did you see her on my shoulder?" Sunny asks. "She was hysterical. She's was going 'Onward, ho!' with her paw out like this." The rest of the group start laughing, even as my cheeks turn bright red with embarrassment.

  "Well it was your fault I had to leave the cafeteria in the first place!" I protest. "Falconess and I were messing with Mega's head!"

  "Falconess was?" Max asks.

  "She looked him straight in the eye and told him that I was a stray cat," I say, grinning at the memory. "But I am not silly as a cub--"

  "You divebombed Sunny whenever he was in your hammock," Emily says. "She was all 'ROWR!' and jumped on him," she tells the other.

/>   "And she sat on my head," Sunny agrees.

  "You deserved it," I say.

  The door opens and we all look up, watching as Nico walks in. His shoulders are slumped and he has streaks of blood on his clothes--it's not his blood. I can smell it all the way from across the room.

  "Dad?" Zoe says, getting to her feet and heading for him. She stops as he holds up a hand.

  "Don't, you'll get blood on your clothes," he says.

  "Are you okay?" she asks.

  "I... yeah, I'm fine," he says, but his tone says otherwise. "They're going to be busy with the newcomers, so I think we should head back to the apartment. We don't need to get in their way."

  Sunny gets to his feet, heading for his father. "You don't look okay," he says.

  "I'm fine," Nico repeats, only to blink as Zoe wraps her arms around him. Sunny joins in, hugging their father tightly. Slowly Nico's arms wrap around them and he lowers his head, breathing out a sigh. "They need stopped," he says simply.

  Summer gets to her feet. "Then we'll stop them," she says. "But not today. Today has been too long already. Let's go," she says, only to start falling. Nico appears next to her, picking her up.

  "You're still not recovered," he says. "But I'm afraid they're going to be out of beds in the hospital area, so we'll take you to the apartment."

  I can't help but watch this, feeling as if I'm intruding on a very personal scene. I force myself to look away, only to turn back as Nico says my name. "Adanna."

  "Yes?"

  "Shadowman was hired. Did you find out who did it?"

  "A man named Collector," I say. "He said he collected all sorts of supers as a hobby."

  "Alright. I want you to stay in the middle of the group," he tells me. "We're going to get you back to the apartment now. Even Shadowman wouldn't be able to get into my place uninvited, so anyone else that's sent for you won't, either."

  I nod, hugging myself and feeling hunted. I never thought I would feel that way, I think. I'm supposed to be the predator, right?

  ***

  "I'm out?" The bellow shakes the pictures on the wall, making one of them fall from a pin and flutter to the already messy table. "I'm out! He dares to say that to me? That insufferable little punk, I MADE him! The only reason he's still in the business is because of me!"

  Collector throws his coffee mug against the wall, shattering it. "He's going to pay for this," he snarls, turning back to his computer and tapping rapidly on the keyboard. "And then I'm going to find someone competent! I will have that child! She'll be my piece de resistance!"

  A long line of numbers on the screen turns into a long line of zeroes. "Procure that, Procurer," Collector says with vicious satisfaction.

  He really needs to work on his snappy one liners.

  ***

  I insist on Zoe taking the cot in her room while Summer sleeps on the bed. That leaves me in the front room, but I've realized something lately. In cub form I can sleep practically anywhere. I let out a yawn and sit down on the couch, then shift into my cat form and curl up, closing my eyes.

  It's the middle of the day, the room is bright, but I'm almost asleep--

  "Adanna."

  My ear flicks and I hope he goes away.

  "Adanna," Sunny repeats, poking my ear. I open one eye and give him a glare. He grins at me shamelessly, then picks me up and plops down on the couch as if he has every right. "There we go," he says, stretching out and taking up almost all three seats. He's got a bed! The jerk! He puts me down on his chest, closes his eyes, and goes to sleep.

  No, seriously, he just did that.

  I stare at him for a long, long moment, then start to jump off his chest, only to find his hand coming up to block me. "No you don't," he says. "I want to know exactly where you are. I know Dad thinks Shadowman can't get in here, but we thought that about the Hall, too. And I know he's locked up right now, but how long will it keep him? Now go to sleep." He closes his eyes, his hands behind his head, and goes back to sleep.

  He's really pushy, isn't he? Especially when I'm in this form. I sit on his chest, staring at him for a long moment, wondering if I should hit him for this or if it's too much effort. This is absolutely inappropriate, right? Well, I mean, it would be if I was human at the moment... I think there’s a difference when I’m in cat form, right?

  I can’t help but picture Mama and Papa and their cat nap outside on a sunny day. They’ve got this pretty swinging bench right next to the cat cages, hanging from a massive tree. On nice days when you go out you can sometimes find Mama sitting there reading a book with Papa in his panther form sleeping with his head on her thigh. I’ve actually got a picture of it on my phone. It’s always struck me as the most romantic pose, ever.

  Sunny smells something like that scene, I think a bit sleepily. Like sunshine and spring with a leafy tree growing overhead. Wait, Adanna, don’t start thinking about that, you’ll fall asleep!

  I yawn. This body is so quick to get sleepy, you know? Especially when I haven’t slept nearly enough. But this isn’t a romantic scene--you know that, right? Don’t go picturing this as a romantic scene like Mama and Papa’s, where--

  Where I curl up on Sunny’s chest, like so, and cover my face with my tail as such and--

  Sleep.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  My phone is ringing. It's kind of confusing, really, so I don't think about it too often, but technically my phone is still in my pocket even though I'm in cat form. Yeah, weird, I know, but it's woken me up and I stare blankly at Sunny for a moment before hopping off of his chest and shifting into human form.

  "Hello?" I say, answering my phone.

  "Kitty! You haven't called and it's already well past three there," Mama says. "Are you okay? Nothing's happened, has it?"

  Everything from last night and this morning comes rushing back to me. I head for the chair and drop down on it, taking a deep breath. "Mama?" I say. "I'm really glad you left me with Nico," I say slowly.

  "What's happening?" Papa demands. "Did they come after you?"

  "Not the people that are taking powers, Papa, but someone else--have you gotten the cat?" I ask.

  "We're in the middle of negotiations, but we're going to stop and come home--"

  "No!" I say. "I'm safe, I swear I am. I mean, I miss you and I love you, but I'm really, really well protected right now, I promise. I mean I've got the Liberty family downstairs--and I know they're heroes, but I don't think they care about that with me, and Firefly and Taurus are here and Nico and--and Papa, Mama, they found Sunny's Mama, she's here too, and--"

  "I see," Papa says, letting out a sigh. "But I'd rather be there--"

  "How is the cat?" I ask.

  "Oh... well, you know how it can get," he says slowly. "They don't know how to deal with it, so they tend to cage them up in too small of an area--it's not good, but who's coming after you?"

  "We caught him," I say. "He's at the Hall, locked up. Papa, it's already over, really. But they're still being paranoid here."

  "Are you getting along better with your classmates?" Mama asks.

  Am I? "Yes, Mama," I say.

  "How about that Sunny boy?" she asks. "Are you feeling better about him?"

  I look at him, realizing that he's awake now and watching me. "I guess," I say reluctantly. "He's still lazy, though," I add, sticking my tongue out at him. He moves his arms, wordlessly protesting in an outrageously dramatic fashion.

  "Well be patient with him, he's just a boy," Mama says.

  "She doesn't need to be patient with him!" Papa protests. "I think she should just ignore him. She's too young to be patient with boys!"

  "Chinaza," Mama says firmly, "she's fourteen years old, she's not too young!"

  "What does my age have to do with being patient?" I ask blankly. Now Sunny's moving closer, looking a bit too interested for his own good. He sits down in front of my chair, right next to my legs, blatantly eavesdropping, so I poke him in the back of the head.

  "Oh, you'll figure it out,
" Mama says.

  "I have no idea what you're talking about," I complain. "He's just an annoyance." Now he's turning and pouting up at me with huge green eyes. It's really hard not to laugh at that face, so I shove him away with a foot. It's like pushing against a tree.

  "Keep thinking that," Papa says. "Even if he is Nico's son, he is nothing more than an annoyance, my love."

  "Chinaza!" Mama protests, laughing. "Kitty, don't listen to your father, he's being a brat. You go and be patient with Sunny, he'll grow up soon enough."

  "I would hope so," I say, making a face at him. "He's really short right now."

  He clasps his hands over his heart and falls over, pretending to be wounded. "Extremely short," I repeat, making him jerk dramatically before pretending to be dead.

  "But honey," Papa says, "are you sure you don't want us coming home now?"

  "I'm positive," I say. "I want that cat saved as much as you do, Papa. And like I said, I'm safe here. Nico is rather fanatic about the security system," I say.

  "True, he's always been a bit overly paranoid," Papa says reluctantly. "But the moment things get too tough, I want you to call me."

  "I will, Papa."

  "And Sunny," Papa says, making Sunny sit up abruptly, "don't think that I am not keeping an eye on you."

  "Yes sir," Sunny says, looking around as if expecting a camera hidden somewhere. "I'll behave myself!"

  "You had better. I'm not called a top class super villain for nothing, you know."

  "Sir, yes sir!" Sunny says, saluting.

  "Goodbye Papa, Mama--tell Cubby hi, okay?" I say, rolling my eyes.

  "We love you, kitty," Mama says.

  "I love you, too," I say before hanging up. I shove Sunny with my foot. "He's not really watching you, doofus," I say.

  "Hey, when you've got a dad like mine, you start wondering!" he says, leaning against the chair again and then leaning his head against my knee. "I'm still tired."

  "But I'm not your pillow," I complain. "You are way too pushy, you know. I can't believe you pulled that couch thing on me!"