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

by R. J. Ross

  "What just happened?" Justin finally asks.

  "Time traveler?" Morgan says.

  "They exist?"

  "Yeah... but why was she looking for Cape High?" she asks. "Who WAS she?"

  "A time traveler," Justin says.

  "I got that much, boyband!" Morgan snaps. "Like, who is she related to? Was she here to tell us something about the future? What if she's got an important message that can save us from some drastic tragedy--"

  "She was looking for Cape High when Zoe's principal, right?" he says. "That means whatever the tragedy is, it doesn't affect the school until Zoe's old enough to run the place, so who cares?" He starts down the steps again, shoving his hands into his pockets.

  "So it was just a completely random meeting?" Morgan demands. "She just shows up, asks what year it is, and leaves? What the heck? Things like time travel should have a point, you know?"

  "Why should they? It's not like we're in a comic book plot, even if we are supers. Maybe she just pushed the wrong button," Justin says. "Come on, let's CALL the Hall and ask about Aubrey."

  "It's not the same as seeing her!" Morgan protests, chasing after him. "I want to see her face to face! And I want to yell at that stupid boyfriend of hers for letting it happen!"

  "Calling is less likely to get you detention. Even if Jack does deserve to get yelled at."

  Neither of them hear the sizzling popping noise behind them, or even the curse and stomping of a foot. They're too busy arguing over calling.

  ***

  It seems like we've been here forever. I'm half asleep, draped over the uncomfortable chair in Aubrey's room as we wait for the doctor to give her the eviction notice, or whatever it is they give. Jeanie, Ken, and the others have already left, called out by Nico. I think he's got them looking for Star Born and the white haired guy who might be Superior. Trent and Emily were sent back to the apartments.

  So it's just me and Aubrey, who's threatening to get out of bed and go heal people while she waits. I'm tempted to help her do it. She looks fine. So rather than argue with the nurses trying to stop her, I'm just sitting here, trying to keep my eyes from closing. I'm exhausted.

  It's only when another nurse comes in, going, "Kid Liberty's going to be on television!" that I wake up. She's flipping on the television and changing it to the news. "Oh, and you will be, too. They're talking about the bank heist," she adds, glancing at me. Pretty obvious who she's a fan of, right? "I thought you'd want to see it," she adds as the other nurses give her a dirty look.

  "I want to see Jack on television!" Aubrey says, scooting back in her bed and turning her attention to the television. "Can we record this?" she asks the nurse she'd just been fighting with. "I want to have it to watch later!"

  "Of course," the nurse says, looking a bit relieved. She sets the TV up to record, then leaves, taking the younger nurse with her.

  The reporter is interviewing the lady that pulled my ski mask off. "So you didn't get his name?" he asks, holding the mic up to her.

  "No, but he's obviously going to have one. He's part of the Liberty family, but he's a villain--can you believe it?" she looks excited by that fact. "I still have his ski mask and everything! The cops wanted it, but I wouldn't let them have it."

  "That's called withholding evidence, you know," the reporter points out.

  "They're not going to get any DNA or whatever off of it," she says with a shrug. "He was all metal. And he didn't actually ROB the bank, he just tried!"

  "So... was it scary?" the reporter asks.

  "A little, yeah," she admits. "I mean, at first, especially, since he looked like a normal bank robber, but then the gun goes flying across the room and Kid Liberty shows up--I can't WAIT to tell my friends!"

  "I... see," the reporter says. "Pretty exciting stuff, then."

  "Seriously exciting! They caught it all on the security videos and everything! And I think one of the customers got it on their phone, I bet it's already on youtube--" she stops, digging out her phone to see.

  "They actually hire idiots like this at a bank?" I say, stunned.

  "I think she's your fan," Aubrey tells me.

  "I tried to ROB her!" I say. Aubrey grins at me.

  "Oh, I hope they start selling merchandise soon," she says. "I want your poster, and your t-shirt, and--"

  I stare at her, already picturing her decked out in stupid t-shirts with my name on them--wait. "I don't even have a name yet," I have to point out.

  "So what do you think he'll be called?" the reporter asks the woman. "Any bets?"

  "I like Heavy Metal, or maybe Metallic Menace," she says. "There's like, tons of tweets on what he should be called, though. I mean, it's not like he told us his name, like Kid Liberty did, right? Do you know?" she demands of the reporter, like he's holding out on her. "You get calls from the Hall or something, right?"

  "I'm afraid we're as in the dark as you are," the reporter admits, turning back to the camera. "Who is this Metallic Menace? Is he really a member of the Liberty family? And if so, where did he get his abilities from? The world wants to know."

  "And his poster!" the lady adds. "Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" She's waving as the screen goes back to the two at the desk.

  "We go next to the building destroyed by Kid Liberty and Metallic Menace," the man at the desk says. "Luke, are you there?"

  "So basically, I don't get to pick my name," I say, feeling a bit irritated.

  "I like it," Aubrey says.

  "It's like Dennis the Menace with a metal coating," I complain. "That's seriously stupid."

  "How about the Metallic Marauder?" she asks. She's teasing me, isn't she? There's this look in her eyes that says she's about to start laughing.

  "What, I need a mask and a horse now?" I demand. "Do I LOOK country to you?"

  "But you'd look so cute in chaps!" she says before starting to laugh. "Now I want to see it!"

  "You will never see me in chaps. Ever," I swear, giving her a dark look. It makes her laugh harder. The door opens and we both look up expectantly, only to sigh. "I was hoping it was the doctor," I say as Jeanie walks in. "We've been here for forever."

  "Oh, he'll be here in a minute. I was called back because they're almost ready to send you home," she says, walking across the room. She's in full super gear, her hair in a pony tail, and her outfit looks rather shiny in the hospital room light. Are those sequins? Why am I not really surprised? "Aubrey, honey, I am SO SORRY," she says, pulling Aubrey into a hug. "I am so incredibly sorry I took my eyes off of you--"

  "Can't--breathe--" Aubrey gasps.

  "Oh, I'm sorry," Jeanie says, loosening her hold. "Honey, I never imagined that this would happen, but I should have--how can you ever forgive me?"

  "I forgive you," Aubrey says, looking up at her. "They didn't hurt me and I was saved really fast. It was nothing like the last time," she adds, looking down. "It was scary, sure, but the scariest part was when I thought I'd hurt Jack."

  "Jack is tough, sweetie," Jeanie says, hugging her again before letting go. "I just--" She looks strained, as if she doesn't know what to do. She even looks over at me, as if I would know what to say.

  Wait.

  "You know," I say, "there is one thing you can do to make it up to her."

  "Jack! She doesn't have to do anything!" Aubrey protests.

  "Take us to a pawn shop," I say. "Aubrey needs a new violin. It's not gonna be the same as the one you got from your granddad or anything, but... you'd like to have one, right?" I look at her, seeing a strange look on her face.

  "You remembered?" she asks.

  "How could I forget?" I ask. "I even remember stuff you said when I was stuck in a coma, you know?"

  "That's a wonderful idea!" Jeanie says with a brilliant smile. "But why don't I let you two talk while I go find the doctor?" Then she's gone, leaving Aubrey looking at me seriously.

  "You... you really remember all that?" she asks.

  "You know," I say, feeling extremely awkward having to talk about my feelings. "F
or a long time I thought I was in love with Zoe--"

  "I don't need to hear--" she interrupts.

  "Yeah you do," I say. "You need to hear this. I almost lost you today. I figure the whole world will want you as soon as they find out what you can do. I gotta put my claim in now, right? I thought I was in love with Zoe, but I guess I wasn't."

  "What?" she asks.

  "Cuz if I was, I wouldn't have fallen for you so easily," I say, even if it's embarrassing. "I like the me that you think I am. I want to BE the guy you think I am. I'm not, sure, but I want to be him. But I don't figure I can change that easy, so don't get any big ideas about changing me into a hero."

  "But you are a hero," she says. "You're my hero. That's the important thing, right?"

  "Keep thinking that," I say, getting to my feet and leaning down to hug her.

  She wraps her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly. "Emily says I shouldn't kiss you when it's cold out," she tells me in a very serious tone.

  "What?"

  "She says I might get stuck."

  "Remind me to give her a wedgie later on for that one."

  The doctor clears her throat behind us and I pull away, trying to look innocent. It's harder than it sounds, even if it WAS innocent.

  ***

  Nico floats above the city, still wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but reluctantly covering his face with one of those annoying masks that the Hall keeps insisting on. His eyes are closed, his hands held out as he searches the electrical circuit that covers the city below. It's huge, entwined and knotted, spanning over the land like a spiderweb. His mind catches on each of the thicker sections, focusing in and hacking the systems that make them.

  Hundreds of hospitals and clinics have a tiny little flash cross their machines, a mere second of a blip that most of them don't even notice. The AT&T building's computers go down for a second, causing cursing to occur over half of the United States. Gas station pumps all blip, saying that the buyer doesn't owe anything. That one gets a tiny grin out of the man overhead, but the grin disappears quickly enough.

  He can't find them. They're completely off the grid. He lets out a curse, especially when he realizes that a helicopter has caught sight of him and is hovering closer, bringing up a giant television camera. They're recording him, not that they know what he's doing, or even who he is. Maybe it's because they don't know who he is, he realizes. He lets his hands down, looking straight into the camera.

  "Who are you?" the camera man yells.

  "Just a passer by," Nico drawls, digging out his wallet. "Don't worry, I'm Hall." He never thought he'd actually have to use the stupid card, but he flashes it at the camera before flipping in the air and diving straight down. By tomorrow, he figures, the serious cape nerds will have his old name plastered all over the internet. Joy.

  He shrugs it off, focusing on the more important facts. Double M is coming, but he's out of the country, so it might be a while. What really bothers Nico is if Superior is alive... how long will Star Born be? Yes, she's insane, but sometimes you have to ignore the insanity to get the important parts. If she's caught alive, he might be able to find out how to fix the sisters that lost their powers from her. But Superior won't care about that fact. He probably won't even think of it.

  His expression is grim as he thinks of his father. It isn't that he doesn't understand the man. No, if anyone understands Superior, it's Nico. It's just that he plain didn't--no, DOESN'T like the man. When he'd heard that he'd been killed he hadn't even bothered to go to the funeral. Apparently neither had Superior.

  The helicopter is following him, he notices, glancing back at it. He sighs, shoving his hands into his jean pockets and landing on a roof in the middle of the city. "Hey!" he calls up to the helicopter. "Quit following me! I've got work to do!"

  "That's why we're following you!" the camera man calls back.

  "Okay, you asked for it," Nico says, pulling out one hand and waving it at the camera. He's jumping off the fifteen story building even as the camera man curses long and hard over his non-functioning camera. A few pedestrians scream as they see him falling, racing to get out of the way or take pictures. He lands on the sidewalk, glances back at the helicopter, and looks at the crowd.

  "Has anyone seen a tall, skinny woman in a business suit with glowing eyes?" he asks. They shake their heads, staring at him in befuddlement. A young boy just takes a long drink off of his soda, making ice rattle.

  "Hey," the boy asks abruptly. "Who are you? You don't look like anybody from the Hall."

  "You know them all?" Nico asks.

  "There's Mega and Mastermental and Falconess and--" the boy starts listing. "You're a super villain, right?"

  "So nobody saw her?" he says. "I'll keep looking."

  "If you're a super villain, are you gonna do something bad?" the boy asks, much to his mother's irritation.

  "I'm going to do what I need to do," Nico says before walking away. Likely, though, unless he falls over them by accident, he isn't going to do anything at all.

  "Technico!" The bellow makes him turn, inwardly groaning as Ken, in full America's Son gear, lands in front of him. "You never told us what happened."

  "The girl is fine," Nico says. "This is personal. Go back and check on your kid, he's had a long day."

  "My boys are both tough enough to handle a little family brawl," Ken says. "I'm more worried about you."

  Nico hesitates. Within the short amount of time he's been out of the cape cells, Ken has become one of his best friends. He deserves an explanation, Nico decides reluctantly. He walks over, standing next to the other man and saying, almost silently, "Superior's alive."

  Ken's eyes widen and he pulls back, looking shocked. "What? How?"

  "Not something we need to discuss when surrounded by norms," Nico says.

  "And what if he is," Ken says. "What are you going to do about it?"

  A hint of surprise makes Nico look at him for a moment. "I--"

  "Go home, Technico," Ken says, dropping a hand on his shoulder. "Go home and spend some time with your own kids."

  "I wish I could," Nico says. "But I've got to find them. I have to keep Star from getting killed."

  "What?" Ken asks blankly. "What does--"

  Nico takes off, leaving him to try and figure it out for himself.

  ***

  There's a crack of light trying to close. For a long moment Superior stares at it, contemplating what just happened. The little girl was a healer. During his entire life as a super, he'd only met one other, a woman named Mary. She had been such a mousy little thing, the type that never stood out in a crowd, chubby and short. He would have never even noticed her had she not been healing someone at the time they met. Perhaps this Aubrey was related to Mary.

  He steps forward, his hand sticking through the closing hole. He should let it close, it's past his time to live, but it goes against his very nature to give up so easily. He slips his other hand in, catching on the other side of the hole and ripping with all of his strength. It's the heaviest thing he's ever dealt with, he realizes, gritting his teeth and leaning forward. Slowly the hole starts to pull open again. He can see light, smell dampness.

  Hear someone moving.

  ***

  To say that she's panicking sounds so unprofessional, Star thinks with disgust as she looks at the tiny room she's in. Distort is still unconscious, she's lost what few supplies she had, and now that she knows the metallic experiment she had written off as a loss is alive--she takes a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

  Somehow they brought the Jack boy back to life. They must have used Aubrey, because no one else could have fixed him. Jack could be useful, she thinks as she starts cleaning off the rickety wooden table on the side of the room. He owes her, she decides, owes her big time. It was thanks to her that he's now a walking tank with super powers beyond a norm's belief. He is an elementalist--a metal elementalist, one of the most powerful, deadly elementalists out there! Of course he might be troub
lesome at first, but if she can just--

  Did something move behind her? A chill runs down her spine, one she quickly shakes off as she turns. It's just Distort. Her heart tries to jump as she sees him standing, and she lets herself smile. "It worked," she says, crossing to him, her hands out. "I'm so happy. Distort--"

  Then he looks at her. His eyes are steel, cold and focused with intensity. This absolutely isn't her Distort, she thinks almost numbly. Aubrey's words come back, echoing in her mind. "He killed him." Suddenly they make sense. She swallows loudly, feeling her hands grow cold and clammy. The room starts to heat up as she takes a step back, but before her heel can touch the floor his hand is on her throat.

  "Hello, Star," Superior says, lifting her one-handed off of the floor. "I think that you and I need to have a little heart-to-heart."

  The room goes ice cold.

  ***

  "I can't find him," Liz says over the communicator. No one else can hear them on this line, so she lets her frustration show. "Nico--I--"

  "Keep looking," Nico says sharply.

  "Nico, I know--I know he's the reason you went villain," she says, dropping down on the roof of an abandoned building. "I know you hated him--but you've got more things to live for now."

  "What are you trying to say, Liz?"

  "I'm saying that the time to be rebelling because our old man is a real jerk is in the past," she says. She's wanted to say this for over twenty years, but it's only now that she actually has the nerve. "You've got Summer--I think you should marry her, you know? She'd make a great sister in law. And you've got the twins. They love you, Nico, they really do. And you--"

  "Liz," he says.

  "What?"

  "Just because he's alive again isn't going to change anything."

  "You said something like that when we were kids," she says, her hands clenching at her sides. "You said you'd never leave me, said we'd be partners for life, but you just kept pushing the line--and it was because of him! I know it was!"