by R. J. Ross
"Then shouldn't the rooms be recorded?" I ask, a chill running down my spine. This school has a lot of enemies, doesn't it?
"No, but it picks up the sounds from inside the room just fine," Adanna says. "I watched the screens once, it was… really boring."
"For some reason Dad finds it entertaining," Sunny says with a shrug. "Probably for conversations like this." A tiny beep sounds and I look around as the others pull their phones out. "Time for Skye's class," Sunny says. "We can ask about first hour after that," he adds as we start for the main school building.
I take one last glance back at the target practice, feeling a strange mix of worry and longing. This is what I'm supposed to be able to do, right? But even norms can shoot things, so I guess it's not that impressive…
But it looked like fun. I'm now having visions of myself as a sexy super villain archer, racing through the night, doing villainous things for good reasons—no, shove it down, I've never even touched a bow and arrow before, much less shot one. I'd probably fail completely at it—
"Hi everybody! Welcome to class!" Skye says cheerfully as we walk into the room. "Grab a foam noodle and follow me, okay?"
"Wait, what?" I ask as I see a massive pile of foam pool noodles.
"Well Nico says I can't take you to the ocean—but we've got a pool, so I can bring the ocean to you! All we need is the pool andddd—you!" she says, grabbing one of the healers. "So we're going swimming!"
Before anyone can reply, Skye races through the wall, dragging the poor healer girl behind her. I hear her squeak as she's pulled through the wall head first.
This school never fails to astound me.
CHAPTER FOUR
"So how are things going?" Nico asks, kicking his feet up on the table in front of him and watching the hologram of Double M with a slight frown. Even through the hologram it's pretty obvious the man hasn't had much sleep. "Have you found out anything new?"
"She's gone underground, and there's not enough legitimate evidence to show her connection to Herold," Double M says, irritably. "We have Skystep and Justin's word, but Skystep is a villain and Justin is one of your students. Not only that, he's a famous musician with a history of 'flakiness,' I suppose you could call it."
"What about Kirsten?" Nico asks. "Or is it the same line about being one of my students?"
"I do plan on using them, if needs arise, but I'd rather keep them out of the public eye in this case if at all possible. Negatia feels the same."
"Kirsten is in line to go back to her as well, isn't she?" Nico says thoughtfully.
"Unless she decides to take up one of the other Halls' offers," Double M agrees. "She'll be highly valued as a mind healer. Speaking of psychics—my son tells me you've had a dream walker all this time and failed to mention it."
"Piper," Nico agrees. "She's locked down most of her abilities."
"She has?"
"Yeah. Too much time with the zoo kids," he says. "I've been watching her closely, and scan her whenever I get the chance. I'm not sure she'll ever be willing to use her full abilities."
"And yet you sent her out in the field."
"With your son and Summer as her protectors. She wanted to go. I'm hoping it's a good sign of her recovery, but I won't swear to it."
"So all but one of the zoo kids are now operating parts of the team?" Double M asks.
"Yeah."
"What's happening with our Sandra?" Double M asks almost gently.
"She's still spending all of her time in her room," Nico says with a sigh. "She's gotten to where she'll talk to me through the door and let Ken in once a week, but that's it. She doesn't even talk to the other zoo kids."
"Not even Aubrey?"
"Not even Aubrey."
"We can't allow that to continue much longer, Nico. We're getting new applications daily. Things will have to be more official."
"I know."
"And I've heard from Isotonic that Hard Knocks boys have started showing signs of coming into their powers."
"Already?"
"Something about the trip seems to have prompted the powers to kick in."
"They're in love with Elidee," Nico says. "Maybe fighting over her sparked something."
"Speaking of which, what IS Andre planning with your new students?"
"That's his story to tell, Double M."
"Okay, then tell me yours. Did you really need to bring Superior and Tatiana into school? If word gets out, we'll have quite a bit of feedback."
"I can hack my security system," Nico says. "If Herold IS a technopath, and I believe he is, I have to assume he's at least on the same level as I am, and that Mother is on Dad's," he shrugs, his expression cold. "If either of them decides to come after Skye, Justin, or any of my healers, she'll run into the perfect defense."
"If she is on your father's level, I assume we would have heard of her before."
"Not necessarily," Nico says, "but that's one of the things I plan on finding out."
***
The pool would be a surprise if we hadn't seen it when we did the tour. What IS a surprise is when everyone compliments Trent over it, even the teachers. "It's absolutely beautiful," Tatiana says with a huge smile as she claps a hand on Trent's shoulder. "Very nice job."
"I get a lot of practice with construction work thanks to Nico," he says, blushing slightly even as he grins.
"He did it ALLLL for me," Emily says proudly. She's sitting on Superior's shoulder like a parrot. Why, I have no idea, but he hasn't tossed her off yet.
"Yeah, but the zoo kids—especially Malina like it, too," Trent says. "And since we get put on lock down a lot, we might as well have something to do, right?"
"Um, Skye?" I hear Malina say quietly. I glance over at them, seeing her tug on Skye's shirt. "Skye, there's something I need to tell you—"
"Now you can make my memories seem real, right? All detailed and everything?" Skye asks the healer girl she still has by the hand.
"Skye?" Malina says, her voice still tiny.
"In a second! This is going to be awesome!" Skye says to her, her attention still on Kirsten.
"But—"
The pool water starts churning, foaming and rising. Skye doesn't even seem to notice.
"Skye!" Malina says loudly, tugging her arm. "I let Ariel live here!"
"Ariel?" Skye repeats, turning and staring at the massive fount of water coming out of the pool. It slowly takes form, turning into a woman of water that towers over all of us.
"You know, like from the Little Mermaid?" Malina offers.
The water woman reaches out one dripping hand, wrapping her fingers around Skye's body and lifting her off of the ground.
"Malina, could you at least TELL us when you put a super villain in the pool?" Trent asks with a sigh.
"I thought I just did?" she offers.
"Drop my daughter right this instant," Superior says, taking to the air and floating in front of the water woman.
"Su… peer… eee....orrrr…" the water woman says, turning on him. A spout of water slams into Superior's chest.
"Ariel!" Malina says, looking even smaller in comparison to the large water woman. "You stop attacking my teachers right this instance!"
"Mimic," the water woman whispers.
"The Mimic you knew died of old age," Superior says, coldly. Water hits him straight on again, so hard that it sends the S-class hero flying backwards.
"Hey!" Skye yells, "don't pick on my pop!" She slips through the hand, running up through the air as if climbing stairs. "We're supposed to be having class!" she adds, flipping in the air and slamming both feet in the water woman's face. The water splashes as the woman loses her form. Those of us on the ground get soaked thanks to that. For a moment I think that's all that's going to happen—until I feel the water welling up on my skin, solidifying into a gel-like substance.
"STOP IT NOW!" Malina bellows at the top of her voice, throwing out her hands. The gel turns liquid again and falls off of my body. "I let you take
off your bracelet when you wanted to, I let you stay in our pool, and this is how you repay me?" she says, storming to the poolside and placing her hands on her hips. "NICO! We need the gun again!"
"Malina—" the water woman says, sounding pathetic.
"No, you deserve this," Malina says. "I welcomed you, even when you attacked us. I offered to help you. But you attack our teachers without cause!"
"She has a cause. She was friends with Mimic," Nico says as he walks up to the group. He has a strange looking toy gun in his hand, which he shoots the pool with. A woman drops from mid air, falling into the pool. "Not sure she can swim in that form, Malina, so you might pull her out."
"But—" Malina raises her arms, causing the water to lift and the woman to fall onto the concrete poolside. She's naked, I note, blushing slightly. The males in the crowd turn away from the scene, even Superior and Nico. Tatiana, on the other hand, steps between her husband and the naked woman, her expression impossible to read.
A second Emily appears with clothes in her hands. She offers them to the naked water woman, who quickly gets dressed and pulls on a bracelet that was hanging next to the pool. "He killed Mimic," the woman says, pointing at Superior.
"We took his powers away. He died of old age without them," Nico says. "The one from this time is still alive, in the Cape Cells."
"You still killed him," she says, tears falling silently. I have no idea what's going on, but it seems pretty serious.
"He killed—" Nico starts out.
"Please, Nicolas, allow me to take over," Tatiana says, moving to stand in front of her. "I am sorry," she says, drawing the woman into a hug. "It is not an easy thing, no matter what side you look from." The water woman starts sobbing noisily, clinging to Tatiana tightly.
"He—he saved me," she wails.
"He saved me, as well," Tatiana says gently, "in his own way." She picks Ariel up, carrying her like a child. "Skye, it is okay if I do not do this now, yes?"
"Yes—I mean no—I mean, okay," Skye says, looking a bit confused. "I think?" She hesitates before looking over at Nico. "Um, what should we do now?"
"Go ahead with your plan," Nico says. "You wanted to show them the ocean, right?"
"Okay!" she says happily. "Everybody into the pool!"
***
It’s a strangely comfortable silence, even though Ariel is still sniffling. She’s carried by the large woman into a building and set down at a table. “I will get you something to eat,” the woman, Tatiana, says. “It is good to have comfort food when you are grieving.”
“He—” Ariel starts out.
“Superior,” Tatiana provides. “Or Clifford, if you are married to him,” she adds with a little smile as she pulls out the makings for macaroni and cheese. “It is true that they took Mimic’s powers away. It was time, though, that killed him.” She starts whisking up a rue, clearly comfortable in the kitchen. “We are mere humans without our powers, and Mimic was well into his hundreds,” she goes on.
The sniffling has slowed. “He would have lived longer,” she whispers.
“Yes, very likely,” Tatiana agrees, mixing all the ingredients together and putting them in the oven. “But Ariel—I may call you Ariel, yes?”
“I don’t remember my name,” she admits.
“Then Ariel,” Tatia says, “I am over a hundred years, myself,” she says, turning to the woman. “I was grown before the U.S.S.R. came into power. I have seen my motherland change many times in my lifetime. We, be we heroes or villains, cannot expect to stay the same if countries do not. Everything in this world has an end, kitten, but enough about that. You were fond of Mimic. Can you tell me how he saved you?”
Ariel stares at her, looking a bit surprised at the change of subject. “He freed me,” she says, her eyes turning to the table. “They chained me up, kept me under lock and key, and he came and rescued me. I owe him my life,” she says urgently.
“Then live it,” Tatia says, putting the dish into the oven. “Live it fully, live it for as long as you have it, kitten. That is the best repayment that a hero can get.”
“He wasn’t a hero.”
“To you, he was,” Tatia says simply. “The little water girl, she is yours?” she asks, a smile on her lips as she sits down at the table. “She is very bossy."
“Her name is Malina,” Ariel says, wiping away the last of her tears. “She’s so beautiful. I was drawn to her water powers—there aren’t any others that I’ve run into. I… I don’t know if we are related, but—”
“Family is not always blood,” Tatia says. “If you and she are willing to be family, there should be no problem!”
“She might not be so willing,” Ariel whispers. “I attacked her friends… I can’t always focus when I’m in water form. I just—”
“Then that is what you will train to do,” Tatia says, reaching out and grasping Ariel’s hand. “You will learn to control your powers—you are in the perfect place to do so! This is a school that trains such things. And once you are in control of your powers, you can spend time with your new daughter—and perhaps you will get along with mine!”
“Wh—what?”
“The girl that was kicking you in face—she is building small group of female super villains down south. It would be a very fun thing to join, I think. Were I not supposedly dead and well-established hero, I would be joining as well!”
“But I just found Malina,” Ariel says.
“Then talk her into joining South Hall. I am well aware that they are interested in her!”
“I… I’ll see,” Ariel says. “How did he save you?” she asks, having to work up her nerve to do so.
“He took my powers, my consciousness, and my form and buried me deep in the ground,” Tatia says.
“Oh.”
“Yes. As I said, it was in his own way.”
***
We were eaten by a killer whale, and a giant squid got a little too touchy-feely, but the scene with the dolphin pod had been amazing! When the other teachers came to see why we weren't coming to their classes, they got dragged into Skye's. We wound up spending the entire day in the pool, save for when Skye got hungry.
Now, however, I'm regretting it. I don't burn as easily as norms, but I definitely don't RESIST burns as well as the rest of the school. I'm looking distinctly reddish right now. My shower is definitely on the cold side. I finish up, gingerly patting myself dry with the softest towel I've got. There are healers here, right? I should go talk to one of them. Maybe I can have it turned into a tan—I would LOVE to have a tan!
I head out of my room after dressing in the softest tank top and shorts I've got, and go searching for Aubrey. She's the leader of the healers, right? I stop in the hall, listening intently for a second until I hear her speaking. Well, that was easy. She's talking on the phone—I can tell because the male voice has that faint echo to it. I wonder who it is.
"You still can't say it, can you," Aubrey says with a little laugh. I don't want to interrupt, so I should leave, right? Maybe if I leave the building it'll give her some privacy. "It's fine, Jack. I know you do. How is your search going?"
"We had a bit of trouble with our last crowd," I hear the rough, slightly raspy male voice say. "There was another group of Super-phobes mixed in with the regular watchers. They spent the entire time shouting at us for trying to get into their schools."
"You don't DO the school thing," Aubrey says.
"I know that, you know that, but they didn't seem to care. I'm actually a little worried about Vinny," he says quietly. "Don't tell him that, it'd probably offend him. But it's dangerous out here."
"That's why we need to find my healers," Aubrey says. "Jack, are you or my brothers in danger?"
"Nah, not with Mom here," he says. "In or out of uniform, Star Spangled can deal with anything, right?"
"Have you heard from Max's team? I'm worried about Piper, especially," Aubrey says.
"They're all over the place," I hear Jack say with a laugh. "They've go
t Rocco, so they've been traveling by shadow. Last time I heard from Max, he was somewhere in the islands, taking a day off while Rocco tried to figure out how to get back to America."
"But you do talk with him, right?"
"Yeah, we're keeping close track on everyone still in the field," Jack says. "Even if we don't exactly like one another that much, we still check in. But Max has gotten a little more tolerable since the summer camp."
"I bet he says the same thing about you," Aubrey says. "But has anyone been HURT?"
"I heard Justin got mobbed and kidnapped—but when is that a surprise?"
"Jack!"
"It's true—he gets kidnapped more than all the girls in the school combined. I should start calling him 'Princess.' Wait, I already do."
"Jack, you're terrible!"
"I'm sorry, your princess is in another tower," Jack says. Aubrey starts to laugh. "But look, Aub," he says, his tone more serious, "I'm going to find your healers. I ain't sure what all is going on with this Mother chick, or the sudden super-hating, but I do know we've got a lead. Are YOU safe?"
"I've got Grandpa Superior down the hall and Grandma Tatiana in the kitchen," Aubrey says a bit dryly. "This place is safer than Fort Knox."
"I'd hope so—everyone's heard Rocco's story."
"I miss you," Aubrey says. I suddenly recall that she's obviously talking to her boyfriend. I'm totally eavesdropping on a private conversation. Crap. Maybe I AM meant to be a devious super villain. The guilt has me hanging my head for a second before I get to my feet. I'll go find a different healer. "Is someone out there?" Aubrey asks as I take a step.
Busted.
I hesitate for all of a second before peeking inside. "Hi," I say a bit sheepishly. "I—"
"You're bright red!" Aubrey says. "Jack, honey, I'm going to have to call you back, okay? Love you."
"Yeah, uh, me too," I hear him say before they hang up. I feel a blush coming on, but at least it won't show with my sunburn, right?
"I didn't want to interrupt anything," I say.
"It's fine," she says. "Let's get you healed up." She has a hesitant look on her face, which I can almost interpret.
