by R. J. Ross
“She was looking for Grandpa when she came here, right?” I say. “Maybe somehow she found out he was still alive?”
“Or maybe when her husband died, she decided it was time t’do somethin’,” Rochester offers. He walks around, picking up random objects and holding them for a few seconds each. “One moment the man’s there, the next he’s gone. It’s like a blink of a screen for the things, but that lil’ blink did a lot. They were destroyed right after it.”
“Huh,” Nico says. “What do you know about Herold--the son, from this stuff?” he asks.
“Not much,” Rochester admits. “None of this belonged to him. I think he moved out a long time ago.”
“I just,” I say, still staring at the picture, “I… I’m having a hard time putting these two things together. I mean, it looks like she was a loving wife and mother, right? But she kidnapped our friends, and she brainwashed them, and—it just doesn’t fit! Bad guys are supposed to ALWAYS be bad, right? Or at least have some sort of tragic past that—well, okay, she has a tragic past, but it was a long time ago! And it looks like she got over it! What is she after?” I demand. “Why is her son running for presidency? Why—why did she brainwash my aunt? It doesn’t make any sense!”
“But it does,” a sweet, somewhat amused voice says from above. I look up, watching in shock as the house literally develops a hole over our heads. The silver haired woman sits on the roof, her legs crossed and hanging over the edge of the hole. “You steal my ship, you break into my home, do you really think I wouldn’t notice these things?” she asks.
“Well, yes, actually,” Dad says when there’s a long pause. “Did you think she’d notice?” he asks Rochester.
“Nope, not really,” Rochester says.
“Zoe?” Dad asks.
“Really?” I ask. “Right now?”
“Well, I mean honestly, if she’s like Dad, she’s only got a certain range—and we’ve been in Texas and Alaska and Kansas in the past day and a half--”
“Fine, you caught me! I caught sight of a video on YouTube with Superior and the crate up in Alaska,” Mother says, waving a hand. “Really, must you kill all the mystery? But since no one was there when I got up there, I decided to check on my other little hidey-holes and here you are—so predictable,” she says irritably. “And who is that? I can see that she’s a Lerrestian half-breed—”
“The term ‘half-breed’ is REALLY offensive, you know,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “And honestly, I’m only a quarter alien. Grandma was human, and so is Mom.”
“I see. Oh, where are my manners? Here you are in my home, and I’ve done nothing about it! I should offer you something to drink. I’m such a bad hostess—I’ve gotten out of habit, you see,” she says.
“Do you spend a lot of time on YouTube?” Dad asks.
“Really it all depends—someone has been hiding away all the healers, so it’s been a bit boring waiting for Shadowman to come back with the newest recruit,” Mother says. “And Marvin gets so touchy when he finds out I’ve been out and about. He can be quite obsessive about such things,” she says, waving a hand. I look at Dad, who’s about a foot off the ground, but still acting as if he’s not going to do anything.
“Tell me one thing,” I say. “Why? Why are you doing what you’re doing? Why are you kidnapping innocent healers? Why are you brainwashing my friends? Why is your son hiding his abilities and running for president?”
“Oh, is it that time already?” she asks.
“What time?” I ask.
“The time for the villainous monologue, where I tell you why I did it, while expecting you to do nothing but stand there and listen?” she asks. “Do you really think I’m that stup—”
I don’t even see it. One moment Dad’s there, the next he’s grabbed her, pinning her arms behind her back and floating several feet over our heads. He has a power blocking gun in his hand, which he aims at her head. He pulls the trigger. He pauses, though, looking at the gun for a second before pulling the trigger again.
“Really,” she says, “do you REALLY think that would work on me?” she asks, elbowing him in the gut and shoving him away. “You, of all people, should know my abilities! You are no match for me, boy,” she says, floating in the air. Her hair whips around her, tossed by the wind. “I’m the same as Superior!”
“You’re nothing like Grandpa Superior,” I yell, my hands clenching at my sides. “Grandpa Superior is worth a thousand of you!”
“Oh, how cute,” she says, looking at me, “such loyalty. And you? Are you going to stick up for Superior?” she asks Dad.
“Nah, I hate the guy,” Dad says before launching himself at her. I wince as I see his fist slam into her face. I mean, seriously, she’s the bad guy, but she’s still a girl—no, I take it back. She totally just slammed her knee into his gut so hard it sent him flying about a mile back before he catches himself.
“We’ve got to help him,” I say to Rochester.
“I dunno, looks like he’s holding his own,” he says, just standing there watching them.
I growl and head into the house. I’m going to need some parts for this.
***
“Wasn’t there some sort of rule—that the really high class supers shouldn’t fight?” Mother asks as she fists her hands together and slams them down on his back. Nico grunts as he slams into the ground, barely catching himself before going too deep. “Something about blowing up the planet?”
“Clearly you don’t watch enough anime. That’s what makes it entertaining,” Nico drawls, shoving off of the ground and slamming into her with his shoulder. But she's right--as long as it's purely a physical fight they can get away with it, but it'd be better to finish it before one of them breaks out the powers. He keeps going, aiming straight up. The higher they go, the less oxygen there is, but neither of them seem to notice. In the blink of an eye, he has her by the throat, and is choking her.
“Do you know, there IS a way to get rid of your type,” he tells her, his eyes narrowed dangerously. “It’s what happened to my old man. Oh sure, it didn’t finish him completely, which is a pity, but it was enough to take him out for a very, very long time.”
“Wha—” she gasps.
“What, you ask? It’s a black hole.”
“And exactly how do you plan on producing a black hole?” she asks as he loosens his hand enough for her to talk.
“Easily,” he says, holding up his left wrist. “I just happen to have a teleportation watch right here. It blows, we have a black hole.”
She stares at him in shock. “You wouldn’t,” she says. “You’re risking your entire planet! Millions of people would die if you created one here! Are you crazy?”
“Since when have you cared about millions of humans?” he asks. “You kidnapped MY SISTER, you brainwashed her into thinking you were some sort of god. NO ONE touches one of my family, adopted or not. Besides, a handful of people might die because of this, but that’s better than you controlling the masses like they’re cattle. I hate brain control.”
“You’re twisted,” she says.
“Tell me what you’re up to,” Nico says. “Tell me why you’re doing all this, or the watch goes boom.”
“You would die, too!” she says.
“That’s a risk I’ll have to take,” he says with a little smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Fine! I’ll talk!” she says. “I was going to give this planet to my son and then take Superior back to Lerrestia with me.”
There’s a long moment of silence between the two before Nico goes, “What?”
“Our race is DEAD. Our planet is like the ships—a sentient merge of technology and life. It turned against us—it let out this strange pollen that drove our people insane, and we started to attack one another. They all DIED. All of them except me, and your father,” she says. “I don’t know why, I—I think one of our technopaths started messing with something he shouldn’t have. Your type always were more brains than common
sense—you’re the perfect example! Why did ANYONE allow you to make a teleportation watch that can turn into a black hole?” she demands angrily.
“You’re one to speak!” Nico says, “Why would anyone let YOU run around kidnapping innocent healers and making an unregistered cape run for president!”
“I'm going to take the healers back to Lerrestia with me to fix the planet!” she says.
“Really,” Nico drawls.
“Well, not at first,” she admits. “At first I wanted to take out the healers to keep them from stopping Marvin from his takeover, but really, they could come in handy, don’t you think? Now be a good boy and let your future stepmother go,” she says.
“I really doubt my present MOTHER would appreciate that,” Nico says.
“Superior’s married?” she asks. “To whom?”
“Tatiana.”
“The Russian hero?”
“Yeah.”
“Well… that does make it more difficult,” she says, thoughtfully. “Oh well, now I just need you to—” she reaches up, grabbing his face and looking him straight in the eyes. “Listen to Mother, Technico. Let. Me. Go.”
His hold on her throat loosens ever so slightly as his mind fights off the attack. It’s enough—she’s gone before he shakes it off completely a few seconds later. He dares to look down, cursing as he realizes— "She took the watch.”
“I’M COMING DAD!” he hears his daughter shout from below. He looks down, focusing on the ground below—and on his precious little girl with what looks like a hand-made rocket launcher. “Sorry it took so long, but I’m ready now!” she adds.
He heads down.
***
So it took me a while to find a pipe large enough for the rocket I made, so sue me. I watch in confusion as Dad comes down alone. “Where did Mother go?” I ask, looking around.
“She got away,” he says grimly. “We need to get back to Cape High,” he goes on, walking over and picking me up. He stops, though, looking at Rochester. “You’re certain you can’t fly?”
“Dad? Why do we need to fly?” I ask.
“She stole my teleportation watch,” he says.
“What?” I demand.
“Stupid move on my behalf, I’ll admit, but we don’t have time to argue—sorry, Rochester, you get carried,” he says, grabbing Rochester’s wrist and taking to the air.
“How do you ALWAYS get your stupid watches stolen?” I demand as we race back to Kansas City. At least it’s a short trip. Poor Rochester is freaking out a little. You can tell by the way he just climbed Dad’s arm and is hanging from his bicep.
“I’m thinking I should make one big com-bracelet that only releases with my voice, but I’ll build that later,” Dad says.
I go silent for a long, long moment, before saying, “Yeah, I could see that. Or maybe an eye scanner,” I decide.
“Wait—how many watches do you got?” Rochester asks, daring to look over at me. He’s been staring down at the ground so intently this whole time. Maybe we should have asked him how he feels about heights, huh?
“There was a time travel one—”
“Which my daughter from the future was running around with,” I supply. “She’s going to be a handful,” I add.
“Did you expect anything less with Max as her dad?” Dad asks simply. “Of course, you know you don’t HAVE to wind up with Max—”
“Dad!” I say.
“The future isn’t set in stone, is all I’m saying.”
“I liked what little I heard about that future,” I say. “But anyway, there was a time travel watch, a teleportation watch—”
“And an illusion watch,” Dad says.
“An illusion watch?” I ask.
“I made it for Justin so he could go out in public.”
“I want to see the blueprints!” I say excitedly.
“If I drop you, think you’d fly again?” Dad asks me as we see Kansas City on the horizon. “Your brother is still ground-bound, you’ll be able to shove it in his face if we get it on camera now.”
“Shouldn’t we be more worried about Mother havin’ the teleportation watch?” Rochester asks.
“She should be more worried than we are,” Dad says with a satisfied smirk.
“Why’s that?”
“She’s got my tech on her--I can find her ANYWHERE, now.”
“Oh,” Rochester says.
“Want a phone?” Dad offers.
“What, not gonna offer me the leash an’ collar alternative first?” Rochester asks dryly.
“But it DOES get you free phone service for life,” I say.
“It might be worth it,” Rochester says after a long moment of debate.
***
His dad was gone when he woke up, leaving Cisco in a place where he doesn’t know ANYONE, and isn’t certain what his powers will do if he touches someone. Will they react? Will he have another freak-out moment like he had with the cop? He digs through the little travel bag and pulls out a pair of gloves. “School is starting, kitten!” he hears the Russian woman call from the door. “I let you sleep through the training hour,” she adds before walking away.
He pulls the gloves on, wondering what his dad saw when he touched Tatiana. It was probably something violent, or too adult for him, or something. A part of him REALLY wants to touch her to find out. He turns, only to yelp like a puppy as a head comes through the door—LITERALLY through the door. It’s still closed.
“Hiiii,” Skye says, stepping the rest of the way through. “You okay?”
“I—um, I’m fine,” he stutters slightly, suddenly grateful that he dressed already. “Shouldn’t you, um, go through the door without going THROUGH the door?” he asks.
“What would be the point?” she asks blankly. “It's time for my class, so you've got to come, okay?"
“Um… okay?” he says, looking at her blankly. She gives him a brilliant grin, hopping to her feet—a foot off the ground.
“Okay!” she says, grabbing his hand and hauling him off of his feet. He doesn’t even have time to yelp before they’re going straight through the door. They start down the hall, but Skye pulls to a stop as Tatiana calls out.
“You will NOT skip breakfast!”
“Whoops,” Skye says, turning and going through the hall wall into the large kitchen. Cisco barely has time to take in the sight of Superior sitting at the head of the table before he’s plopped down in a chair. “Breakfast time!” Skye says, reaching up and messing up his hair. He goes still as an image flashes through his mind of—
“Wall wide video games?” he says blankly.
“You like them, too?” Skye asks, dropping down next to him and taking the plate Tatiana brings her. “They’re ALL OVER the dorm walls if you use your phone!" she says, digging in. “I played all night!” she says shamelessly. “Thank you, Mom!” she adds as she drenches her pancakes with so much syrup that he’s positive she’ll get cavities.
“My son tends to add things that don’t need to be there,” Superior says, looking up from his newspaper at them. “You’re that Rochester’s son, right?”
“Cisco,” Cisco says, looking at him cautiously.
“You can’t fly, either, can you?”
“No, sir. I’m still coming into my powers, actually,” he admits, wondering why this apparent family breakfast suddenly terrifies him. “But I doubt I’ll fly, even when I’m grown.”
“But what WILL you be able to do?” Superior asks, looking far too interested for Cisco’s taste.
“Um, well… play any musical instrument that’s been played by someone else?” Cisco offers. “I think I’m going to pick up a lot of stuff just by touching people or things. Dad does. Well, except singing. Regardless of how good you pick up the skills, if you don’t have the pipes, you don’t have the pipes,” he says, repeating something Rochester’s old band had said far too often.
“That extends to fighting, though, doesn’t it?” Superior asks, folding up his newspaper and leaning forward w
ith a slight smile on his face. “Not talents, but skills,” he sums up.
“Um… I guess?” Cisco says hesitantly. He slowly digs into the food he’s given, wondering what Superior is thinking.
“Who are our best fighters here?” Superior asks Tatiana.
“Trent is here between missions!” Tatiana says. “But if he does not pick up the tank strength, I am not sure that the moves will work,” she adds thoughtfully.
“Freddy’s pretty good! Falconess has been coming to train him,” Skye says. “We can try him!”
“He’ll be a lot lighter on his feet than Cisco is right now, but it’s a decent idea,” Superior says.
“What?” Cisco asks, looking at them blankly.
“Freddy’s a wall-climber!” Skye says, finishing off her food in record time. “You’ll like him!” she adds. “Can I go get him?” she asks Tatiana and Superior.
“Sure,” Superior says, standing. “Meet us in the gym, we’ll try this there.”
“But—I’m only NOW coming into my powers,” Cisco says.
“We only have you for a short time, kitten,” Tatiana says. “Do not worry, it will be enjoyable!”
Cisco says nothing, just downs his glass of milk and stands, since Superior is watching him patiently. “Okay, let’s try it,” he says, squaring his shoulders and looking at the two supers.
“Let’s have him touch Trent, first,” Superior says as they head across campus to one of the school buildings.
“But we did not ask for the entire school to—” Tatiana stops as they step into the gym, looking around. “Oh, never mind! They have all come for us, on their own!” she says, smiling brilliantly as the small school group parts for them to walk through.
“Now the real question is,” Superior says, looking over the group thoughtfully, “how long do the stolen skills last?”
“We will be finding out!” Tatiana says far too cheerfully. “It will give us an idea of just how dangerous his father is, no?”
