Super Girls (Cape High Book 13)

by R. J. Ross

  “Dangerous?” Cisco asks blankly. “But Dad always says he’s second rate, at best, a B-class.”

  “Oh, yes, according to the scale,” Tatiana says, waving it off. “But with certain abilities, it is not the letter that is mattering. It is how you use them.”

  “A good example of that is Shadowman,” Superior says, his expression dark.

  “Who?” Cisco asks.

  “A shadow walker.” Superior waves a green haired boy forward. “Freddy, come here, we need your help.” Cisco watches the boy with the lizard haircut head forward, his eyes lighting up.

  “AWESOME hair!” he says. “Who did it for you?”

  “Dragon,” Freddy says with a grin.

  “Oh, wow—can he do mine?” Cisco asks, forgetting about the Shadowman comment completely.

  ***

  “Shut up,” Shadowman says, shoving the newest healer catch into the corner. “That’s enough whining, it’s not like I killed you,” he ignores the man’s complaints and looks around. “She’s not even here,” he says, his scowl growing darker.

  The healer is a young man—probably a little over twenty. He doubts the guy had even been on Technico’s list. He looks down at the heavy-set male, taking in the beard and ancient cartoon t-shirt complete with stains. “When was the last time you actually went out in public?” he asks. “Do you even have a job?”

  “I’m going to college,” the man says in a surly tone. “Online.”

  “Right,” Shadowman drawls. “A perfectly useful healing skill, and you’re spending your entire life holed up in your parents’ basement, staring at a computer screen.”

  “Like your opinion means anything to me,” the man says, scoffing.

  “Listen up, boy—”

  “I have a name. It’s Allen.”

  “Do you really think I care?” Shadowman asks. “You healers are really starting to piss me off,” he says, looming over the man. “Do you know what you could do with your abilities? That one—she’s an ACCOUNTANT,” he says, waving at the tiny, thin woman sitting in the opposite corner. She doesn’t stick out in an empty room, much less a crowd. “She’s got the ability to heal cancer at the tips of her fingers, and she spends all her time crunching numbers. You’re all MORONS!”

  “We can all see how good trying to stick out is doing us,” Allen drawls. “We didn’t ask to be outed—I WASN’T outed, so how did you find me?” he asks, suddenly confused.

  “I can find anyone with powers,” Shadowman says, waving it off. “Family ability.” It was easier to go after the adults, he’s decided. The adults are less likely to bring Technico’s attention, they are less likely to be noticed as missing, and they still count as work. Once Mother truly starts trusting him—

  Well, that’s when he attacks, he promises himself. Taking her out will be a privilege.

  A tiny sound makes him look up, staring blankly at Mother as she appears out of nowhere. “Oh, this IS fun,” she says, looking at the watch on her wrist. It’s far too big for her. “Shadowman, sweetie, what have you brought me this time?” she asks, looking at Allen.

  “A college kid,” Shadowman drawls.

  “He kidnapped me!” Allen accuses, pointing a finger.

  “Well of course he did,” Mother says, waving a hand. “I told him to.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m collecting healers, of course,” Mother says, turning back to the watch she’s wearing. “Oh, would you look at this—he left all of his destinations!” she says, tapping on the watch.

  “Is that Herold’s?” Shadowman asks.

  “Oh no, of course not. Herold doesn’t ever make such interesting toys. This is Technico’s,” she says, dropping down on a nearby chair and crossing her legs. “A teleportation watch. I really can’t trust him to keep it, though.”

  “Why’s that?” Shadowman asks.

  “Because he says if you destroy it, you create a black hole,” she explains. “That’s apparently how Superior got taken out in the past. So I took it.” She looks at him, a mild expression on her face. "Well, it ALMOST took him out," she says, silently calling him out on his comment about Superior being dead.

  He stares at her, and then looks at the watch for a long, long moment. If she hasn’t figured it out, he’s not going to tell her, he decides blandly. And he's not about to touch the fact she caught him lying. “That’s nice. I’ll just be going now,” he adds, starting to slip through the floor.

  The door opens before he manages to get away and he looks over as Herold walks in. “Mom, I think—” he stops, looking at the two healers and then at Shadowman. “What have you been doing?” he asks.

  “Oh, not much,” Mother says, hiding her wrist behind her back like a guilty child. Herold looks at her, clearly catching that something is going on, but he ignores it. “How’s your day been, sweetie?” she asks, trying to change the subject. She pulls her hand out from behind her, and the watch is gone. “Shadowman, weren’t you going back to work?” she demands.

  “Of course I was,” Shadowman says, sinking through the ground. “I’ll just be going, then.”

  “Hey, wait—” Allen says, starting to lunge for him. He goes perfectly still, frozen by the hand Mother just waved at him.

  “No, no, no,” she says, waving a finger. “You don’t go anywhere.”

  “Really, Mom, what did I say about kidnapping?” Shadowman hears Herold ask as he sinks into the Shadowlands. He looks around, picking up on his son’s presence. Deliberately he turns and walks the other way, shoving his hands into his pockets. Does he feel guilty, he wonders?

  Perhaps, he decides. But it’ll be fixed once he takes Mother out. That is, if Technico doesn’t get her first. Even HE’S not stupid enough to carry around a piece of tech made by the man, after all.

  CHAPTER SIX

  We land outside the campus, and I look around, frowning. “Did you at least wipe the history of the watch?” I ask Dad as he starts for the school entrance. “She’ll know where all of our bases are—”

  “I’m counting on it,” Dad says.

  I look at him, a bit startled. “You’re risking the school in an attempt to lure her to you?” I demand irritably. “Are you crazy? I don’t want Mother anywhere near here!”

  “If you wipe it now, she’ll notice, right?” Rochester says, following along behind us. “Even if y’can do it, you prob’ly shouldn’t, now.”

  “Listen to the psycho, sweetie, he knows what he’s talking about,” Dad says in a patently sweet tone. "Besides, she has Shadowman, there's a good chance she already knows. Honestly, I'm surprised she hasn't visited us, herself, yet--but we would have seen her coming from a mile away. That's probably why she hasn't."

  “PsychoMETRIC,” Rochester says darkly as we head onto campus. Max is long gone—he left soon after his powers were unlocked, since he had a job last night. I need to go online and see how it went. I have to admit, I really enjoy watching my boyfriend work—not that I’d ever tell him that. His ego’s big enough as it is.

  We head down the steps and look around. I hear cheering from the gym, which is right under Dad’s office, anyway, so I head for it. “We’re redoing the force field,” I tell him sharply. “I’m not letting her step a FOOT into this place.” The main force field computer is in the science room that Dad uses as an office. I’ll start from there—

  I pull to a stop as I see the entire school sitting on the bleachers, watching as a short line of teachers stand in front of Cisco. Rochester rushes past me, cursing under his breath. He grabs Cisco right before the boy can shake hands with Banshee.

  “What the hell d’ya think you’re doin’?” Rochester demands, shoving Cisco behind him.

  “I learned how to flip kick, Dad!” Cisco says, making Rochester look back at him. “Freddy’s an awesome fighter—he doesn’t think he is, but he is! And I learned every My Little Pony song from the new series from Carla, but I’m not sure that was what the plan was,” he admits, frowning slightly.

&n
bsp; “It was mine!” Carla calls from the bleachers. ”That’s DEFINITELY a skill.”

  Rochester hesitates, looking at his son curiously. “Nothin’ too traumatic?” he asks after a long moment.

  “Well the zoo memories suck, but they don’t focus on them that much,” Cisco says. “At least the ones that volunteered don’t,” he adds after a second. “Carla’s the hardest, actually, it’s like watching a show in fast forward. And Freddy’s stuck on—ah—” he blushes slightly and glances at the audience. “Never mind.”

  “Did y’corrupt my twelve year old kid?” Rochester asks the green haired boy. “Nice hair, by the way.”

  “Thanks, Dragon did it,” Freddy says. “And I didn’t either,” he adds, giving Cisco a dirty look.

  “He’s got a crussssh,” Cisco says, grinning wickedly.

  “Shut up, or I’ll tell Ace to shave you bald,” Freddy mutters.

  I look at Freddy, and then glance through the crowd until my eyes land on Jennifer, who’s got a dry expression on her face--think it's her? Wait, I don’t have time for this. I need to get to work on the force field—and why hasn’t Dad TOLD them what happened yet? I turn and glower at him.

  “As entertaining as this is,” Dad says casually, “it’s time to go into lock-down mode. And since everyone’s here already, we’ll use this as the base.” I jerk as the windows that I can see cover over with several layers of heavy, rocket resistant material with electricity sparking between the layers. They’re not the only ones, I realize. Every window on campus is closing over and the doors are sliding shut and locking.

  “Sandra isn’t here,” Freddy says quietly.

  Dad turns and heads for the door. He’s stopped as Grandpa and Grandma move to block his way. “You will be explaining now, Nicolas,” Grandma says.

  “After I get Sandra,” Dad says.

  I hesitate, looking at him. I’ve never even SEEN Sandra that I can remember, at least not since they first showed up to join Cape High. I don’t think anyone outside of the zoo kids has! She's the one that skips everything--and that the other zoo kids don't even seem to realize is missing. Or at least they never mention it. It's like... they've written her off, in a way. “She’ll be safe in the dorm room, right?” I ask.

  “I want her here. If things do go south, I want everyone in one place,” Dad says, heading out the door. I look around, expecting one of the zoo kids to follow, but they just stand there silently, watching him go. I have no choice, I think. I have to go with him.

  I chase after him, slipping through the doors right before they slam shut. Dad barely glances back at me as we head over to the first dorm building. “Don’t act surprised when you see her. She's gotten... more... well, she's changed a lot since she first came,” he warns me as we head into the dorm and up to the second floor. He doesn’t tell me what to expect, I think darkly, but I’m not supposed to act surprised, that's so unfair.

  “Sandra,” he says, knocking on the door. “Sandra, we’re in lock-down. You need to come to the gym.”

  “No,” a raspy voice says.

  “I’m not asking,” Dad says, twisting the handle off and stepping into the room. It’s dark inside, but Dad turns the lights on, revealing a large rock pile in the middle of the room. I look around, trying to find her, but Dad heads straight to the rocks and crouches down in front of them. “I’ll carry you, if you won’t cooperate, kiddo,” he says, placing a hand on the top rock.

  The rocks jerk back, and I can see the form now. It’s a gargoyle-esque creature, crouching on all fours. She’s made of rock, I realize, yet she’s moving so fast—”Amazing,” I say, heading forward. Her glowing gold eyes turn on me and she snarls, slapping out with a long armed, over-sized hand. I barely manage to block it.

  “She’s gotten stronger since we’ve started feeding her,” Dad says, casually. “She’s also gotten a lot rockier. We used to get her out once in a rare while, for special occasions, but since her face and hands started becoming obvious, she holed up in here.”

  “That’s none of her business,” Sandra says, scuttling away from us on all fours. “Get out—JUST GET OUT!” she screams, cowering in the corner that’s the least bright. “I’m not a super—I’m just a FREAK!”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Dad says, walking over and scooping her up in his arms. “Once we take care of Mother, I’ll let you hide all you want,” he says in a cold tone. “Right now, you’re just going to have to put up with the rest of the world.”

  She’s fighting as hard as she can. I wince as I see her fists slamming on his chest, but even she realizes quickly that it’s not doing anything good. I follow along silently, feeling her eyes fall on me with pure hatred quickly enough. She snarls at me when I meet her eyes.

  “Take a picture, it lasts longer,” she snaps.

  “Well, if you’re giving permission,” I say, bringing out my phone and snapping a shot. She lets out an outraged roar and jumps over Dad’s shoulder, slamming into me. She’s so heavy that I fall onto my butt in the dorm hallway, grunting. Her fist slams into my cheek and it hurts. I growl, bringing my legs up and kicking her off of me. She WOULD go flying, if Dad didn’t catch her in mid-air.

  “You DARE—”

  “Of course I do!” I yell before she can even finish. “You told me to!”

  “It was SARCASM!”

  “You look awesome! Of course I’d want a picture!” I say, waving my phone in her face. She goes still, staring at the picture in shock. “When was the last time you looked in a mirror?” I ask. “Sure, you aren’t pretty—but who cares? You look… primal,” I decide, looking at the picture, myself. “Do you have control of rocks, or is it just a physical thing?” I ask, curiously.

  “Why should I tell you anything?” she demands. “You’re one of the pretty ones. I hate you picture perfect super heroes!”

  I roll my eyes. “I don’t think we should let her hide,” I say to Dad. “She’s never going to graduate if she keeps missing class. Then she’ll wind up living here the rest of her life. That’ll make her MY problem when I take over—”

  “I have nothing to do with you!” she says, swinging one large hand out to grab me. I avoid it without missing a step.

  “How about we solve this the old-fashioned way?” Dad says as we cross the campus and step into the gym. “You two battle. The winner gets to decide what happens with Sandra’s future.”

  “That’s NOT FAIR!” Sandra yells right in his ear, trying to get free.

  “Put her down, please,” I hear Aubrey say. I look up, seeing all of the zoo kids not in the field standing in front of us. “Sandra—”

  “No,” Sandra says. “You have no say in this, you traitors!”

  “Sandra—” Freddy says, his tone wounded. “Come on, Sis—it’s not—”

  “I am NOT YOUR SISTER!” she bellows. Dad puts her down and she turns on the other zoo kids. “You just sat there and WATCHED as I started turning into a freak—YOU!” she yells, pointing at Aubrey. “You could have helped me! You could have stopped this! You did NOTHING!”

  Aubrey looks like she hit her. I grit my teeth, fighting the urge to yell. That’s my cousin she’s screaming at! And I might not be part of their special little zoo kid family, but SHE’S part of MINE! “ENOUGH!” I bellow, my hands clenched at my sides. I move, blocking Sandra from the others. “Now is NOT the time to be fighting over superficial junk like how you look!”

  “This isn’t superficial!”

  “Oh sure it is,” I say. “You’re breathing, you’re moving, clearly you aren’t like Jack was when he first turned metal—whatever your change is, it’s natural,” I tell her, placing my hands on my hips. “Right now we are in LOCK-DOWN because a very dangerous woman has our coordinates and could be showing up at any moment! You pouting over how you’re not that pretty anymore is just. Not. That. IMPORTANT!”

  “And how did this ‘very dangerous’ woman get our coordinates, son?” Grandpa asks darkly.

  “There might or m
ight not have been a watch involved,” Dad says all too innocently.

  “It is not child abuse when he is almost forty and an S-class, my love,” Grandma says, placing a hand on Grandpa’s arm before smacking Dad upside the head, herself. Dad falls forward a few steps before catching himself and rubbing the back of his head.

  “Thanks, Mom,” he says dryly. “But it is a good chance to check out my security system,” he adds.

  Even I give him a dark look for that one—and a part of me knows EXACTLY where he’s coming from.

  “I think we should step out—just in case you’re overestimating your system,” Grandpa says.

  “Be good!” Grandma says to us as they head out the door, taking Dad with them.

  Everyone looks to me, even Skye. I sigh. I guess sneaking upstairs to redo the force field is out, huh?

  ***

  Mother sits on the metal table, long legs crossed casually as she examines the watch she stole. The healers keep trying to escape, but she ignores them until they actually make a bit of progress. Her mind is fully occupied.

  Superior is married.

  Now usually that wouldn’t cause problems for her, marriage is just another word, right? Or it had been, she admits to herself, until she’d met Wade. A bittersweet smile pulls at her lips as she remembers the first time they’d met, all those years ago.

  *Eighty Years Ago*

  The crash has done more damage to her than she wanted to admit, but that isn’t what mattered now. She’s lost everything—her planet, her people, her status, even her name—all of it is gone, now. It hadn’t been a quick war, either. It started in small places, with normally happy, hard-working Lerrestians turning on one another, attacking each other with their powers. The technopaths had ruthlessly turned the world around them into a living weapon. Those with control on the atomic level—they had—

  She shoves the thought down even as the tears threaten. She’d stopped herself, but too late. It was the shock that did it. She’d stared down at her hands, KNOWN that she’d done something she would never forgive herself for, and she’d run. The trip to the ship fields took so long that she was certain she wouldn’t make it, but she had. She’d found a living ship too young to be corrupted by the virus, and made her escape.