by R. J. Ross
***
As soon as I take a super quick shower and get dressed I head to the science lab where Nico works. I need to tell him about Shadowman’s visit, but I can’t say anything. He’s got holograms open so they surround him, and is moving so fast that he looks like a blur. It looks like he’s a conductor, running a symphony in fast-forward. There’s no sound, but each of the screens light up as he motions to them, flashing from red to green, only to go red again a second later.
This has to be a technopath war, I realize, watching in stunned awe. Another hologram appears, making me jump back as it takes my place. It flashes quickly and I see code crossing the screen. “Rocco,” Nico says, alerting me to the fact that he knows I’m here, “get Zoe.”
“Sure, boss,” I say, disappearing through the shadows. I appear behind Zoe a second later. “Your dad wants you,” I say as she glances up. I drag her through the shadows and back to his office. She blinks for a moment, and I can practically see her mind rushing.
“On it,” she says, heading into the mess of holograms. I watch, silently, as the two start working back to back. Soon the red lights are STAYING green. Whoever is on the attack is getting shut out, and fast.
“A false front?” Zoe asks, starting to laugh.
“Why not?” Nico says. “With you doing the shutting down, it gave me plenty of time.” They turn, bumping knuckles with matching evil grins. “He’ll figure it out soon, though, so don’t let your guard down.”
“On it,” Zoe says, her eyes going back to the holograms. “Does he know there are two of us?” she asks.
“No, and we’re going to keep it that way,” Nico says, watching his side of the holograms with a hint of amusement. “Thanks, Rocco,” he adds. “I appreciate your speed. You can go back to class, now.”
“Actually I can’t—I have something to tell you,” I say. “Herold knows about me, well, maybe.”
Nico looks over, raising an eyebrow. “Go on.”
“Shadowman appeared at the force field in the Shadowlands,” I say. “He says that Herold wants him to bring me to him. He’s got me coming out of the shadows on film thanks to the Anti-Super meeting. He thinks it might be Skye that did it, but he’s still after me.”
“Makes sense, so is Shadowman going to kidnap you?”
“That’s his father!” Zoe protests. “Shadowman might be evil, but even HE wouldn’t throw his own son under the bus!”
“Actually, after thinking about it, he said it might be a good way to make him look good,” I say dryly. “You know, bring me in, let you guys come in and save me. Especially when he found out I was going to debut.”
“And how did he find that out?” Nico asks.
“He caught me running around looking crispy,” I say.
“I see. Well… why not?” he says after a moment of thought. “I don’t trust Shadowman, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use him. Tell him that as soon as the debut is over, he can kidnap you. We’ll be looking forward to it.”
“What?” I ask.
“You can’t just toss Rocco under the bus, Dad!” Zoe says.
“Says the one that would have tested the shields on him a while back,” Nico drawls with amusement. “If Rocco doesn’t want to, we’ll bring Ace back and substitute.”
“What will we gain if I get kidnapped?” I ask. “Is it really worth it?”
“He’s just going to keep coming after you, don’t you think? Which would you rather have—a kidnapping we’re aware of and can turn to our advantage, or one we don’t see coming?” He focuses on the holograms, tapping on the air. Another screen turns yellow. “He’s starting to figure it out. Who wants to bet he throws a temper tantrum?” he asks, his grin downright wicked.
“Oh, I don’t think he will,” Zoe says, tapping away as well. “But we could put off the debut until after all this is over, if you don’t want dragged into it, Rocco,” she says, not even glancing at me. “You’ve already done plenty with stealing the watch from Marie.”
“I’ll… think about it,” I say, watching them work for a moment. “What shields?” I ask, abruptly.
“Hmm?” Zoe asks.
“What shields would you have tested on me?” I ask.
“Oh, we were going to see if you could get through the force field by shadow,” she says. “But we didn’t have a stun setting.”
“We still don’t have a stun setting,” Nico says.
“Oh,” I say. No, seriously, is everyone out to treat me like bait? I sigh. “You can’t,” I say, giving up before even arguing. “Get through, I mean—you can’t get through the force field, even in the Shadowlands. That means I don’t have to deal with any of the shadow dinos when I’m on campus—they all fried themselves when it went up, I think.”
“Good to know. Get to class, Rocco,” Nico says.
“Going now,” I reply, stepping through the shadows and heading for class.
***
“I almost had him,” Herold says, closing down the holograms and falling back in his chair. “I was almost there. But all of a sudden it was like he was just playing with me,” he admits, running a hand over his face. He hates to admit that Century is right—that Technico is better than he is. No, not just better—”better” is how he would (if he was honest) describe the first part. It’s when he got trapped in the false business front that Technico went from “better” to amazing. He’d actually believed he’d gotten through for a minute.
“Technico,” Shadowman says, lounging in the chair in front of his desk and playing on his phone.
“I realize that it’s Technico,” Herold says sharply. “I realize that they’re trying to throw me off guard, but it isn’t going to work.”
“Seems to me it already has,” Shadowman mutters.
“Once I have the presidency—”
“You don’t get it!” Shadowman says, getting to his feet. “The supers aren’t under U.S. law! They never have been, they never will be—they are ABOVE the law! That’s why when you wind up having a freaking LUNCH date with one of the Hall Leaders, you know you’re about to be gunned down!” He stares at Herold, his hands on the desk between them, his irritation finally shoving him over the edge. “You can’t beat them. Technico couldn’t beat them, and you just admitted he was a better technopath than you are. Face it, Herold, we’re well and truly screwed. They’ll take our powers and toss us into the Cape Cells, all because you got some wild hair to become president. Do you REALLY think they’ll allow a super to be the leader of the free world?”
“You just said they weren’t under the law.”
“They aren’t—they put themselves under their own laws,” Shadowman says, running a hand over his face. “I spent all this time avoiding their attention, only to fall in with you, who doesn’t even know how they operate!”
“If they’re above the law because of their powers,” Herold says, “we can fix that.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s of no concern for you,” Herold says. “You have more important things to do—where is the boy I told you to bring me?”
A knock comes at the door, and they hear someone call through it. “Senator Herold, you’ve got an interview in an hour.”
“Right, of course,” Herold says, standing. “I’m coming.” He straightens his tie and walks past Shadowman, pausing beside him. “What are you waiting for, Shadowman? You have a job to do.”
“You’re out of your league, Herold,” Shadowman whispers. “You’re going to get both of us killed.”
“Do keep from being seen by my secretary,” Herold replies. “The last thing I want is to be seen with someone shady looking while I’m campaigning.”
“Ha ha,” Shadowman drawls before sliding through the nearest shadow and leaving him behind. Now… how can he use this for his own advantage?
He’s still frowning slightly as he heads forward. It’s only the sound of his phone vibrating that makes him stop. He digs it out of his pocket, looking at the text for a momen
t before letting out a laugh.
“This weekend it is, then,” he says, typing up a quick reply.
CHAPTER FIVE
There’s no rest for the Rocco. Yeah, that sounds about right, I decide as school lets out. All of my homework weighs a ton—that’s what I get for doing good deeds. If I wasn’t running around trying to save the world, maybe, just MAYBE I’d be caught up on school work. I groan and head for the tree houses behind the gym. It seems as good a place as any to try and get some work done. Why? Because that’s one of the hang outs for the zoo kids. If I’m lucky, someone will let me copy.
Thankfully there’s a small crowd of kids hanging out, draped over the tree houses or lounging in the hammocks. Even the new girls are sitting on a blanket nearby. “Hey, guys! Who wants to let me check their homework?” I ask with a cheesy grin.
“Yeah, right!” Lance says, barely looking up from his books, "like you know any of the answers.”
“I’m older than you are, you know,” I have to point out.
“You dropped out of school when you were twelve,” he says, jotting down another answer.
“Yeah, yeah, well it’s not like I could go—think of how terrorized the teachers would have been when Marigold stopped by,” I say, looking around for a place to sit. Carla is sitting in one of the hammocks, her hand a blur as she does her homework at her own pace. She might be one of the youngest in the school, but she’s really smart. I think it’s because she gets bored and reads ahead.
I hop onto the platform over her hammock and lean over, trying to get her attention. She glances up, her eyes widen, and she lets out a muffled yelp of shock. “Don’tdothat!” she scolds me, still in fast-forward.
“When you talk like that you remind me of the Chipmunks,” I say. “Hey, hey, sing the Christmas Time song—”
She glares at me as people start laughing. “That’s not funny,” she says, deliberately slowing down. “What do you want?”
“Can I copy your homework?”
“No! Do your own!”
“But I’ve got work to do—I’ve got a debut coming up, and then I get kidnapped—” I say. “Wait, shouldn’t have mentioned that,” I admit as everyone turns to stare at me.
“Why are you getting kidnapped?” Carla asks. “Who would want you?”
“Ouch,” I say, grabbing my chest. “That was HARSH.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she says, rolling her big gold eyes and shoving me lightly. I sit up, turning and looking at the rest of the group.
“Okay, I’ll tell,” I say. “My dad’s going to kidnap me—you guys need to be my backup, got it? Because I’m going to have to escape from a technopath.”
“Nico?”
“Herold.”
“Did your dad warn you first?” Carla asks, a hint of fear in her eyes. I feel even guiltier with that look. The idea of Shadowman kidnapping anyone is probably going to keep her awake at night.
“Yeah, he did,” I say. “He warned me first, but then suggested we do it. Nico’s going along—he says it’s better to do it when we can use it to our advantage. I think he plans on exposing Herold to the press, or something.”
“I don’t…” Carla says, looking at her books.
“Huh?”
“I don’t like it!” she says. “It’s not right! You’re one of us—you’re supposed to be PROTECTED from jerks like those—”
“I’m not, though,” I say, cutting her off. “I’m not one of you. I’m a working cape, now. This sort of thing is going to be my job, Carla.” I take in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I look at all of them. “I’m going villain. I’m going to be the one that’s sent into the shadows to hunt down the bad guys—probably by less than honorable means,” I say dryly. “I’m going to be one of the ones protecting YOU,” I tell her, “at least until you’re ready to go out and protect everyone else.”
“This is this and that is that,” she says, waving her hands emphatically. “You don’t see the other villains getting kidnapped!” She jumps out of the hammock, storming away and leaving her homework. For a moment I look at it, honestly tempted.
“Oh for crying out loud,” I mutter, jumping off the platform and chasing after her.
I hear, faintly, Vinny ask, “What was that about?”
***
She’s acting like a child, Carla thinks, sitting at the top of the steps into the canyon. She KNOWS that he can escape anything—well, with a little help, he can. He escaped from Central Hall! All Nico had to do was turn the power off for a few seconds. She’s heard the story several times, right? Shadowman can’t keep him in some glass cage like he had her, no one can! Well, maybe no one.
“Look,” Rocco says from below. “We need to talk.”
Reluctantly she looks down. He starts up the stairs when she doesn’t say anything. “It’s none of my business,” she says, looking away from him. “You can do whatever you want, it’s not like I have some say in it.” She sounds like a brat, and she knows it. Sometimes you just NEED to be bratty.
He sits down next to her, sliding his legs through the stair railing and staring out over the campus. “You know, I could be ripping off your homework right now,” he says.
She whacks him with the back of her hand, making him laugh. “That isn’t even close to funny,” she complains. “And neither was the Chipmunks joke!”
“That wasn’t funny—that was hysterical,” he says, grinning evilly. “I can just see you dressed up in red—”
“Shut up, it’s not funny!” she says, glaring at him. “I’m trying to act more adult-like! I’m fourteen, now!”
He starts laughing so hard he almost falls over. “Yeah, good luck with that!” he hoots once he has his breath back. “Says the girl that forces the entire dorm to be silent whenever My Little Pony comes on, or had Ace do an entire Lisa Frank style mural of a panther on her wall—I can’t WAIT to see Adanna see that, I bet she’d be shocked to see herself glitter-ized. You’re still a kid, Carla—”
Her hands clench on the bars of the railing and they start to bend.
“But not in a bad way!” he says quickly as the metal squeals. “I… I like the child-like aspect,” he says, giving her a shy little smile. “Even after you’ve been through so much, you can still be happy about little things. You’re one of my best friends,” he says. “You were one of the first people to accept me into the school. And I honestly think your little caffeine trips are hysterical.”
Best friend, she thinks, staring at the campus. That makes her feel so selfish, in a way. “I should support you,” she says, leaning forward and pressing her forehead to the bars. “But I don’t want to! This is just plain STUPID! There’s no reason to let them kidnap you, not unless you’re going to capture Herold or your—or Shadowman and put them in the Cape Cells, right? If you do that, I’ll support you. I’ll even go with you,” she says. “I can take out Shadowman! I almost did once, already! And while I’m taking out Shadowman you can go in and steal super secret information on Herold!”
“I don’t want to—”
“We’ll take it,” Nico says, appearing in front of them. “The three of you make a surprisingly good team,” he adds.
“Three?” Rocco asks, blinking as Skye pops out from behind Nico’s back.
“SURPRISE!” she says. “I get to be your kidnapping teacher! I don’t like kidnapping, but I’ll make an exception for you, Rocco!”
“Not ‘kidnapping teacher,’ Skye, you’re going to be his kidnapping overseer.”
“Is it just me or do both titles seem equally wrong?” Rocco says. “So this kidnapping is just a new way of infiltrating, right? What are we after that you can’t get through the internet?”
“Who knows? But if he’s so kindly inviting one of my kids into his place of work, who am I to pass it up? Now, you two have homework to do and Skye, you’ve got… I honestly don’t know what you’ve got to do, actually.” He looks at his sister a bit blankly. “What DO you do?”
“Video games!” S
kye says happily.
“Oh. Well that makes sense. Rocco, go do your homework,” he says before walking away.
Carla looks at Rocco, feeling like their little conversation was cut short. “Um, I should go let Cisco call his dad,” she says a bit awkwardly.
“Yeah, sounds like a good idea,” he says.
“I’m going to go play the new game!” Skye says, racing away. Carla looks at Rocco for a long moment before leaving, as well. He doesn’t seem interested in talking any longer.
***
The week passes in a blink of an eye. Suddenly I’m standing in front of the Villainy Artifacts Museum, dressed in my civvies. Nico stops next to me, looking at it with a hint of amusement. “They bring ALL of the artifacts here, regardless of the branch. South is the only one interested in showing it off.”
“So… some of your old stuff might be in here?” I ask, suddenly interested.
“As far as I know, yeah,” he says. “Hey, we might even find that old—no, wait, Andre stole that,” he says.
“Old what?”
“The clone I built almost forty years ago to save Superior from Mom,” he says. “It’s an interesting story, I’ll tell it to you sometime,” he adds as he starts inside. I look around, seeing other capes out of uniform lingering around. I see Carla and Skye exclaiming over one of the lawn ornaments and groan as I hear Skye go, “I WANT this! It’d be awesome in my secret base! Think they’d notice if I stole it?”
“Yes,” Carla says, “I do.”
“But I’ll be really discreet—”
“It’s the size of a basketball court, Skye,” she says. “You should at least wait until night time!”
“Okay! Want to come with me when I do?”
“I’m supposed to be going hero,” Carla says, pouting for a second, “but I’d really like to see it!” she adds.
“They’re planning on stealing the lawn art,” I have to tell Nico.
“I heard,” he says with amusement. “It’d be a waste of time. They took out all the working parts years ago. Now come on in, we can at least tour the place while we’re waiting for Vinny to do his grand entrance.”
