Mic Drop (Cape High Series Book 16)

by R. J. Ross

  She'd been young and stupid, and she regrets it now... well... parts of it. "Chet! Stay out of your sister's room!" she yells to the back of the house as she starts digging through the kitchen cabinets to find something quick and easy to make for dinner. Hamburger Helper is always good. Brown the meat, toss in the ingredients, and you're good to go.

  The doorbell rings. "Layne! Get the door!" she bellows, her hands full of stuff.

  "I--"

  "Don't talk back to me, young lady!" she yells before Layne can get past that single syllable.

  The door opens a second later and she hears her daughter say her memorized spiel, "We don't want any, we donate through our church, and we're not interes--MOM?"

  That final word isn't in the script, Wendy thinks, rushing into the front room. There, standing as if they have every right to be there, are Mastermental and Maximum, AKA her ex and her eldest son.

  "Hello, Wendy. I'm afraid we need to talk," Mastermental says.

  The sound of Chet racing into the front room means it just got a lot worse, she realizes numbly, but she can't focus on that--Maximum is staring at her.

  She feels so guilty that she has to swallow to keep from throwing up, as all of the memories come rushing back.

  "Mom? What are Mastermental and Maximum doing here?" Layne asks, trembling slightly. "Aren't they enemies?"

  "Well, that's where it gets a bit complicated," Maximum says, taking his mask off. "We are during work hours. The rest of the time I usually call him 'dad.'"

  "NO WAY!" Chet says, looking the most excited Wendy's seen him in a long time. "So who's your mom?" he demands.

  "That's even more complicated," Maximum says, looking Wendy in the eye. "Hello, Mother," he adds, waving briefly. "We need you all, including your husband, to come with us."

  "MOM??" Chet and Layne exclaim, shocked. "You've clearly got the wrong place, our mom--" Chet goes on.

  "Kids, please be quiet. Why are you here?" Wendy asks Mastermental and Maximum. "You have no right to just barge in here after all these years--"

  "You're correct, and we apologize for interfering in your life, but I'm afraid we have no choice," Mastermental says, as calm as he always was. She had hated how calm he stayed, hated the way he could easily read her mind. At first it had been exciting, being known so well, but after a while it had started to drive her crazy. It seems it still does, she thinks darkly as they glance at one another.

  "Why?" she says again, "What is so important that we need to pack up our lives and move the moment you say to?"

  "We think I might be being targeted by an escaped Cape Cell convict," Maximum says. "He got past my mental wall somehow and there's a chance he found out about you."

  "Mom?" Layne says.

  "Not now, Layne," Wendy snaps. "Frank, you TOLD me I would never be dragged into this! You lied to me!"

  "Well, you abandoned me, but you don't see me dredging it up," Maximum snaps.

  "MOM!" Layne says again, grabbing and pulling on her arm. "Mom, why did you never tell us?"

  "Because it was before you were born, honey. I have a past that I'm not exactly proud of--"

  Maximum snorts. "Figures," he says.

  "Max," Mastermental says with only a tiny hint of reprimand.

  "Yeah, yeah. Look, this will only be until I capture Massteria. As soon as I've got him you can go back to this life, and you'll never see me on your doorstep again," Max says, looking each of them in the eye.

  "Why don't I go collect John while you start packing?" Mastermental asks. "I'm sure I can arrange for some vacation time."

  "And where are you putting us? Are you moving us in with you?" Wendy asks, giving in. You can't exactly say no to these people, she learned that a long time ago. Except she had said no, she remembers. He'd let her go without even a blink.

  "You'll be moving into a very special apartment building," Max says. "It's where my principal lives."

  "Your principal?" Layne asks. "You're in school?"

  "I'm about to graduate, but yes," Max says, his tone softening slightly. "I go to Cape High. My principal is Technico."

  She nods, still looking worried. "I um, I'll go pack," she says, heading for her bedroom.

  "Layne--" Wendy starts out. She stops, realizing she doesn't know what else to say. "Chet, go gather your things," she says to her son, instead. "I should help you--"

  "I'll help him, you get yours," Max says. "Which way, kiddo?" he asks Chet.

  "This way!" Chet says, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. "I'm your BIGGEST FAN!" he declares, completely oblivious to the darker undertones of the situation. "Are you really my big brother?"

  "Well... yeah."

  "That is SO COOL!"

  ***

  I wasn't expecting her to throw herself at me, apologizing for leaving me as a child. It still stings that she didn't, though, I have to admit. Her daughter is scared, confused, and hurt. I don't blame her for that, especially since her mother never told her about me. The son, on the other hand--

  "So I had to save up all of my allowance and Dad took me all the way to the Hall to get it," he says as he digs under his bed for something. "I mean, Mom would KILL me if she knew about this, but it was just so cool--" he pulls out a shoe box with a little Maximum figurine in it. He picks it up and offers it to me. "I had to get it," he explains.

  I take it, looking down at the mini-me with a slight smile. "I'm a villain, you know?" I have to point out.

  "Yeah, but every story needs a bad guy," he says seriously.

  "Your dad took you to get this?" I ask, crouching down because he's still down there.

  "Yeah! Dad's a big fan of super heroes, but he doesn't let Mom know," Chet says. "What's your name? Your secret identity name. Can you tell me?"

  "Everyone calls me Max," I say. "Chet, we need to get you packed."

  "Yeah, um, I need..." he says, looking around the messy room with big eyes. "Clothes? And this, and this--" he says, getting up and grabbing things to place on his bed. "Are we going to be staying with you?" he asks as I start sorting through his clothes. Good lord, his mother obviously dresses him--these are terrible. I pick out the least offensive of the lot and toss them onto the bed next to his growing pile of books and toys.

  "No, I live with Dad," I say, "you'll be staying somewhere a lot safer than my place."

  "Safer than Mastermental's place?" he asks.

  "Yeah, Technico's place--but make sure you follow his instructions exactly, got it?" I say, pausing to look at him. "This is serious, Chet, no running up to the door or anything, got it?"

  "Yeah, sure," he says, looking worried, now.

  "Good," I say, "because there's a laser wall powerful enough to fry a million birds around the place."

  "Whoa," he says, "Really? Why?"

  "Nico's got kids," I say, grinning slightly. "He doesn't want people going in and kidnapping them--not that many could, now that they're older." I start gathering other things that a ten-year-old might need, tossing them all into the pile. "Do you have a duffel bag?" I ask.

  "Yeah," he says, getting on his stomach to climb under his bed. I wait a few seconds as he grunts and sneezes, and then wave a hand, lifting the bed into the air a few feet. He stares up at the bed in wonder.

  "The bag, Chet," I prompt. He grabs it and scoots back so I can put the bed down. "Now pack, I'm going to go check on your sister," I say.

  "You shouldn't go into her room," Chet says, "she yells at you for that."

  "Hurry up with the packing, Chet," I say, not replying to that. I stop at Layne's door (she has a sign with her name on it) and knock. "Layne? Can I come in?"

  I hear her go still and pick up on her mind racing. "I'm busy," she says.

  "I know, I came to help; we only have so much time, kiddo," I say, unconsciously using Nico's term. "I promise I'll just help lift the heavy stuff."

  The door opens and she looks at me, her eyes red-rimmed with tears. "No thank you," she says before closing the door again. I sigh, givin
g up.

  "Make it quick," I say.

  "You aren't my brother," she declares, opening the door again. "You're lying--you probably messed with Mom's brain to make her THINK she's your mother--"

  "Why would I?" I ask. "If I was going to do that, don't you think I'd have picked someone else?" Her mouth opens and closes as she tries to come up with a reply. "There are any number of super females that would be fine with me as their kid, Layne," I say as gently as I can. "She couldn't handle having a seven-month-old kid that could fly. I can't blame her for that. I can't blame you for not wanting me as your brother, either. I would never have come here if I didn't have a very important reason. I can't let you or your family be at risk. Not because we're related, but because that's what we do as supers."

  "You're a villain!" she declares. "That's all bull!"

  I hesitate, looking into her eyes. She's so confused right now. "I'm a villain for work," I say slowly, "but think of my job as more of a... wrestling villain. You have to promise not to tell anyone this, right?" I add quickly as she blinks at me. "I'm just acting like the bad guy--I go in, act dramatic, and a hero comes along to stop me."

  "Oh... well, yeah," she says, calming down. "But you keep doing it! If you know you're going to be beaten every time, why do you keep doing it?"

  "Because it's a LOT of fun," I say with a wide grin. "I've got a mic and a spiel--my favorite hero is Kid Liberty; we practice our fights on a daily basis at school."

  She gives me a look, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're a--a dork," she finally declares. "Here I am, with a super villain for a POSSIBLE big brother--and he's a DORK!"

  I start laughing, to my own surprise. "But it's fun!" I tease her as she storms back into her room and starts throwing clothes around. "You want to meet Kid Liberty?" I ask.

  "YES!" she says. "But I still don't agree with this--I've got a basketball game this weekend, am I going to miss it?" she asks, her expression falling.

  I hesitate. "It's too dangerous," I admit. I can actually feel her heart breaking, I realize as she fights back tears.

  "But I--"

  "I... fine," I say, running a hand over my face. "We'll see what we can do." If we get enough capes at the game, maybe it'll be okay. I doubt it, though. Massteria's abilities are MADE for big crowds. I can't help but think of the scene at the South Branch Amusement Park. Even with all of us, Century still had to stop time and bring in black suits to keep people from getting hurt.

  "Thank you, Maximum," she says, a tear falling. She wipes it away with her forearm. "And--and can I tell my best friend where we're going?" she asks.

  "No," I say, hating that I have to. I only just now realized I even HAVE best friends, and here I am denying her. "You won't be gone long--you can tell them you're going on vacation, though."

  "To where?"

  "Some family member's place," I say. "A grandfather, or uncle's place, someone you've never met, yourself."

  "Like... a Gruncle's?"

  "A what?"

  "A great uncle, like in Gravity Falls," she explains patiently. "They go to their Gruncle Stan's place and they run into all these--oh forget it," she says when she sees my face.

  "And here I thought I was doing good knowing something about My Little Pony," I mutter.

  "You know My Little Pony?" she asks, giggling.

  "Only because Hypersonic Rainbow is addicted and she's constantly thinking about it!" I protest.

  "Not only is he a dork, he's a brony!"

  "I'm not a brony!" I protest. "I only know a little bit, because of Carla! I never watch cartoons," I say. She's calming down the more I talk, I notice. "You and Carla are close in age. She'd probably love to watch that show with you. In fact, we've got a handful of kids about your age. We call them our 'Fledglings,'" I say with a little grin. "They're just coming into their powers."

  Her face falls. "And I'm NEVER going to come into my powers, because I don't have any, right?" she says. "I'm just normal, nothing special."

  "You can play basketball with anyone that you want," I say. "You can BE anything you want. Those fledglings--especially the ones that will grow up to be powerful, they can't. Sometimes it's impossible to hide what we are, at least for long periods. You don't have anything to hide."

  "Yes I do," she says. "I have to hide you, don't I?"

  I hesitate. Once this is over, the best thing for all of us would be to wipe me from her memories, wouldn't it? I've never done such a big thing, but Dad can. Then she could live a normal life. That would be good--in fact I think I'll have Dad wipe me from Mom's memory, as well.

  They all deserve to have a normal life, right?

  ***

  "So... what are we doing this for?" Zoe asks as she throws together a small computer to turn a wall into a monitor. The room is being gutted and rebuilt all around her, with the Liberty boys and her brother doing most of it. She's in charge of the necessities, like wall televisions, phones, the coffee machine, the dishwasher, etc.

  "Mastermental said to put together a safe house for his ex," her dad says. "That's all I know."

  "His ex? So... Max's mom?" Jack asks, looking up from the pipes that are floating around him. "Is that a good thing?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Max basically said she's the reason he chose to be a villain."

  "She's what?" Zoe asks. "He never told me that!"

  "Hey, don't yell at me. You're not even his girlfriend right now, right? So he can tell whatever he wants to whoever he wants," Jack says callously, going back to work. The piping fits into the open wall, screwing together automatically. "I could make a million as a plumber," he adds with a hint of smugness.

  "Plumbers get into some very dirty situations," Nico points out. He's wiring all of the electricity in the room. "And that's 'whomever'," he adds.

  "Whatever. And I get into dirty situations, too," Jack says. "I don't get the whole anti-blue collar thing, honestly. Blue collar workers built America."

  "What brought that up?" Nico asks curiously. "Not that I disagree."

  "Just thinking about my late-night job," Jack says cheerfully. "Maybe I should have learned to be a plumber or a construction worker back when I was a norm."

  "You basically are one, now, though," Sunny points out.

  "True," Jack agrees.

  "I think he was just changing the subject," Zoe says. "He doesn't want to talk about how MY boyfriend told him things he never told me--"

  "Ex," everyone in the room says.

  "Ex what?" she asks.

  "Ex boyfriend," Sunny says. "You dumped him, remember?"

  "Well... I..." she searches for something to say to that. "Darn it."

  "Why did you do that, anyway?" Nico asks curiously.

  "I want him to feel like he can go to whatever school he wants," she says. "I don't want to just tie him to Cape High for the rest of his schooling--Max is a genius, you know? He could easily make it into an Ivy League college somewhere, and become something big!"

  "What, like the Hall Leader?" Trent asks dryly.

  "Exactly!"

  "He already is," the group tells her.

  "Oh."

  "Well it's not official until after he graduates, but once he has, he's going to take over the villain half of the Hall," Nico says. "It's as good as done. I really doubt he has time for an Ivy League college. Just flying back and forth would take up time better spent working. Besides, we're supers. Do you really think a college education is enough to impress us into following someone?"

  "But he has so much to offer," she says. "It's like, his entire life will be spent in a tiny little group, when the rest of the world should see what he can do. Not as a super, just as himself."

  "He's smart, sure, but his rapid comprehension is actually part of his power set," Nico says. "I'm not saying he wouldn't qualify as a genius if he was a norm, he probably would, but he's got an unfair advantage out in the real world. Reading an Ivy League professor's mind is just as easy, if not easier than reading our
s." He smiles a little. "But I bet he'd love to hear you think that way."

  "Besides, we might be a little group," Trent says, lining up the drywall to hang, "but we're seen by the entire world on a daily basis. There's no better stage for his ego than the one he's already on."

  "That's a fact," Jack says, laughing.

  "Why are they letting an eighteen-year-old take over a part of the Hall, anyway?" Sunny asks. "Isn't he too young?"

  "Well, he IS Max," Nico says. "He's been watching the business end be run since he was a kid. He probably knows more about what's going on than everyone other than his dad."

  "Yeah, he did once mention he knew about the snowsuits Liz bought," Trent says. "If he keeps track of clothing details, he keeps track of everything, right?"

  "If I didn't think he would be a good second-in-command, I'd say so," Nico says, "and so would Pan."

  "We're going to have villain meetings once he's in office, so we can tell him what needs to be done," Jack adds with a shiny grin. "And if he disagrees, we can always gang up on him."

  "So..." Zoe says, looking a bit adrift, "no matter what I do, he's already got things planned out?"

  "Pretty much," the group agrees. "He's got it planned out for us, too," Jack adds. "I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't already making advertisement deals for me and Ace on the sly. Next thing you know my face will be on a cereal box."

  "I'd put you in an oil company's ad first, or possibly WD40." Zoe almost jumps out of her skin as Max walks in. "But nice suggestion. I'll put out some feelers as soon as all of this is wrapped up."

  "Can I pick the company?" Jack asks.

  "Give me a list and I'll work off of that," Max says, looking around. "The walls need to be painted."