by R. J. Ross
"You--" she stops, looking stunned. "You mean like Grandma and Grandpa?"
"Superior and Tatiana?"
"Yeah, Friday night is when they have these massive brawls. It's how they 'keep the spark in the marriage' according to Grandma," she says, smiling with excitement. "I want to do that! I didn't think I did until I saw the fight between Grandma and Marie--it looked like so much fun, Max!"
"I thought you were against violence," I have to point out.
"Oh, no one was really hurt," she says. "They were both S-class."
"It still probably hurts for a second. But sure, I'm up for brawling nights. It sounds like fun," I add, grinning. "I tried to get your brother to brawl with me, but he's boring. He wound up creating this place and fainting."
"So--um--" she says, looking awkward. "Are we back together?"
"No," I say, and see her flinch. "Let's keep the break going for a little bit longer."
"But--"
"Look, you were right," I say, getting to my feet. "We need to focus on our work right now. I've got to find Massteria and take him down so I can move my mother and her family out of your apartments. The sooner they're gone, the better off we all are."
"That's so sad," she says.
"It is what it is," I say, reaching down and taking her hands in mine. "And this break, it's letting us both think things through. I don't want to step into the future blindly, and I know you don't, either. Plus, I think it might be interesting to focus on our rivalry. Do your best to beat me, little Superior girl," I say. "Get your schools set up before I graduate and capture Massteria. You can hold it over my head for the rest of our lives."
I lean forward, only to get a positively evil grin. "Rivals don't kiss," she tells me, pulling out of my hold. She races away at top speed before I can reply.
I have no choice but to chase after her.
CHAPTER FOUR
"So..." John says. The apartment is empty save for his little family, but the absence of people just makes the elephant in the room seem even bigger.
"So," Wendy says. "What would you all like for dinner? Technico gave me a list of fast food places I can call that know how to deliver to this... place."
"I'm not hungry," Layne says. "I'm going to my room--that is if someone would tell me which it is."
"We need to have a family talk," John says. "So sit down, young lady, you are as much a part of this family as anyone."
"What about Max? Is Max a part of the family all of a sudden?" Layne demands.
John hesitates for a moment too long. "Maximum is--"
"He probably doesn't even want to be a part of this family," Layne exclaims before he can come up with something. "I mean, why would he? He's a super, we're all just normal and boring."
"You are not normal and boring, none of you are," Wendy says. "You're all very special. Max is... he's..." She sighs, running a hand over her face. "I gave birth to him, but I never knew how to deal with him, even then," she says softly. "He was just a baby, but he--it was like he understood every single thing I said, and a lot of what I didn't. I came into his room one night and found his diaper dropping into the trash. He had taken it off himself and was getting rid of it. Who knows, had I not stepped in, he might have put a new one on. The point is, he didn't need me at four months old. When he was seven months, he started floating his entire crib around the room--"
She takes a deep, ragged breath. "How can you be a mother to--to someone that was born not needing you?" she asks quietly.
"Did he really not need you, though?" Chet asks. "He still seems pretty mad at you for abandoning him."
"I didn't abandon him, I just knew that he needed someone else. Someone like him," Wendy says, trying to justify herself. It makes her feel sick to her stomach that she knows she's justifying. "And then I had you, Layne, and you needed me. You cried when your diaper needed to be changed, you--you fixed the hole that had been gaping inside of me. I needed a child that needed me."
"How do you know he didn't need you?" Chet asks. "I go to the restroom all on my own but I still need you."
"We're so very proud of you being potty trained, Chet," Layne says sarcastically.
"You know what I meant!" Chet says. "Does having powers mean you don't need other people? I mean, look at this place," he goes on, motioning to the apartment building. "They're families! They've got parents and kids."
"And they're all the same," Wendy says. "They're all... not like us. Or should I say, I wasn't like them?"
"You were his mom, Mom," Chet says. "Does he have a new mom?" he asks the group. "Would we have met her if he did?"
"Mastermental's single, the whole world knows that," Layne says.
"So he doesn't have a mom," Chet says. "That's really sad."
"You know what?" Wendy says. "I think I'll order Chinese. I could really go for Chinese right now." She stands up and heads to the sheet on the fridge. "This place sounds good," she says with fake cheerfulness as she pulls out her phone. She stops, though, as it doesn't turn on. "John, can I borrow your phone?"
John pulls out his phone and taps on the power button. "Mine's not coming on, either."
A buzzer rings and the fridge door suddenly changes, showing Technico's face. "I apologize for that, Mr. and Mrs. Brown, but while you're in my apartment I can't allow you to use those phones. I've provided phones for all four of you, they're on the counter to your left."
"Are you--were you listening in on our conversation?" she asks.
"I merely sensed you trying to turn on your phones, ma'am," he says in a bland tone. "I have a duty to those that live here, especially the children."
"I--I see," she says. "But why--"
"You can be tracked by those phones. I'd rather not have them tracking you to my home, thank you." The screen goes black again.
She looks back at John, completely freaked out by what just happened. Her son, on the other hand, is racing for the table to look at the phones. "SO COOL!" he says as he picks up the bright blue one. "Layne, do you want the green one or the orange one?" he asks. "Or there's a pink one--I was thinking Mom would want that one."
"What color of green?" Layne asks, walking over. "Oooh, lime," she says, picking it up. "Does it have any games on it?"
"I never agreed that you could use those--" Wendy starts out.
"It'll only be for the short time we're here," John says, picking up the orange phone. "We have to play by their rules, honey. I'm sure it won't be long before we're back home."
"They're going to lock us up here and never let us leave--"
"They won't," Layne says. "Max already promised to let me go to my basketball game."
"He did?" Wendy asks, startled.
"Yeah," Layne says. She taps on the screen of the phone and almost yelps as a game appears on the wall connecting the kitchen to the front room. "Oh Em GEE!" she says. "That is SO COOL!"
"Does it do that anywhere?" Chet asks, racing back into the front room.
"John!" Wendy snaps as her husband starts after him. "Would you please come and speak with me?" she demands through gritted teeth.
"But honey, how often can you say you've got a wall sized--"
"Now, please."
He looks at the two kids who are now playing a fighting game on the wall, and reluctantly heads back into the kitchen. "Honey--"
"They can probably hear everything we say in here," she says, dragging him closer. "We have no privacy, we don't have our own phones, we're basically being held hostage! Don't go with the flow, help me figure out how to escape!"
"Honey, America's Son is our neighbor. We're not being held hostage; we're being kept in protective custody. Relax. It'll all be over soon," he says, placing a hand on her shoulder. Just when she thinks he's truly being supportive, he turns and shouts into the front room, "I call winner!"
She watches him go, giving up all hope of ever being free.
***
I couldn't sleep. I spent the entire night doing research on the two plans I have in
mind. I still need a third, but I can't come up with anything. It's actually pretty hard to focus on just two when all this crap is happening around me. I feel guilty, placing a norm family among my friends. Their identities are at risk, and we all know it. Of course, it's not quite as big a deal for the people in the apartments--all of their relatives are capes, right? Well, actually I've got no idea about Taurus's mom. In fact, I don't even know if his dad and mom are still together...
But hey, if I don't know any of that, there's no way in hell a norm family is going to find out. As for the rest... well, there's a chance they might find out that Superior and Tatiana are still alive. That would be bad. And Summer is opening a business soon, right?
I groan, running a hand over my face as I feel the guilt hit me hard. I should have never looked them up. I should have written it off as a dead end when I was a little kid. It still is one, honestly. My birth mother has made that abundantly clear.
I crawl out of bed and get cleaned up, slapping a mask on before I head out the door to school. I'll go to morning classes and then get permission to go over to Pan's for the afternoon hours. I want to show him my plans so far. I have to speed this up. Dad said to graduate before I capture Massteria, and I plan on doing what he wants. My future job relies on it, right?
Well, it's because of that, or because I get bored after lunch period... probably more the second one, honestly. I drop down in front of the school, about to touch the panel, when I hear Sunny calling my name. I turn, raising an eyebrow slightly as I see two new additions to the usual apartment gang. "Chet and Layne are going to sit in on class," Emily explains.
I look at my little siblings, my mind racing. "Well... I'm not sure what they should do for first hour--" I say.
"They're going to watch," Nico says. "I'm sure they'll find something to entertain them."
"Chet's only ten," I point out.
"They aren't going to be taking tests or anything," Emily says. "It'll definitely be more interesting than sitting in the apartment all day!"
"What are Wendy and John doing?" I ask.
"Sitting in the apartment," Nico says dryly. "I think we'd have to pry John away from his new phone."
"We played games on the wall until midnight," Chet says with a large grin, only to yawn. "It was awesome."
"Nico has the entire apartment building AND the dorms rigged up for that," Trent says, walking past them.
"Why is that guy riding piggy back on Kid Liberty?" I hear Layne whisper to Chet. "Do you have any idea?"
"Sunny doesn't wake up until around nine," Trent replies, clearly showing he heard. "If he misses school because he didn't get there on time, I get the detention."
"That makes no sense," Chet says.
"I've been saying that since it started," Trent agrees.
"He's a hero," Nico says, "it's his job to do unfair, dirty work."
We head into school in a line, and I start to jump over the railing. Someone grabs my hand before I can manage. I turn, looking at Layne blankly. "What?" I ask.
"Can we talk?" she asks.
"Sure, I guess?" I say, looking over at Trent. "Mind putting off our fight for a few minutes?"
"I would, but you're lined up to go against Vinny today," he says.
"Really?"
"He asked for a trade since you won't be here much longer."
"Sounds like fun," I say, and grab my little sister around the waist. "Tell him I'll be there in a little while," I add, jumping off of the railing. Layne barely manages to keep from squealing. She grabs onto me so tight that her fingers turn white. "Layne," I say patiently, "I can lift buses with my mind. A less-than-ninety-pound girl isn't going to be a problem."
"Why can't you just use the stairs?" she demands.
"Takes too long," I say as I head for the empty land behind the school. "So what's going on?" I ask. "I've got classes to get to and a graduation job to plan."
"Mom thinks we're being held captive," she says. "Our old phones don't work, and that Technico guy came up on the FRIDGE. The entire wall turns into a computer or a television screen, and Mom and Dad can't leave--we can only come here," she finishes. "What's really going on, Max?"
I hesitate. "I've already told her that I'm being hunted by another telepath," I say, sighing. "It's nothing to worry about, I can handle the guy, but... well, you and your family could be used as leverage against me. Look, I was going to get some classes in, but you're right," I tell her. "I'll go out and see if I can't at least get an idea of where he is. Dad's just going to have to deal with me doing it out of order. When this is over, you and everyone else can go back to how life was, before."
She nods, but I actually hear her think, "Yeah, like that's going to happen."
"It will," I say. "It'll be exactly how it always was, I promise."
"Hey, Max?" I look up as I see Elidee heading for me. "Rocco said you wanted to talk to me?"
I blink, trying to remember--oh. So that's how he's playing it. "Well, actually," I say, giving her my most charming grin, "I was just going to feel out how you felt about going villain. We're looking for promising young female super villains, you know?"
"Who's that?" Layne whispers, tugging on my arm.
"Oh, right, Layne, this is Elidee, she's one of our 'Fledglings.' Elidee, this is my half sister, Layne. We want to make Elidee a villain."
"Why?" Layne asks.
"Because she's got pheromone manipulation abilities," I explain. "She'd be a great villain."
Elidee is blushing by this point. "I... I'll have to think about it," she says, looking down. "I was sort of planning on becoming a reporter like Mom."
"Take your time," I say. "Elidee, can you take Layne with you to your first hour? You're still doing the basic training routine with the healers, right?"
"Yeah, but Nico says I should be moving up in a few months," she says, shoving her long strategically curled hair over her shoulder. She's got a streak of pink in it, I notice. Well she DOES hang out with Jen a lot.
"The healer course should be safe enough if she wants to try," I say. "Go with her, Layne, you'll be fine," I tell my sister.
"So what powers do you have?" Elidee asks Layne.
"I... I don't," Layne says. "I'm just normal."
The look of shock on Elidee's face has Layne flinching. "She's still my sister," I say, "treat her as such."
"Oh, um, yeah, okay," Elidee says, looking worried.
"Thank you," I say, patting her on the shoulder. "I'll remember I owe you a favor when you join my team," I add as I head for the exit.
"I haven't said I'm going villain yet!" she yells after me.
"You will!" I call back. "How could you pass up the chance to be on the awesome side?"
"You're always running away with your tail between your legs at the end," she complains. "How is that the awesome side?"
"Because we're the ones that get to bring our own mics," I say, laughing.
"What about Chet?" Layne asks. "Where should he go?"
"Take him with you," I say. "He could stand to lose a few pounds!"
"He has a thyroid problem," Layne says, placing her hands on her hips.
"All the more reason to meet the healers," I say shamelessly. I tap on my com-bracelet. "Nico? I'm going hunting."
"You're supposed to be meeting up with Pan soon," he says. "Shouldn't you be focusing on your graduation?"
"Layne just told me that her mother is freaking out, thinking they're hostages. The sooner I find and get Massteria back into the Cells, the better," I say. "Graduation will just have to wait until after."
"Your father isn't going to be happy."
"Do you trust me to capture Massteria?" I demand.
"He DID get through your wall. Do you need one of my E.P.B.'s?" he asks. "I've set it up so that they're invisible--that glowing ball effect Herold had was sloppy work."
I hesitate. "Even if he's an old cellmate?" I ask.
"Because he is," Nico says. "I think I might make these suckers stan
dard issue for all graduates."
"Not that," I say, only to stop myself. "Never mind."
"What's going on, Max?" he asks.
"Dad thinks you're taking this too personally to trust you with it," I say, giving up. "You're too involved in this problem. All those years you spent with the others, it got to you--I can understand. I've only spent a short amount of time with my classmates and I would have trouble hunting down--"
"You don't get it," Nico says. "You're too nice, Max. I don't have a problem at all hunting them down, one by one. My problem is that I got cocky and underestimated Massteria. Don't make the same mistake."
I hesitate. "I'll take the E.P.B." I say.
"There's one in my work room at the apartments," he says. "It'll hook right into your com-bracelet."
***
I can hear Wendy talking as I head up the stairs to Nico's floor. How I wish I could just go in, wipe her memories and send them all back out into the world, none the wiser. Layne and Chet can go back to their lives, Mom can forget she ever had a third kid. The world would be a better place for everyone. Well, almost everyone. It would be even better if I could wipe my own memories of checking in on them all the time.
"Max." I look up at the beautiful redhead standing at the top of the stairs. "Honey, we need to talk."
"Summer, are you certain you can call me that when your daughter and I are taking a break?" I tease. "Don't you think Nico might get the wrong idea?"
It startles a laugh out of her, which makes me grin, even though I was just thinking some majorly dark thoughts. "You're cute," she says, "but if Zoe hasn't taken down all the Maximum posters in her room, she obviously hasn't given up on you yet. Now come on, I was serious. I want to talk to you about this job you're about to do."
I blink. "You know something about Massteria?" I ask.
"I know something about all of the Cape Cell inmates," she says, leading me through their apartment and into Nico's workroom. "I tried my best to keep an eye on Nico while he was in there, you know, but I didn't have the ability to get into the system like he did. But I do, now. Nico's downloaded everything about the Cells--even the smallest of details is on his computer. He's been going through it with a fine-toothed comb for the past few weeks," she explains.
