by R. J. Ross
"This is why they hired me, huh?" the guy says, sighing. "I wondered."
"Why's that?" Nico asks.
"I was outed as D-class when they tossed me in prison," he says. "Couldn't get a job for the life of me since I'm a super ex-con, and then all of a sudden a place that basically spit in my face is calling me up and offering me a job and a car to do it in--"
"Hey, Max, go bring your family down here," Nico says, callously interrupting the sob story.
"Oh, right, sure," I say.
"You don't care that I'm an ex-con?" the pizza guy asks.
"I'm just glad you're not freaking out," Nico says, grabbing one of the boxes from the back and digging in. "Know anyone else like that? We get really tired of pizza and Chinese out here."
"Can you get them hired?"
"Sure, I can do that, I've got a lot of work that a decent D-class could do. But how about I hire you?" Nico says, looking thoughtful. "How attached are you to that job?"
I don't laugh until I'm inside the building. "Hey, everyone! Pizza in the parking lot!" I call up to the ones that can hear me. I head past the blur that is Ken racing for the exit and stop in front of my mom's apartment.
"Did they manage to pay the poor man before he ran?" Summer asks, pausing to look at me questioningly.
"He's a D-class, he didn't get past the gaping stage," I assure her.
"Oh good," she says, heading on down. I take a deep breath and rap on the door twice before trying the handle. It's unlocked.
"Um, pizza's here, guys," I say, only to stop as I realize everyone is sitting in the front room, looking tense.
"Max," my mother says, "I--"
"We bought everything in the van," I interrupt. "We're in the middle of making floats for my graduation. You're welcome to come down and eat with us, or I can bring up the pizzas you ordered."
"Oh," she says, looking both slightly offended and relieved. "I just--"
"Which would you prefer?" I ask. "Answer quick, because the Liberty family is down there. No pizza is safe."
"We're coming down!" Chet says, jumping to his feet. "I want to see Cold Steel's float!"
"And the rest of you?" I ask.
"I'm coming!" John says.
"Me, too," Layne says. "I've been stuck in this stupid apartment for too long."
"You got a lot of gaming in, though," Chet says as they head out the door. It leaves me standing there with my mother.
"I'm--" she starts out.
"I'm in the middle of two of the biggest jobs of my life," I tell her. "I can only try so hard--"
"How are you trying?" she demands. "You as good as told my ten-year-old son that you don't want to be his brother--"
"Because it's too dangerous!" I snap. "I like them. They're good kids that deserve to live their lives safe--"
"No one has a safe life, Max," she says, sighing. "This world is dangerous, no matter who you're related to. You can't let that sort of thing keep you from building bonds. I was wrong, doing what I did, I realize that now. Chet and Layne deserve to know everything," she goes on, grimly. "They deserve to know their brother, and... I can't stop them from it."
"And me? Do I deserve to know the woman that gave birth to me?" I ask.
She lets out a slow breath, and I see her mind rushing before she speaks. "I'm not sure I can ever be--"
"I don't need you to," I interrupt. "I don't need you to be anything other than who you are. If you even tried to pretend to be motherly towards me, I would know. I won't even call you 'mom,' I'll call you Wendy. But... I was being serious when I said I can't save your pizza if you take too long," I add.
"Then... I guess we should get down there," she says, looking at me for a long moment. "I don't resent having you, Max," she says softly. "I just didn't know how to deal with what happened after that. I expected you to not have powers until you were a teenager. When you started flying, it was... shocking to me. I was barely nineteen at the time, and inexperienced with normal children, much less super ones. And I think that... perhaps that shock has made me demonize you and your father over the years... maybe as an excuse to not hate myself. For that, an apology isn't nearly enough." She clearly had trouble finding the right words for that confession. I almost feel sorry for her... almost.
I go silent, watching as she walks away. I don't know what to say. But... well, if I just stand here any longer, they're going to eat all the pizza, aren't they? I head out of the apartment, still mulling over the new information. I stop, though, as I see the crowd of capes standing in the parking lot. There's music playing. The entire Hall is here.
"When did you guys show up?" I ask as I head into the crowd.
"Ken called," Falconess says, waving a slice of pizza. "We thought we'd join the pizza party and discuss your plans for our brainwashing."
"Right now?" I ask.
"We have a week, right?" Mega says from where he's draped an arm over Ward's shoulder. "We need to know exactly what you want us to do."
"Wow," I hear Chet say, "that's Panther."
I look over, seeing my mother's family just standing to the side, looking awed. I can't look at them long, though, because Nico walks over, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Get to work, Max. You've got a job to do, right?" he says.
I nod, taking to the air and looking over the crowd. For a second my eyes meet my mother's, and I see just how she sees me. The child she gave birth to is now the man the most famous supers in the world, both hero and villain, look to so expectantly. The distance between us seems even larger than ever before. I don't know what to tell her, honestly. Maybe I never will.
"Okay," I say. "First I would like to thank you all for coming. I'm sure you've heard that I'm in line to become second-in-command of Central Hall. Well, before I can do that, I need to pull off a gig big enough to go viral. With your support, I can do exactly that."
CHAPTER NINE
Morning comes. Sometime around eleven the night before, Wendy had packed up her family and gently prodded them back into the apartment. It had been a restless night, though, because she could hear the supers working outside all night long. She finally fell asleep out of pure exhaustion. Now, still a bit sleep-deprived, she crawls out of her bed and heads into the kitchen to make some coffee. She stops as she passes a window, and looks down. They're still there. There's a pile of sleeping kids to the side, but the older ones are still working on massive floats.
Why? The question that had lingered in her mind all night rears back up. Her son is only eighteen years old. He still hasn't graduated high school yet! So why are these much older, much more experienced supers following him so blindly? Is it because of his father? But Mastermental hadn't even been there last night, she would have noticed. They had been there because of Max, and Max alone. They even seemed excited.
Of course, her son is terrifyingly powerful. Chet had bragged about him lifting his bed with a wave of a hand. She's seen videos of him lifting an entire street length of cars with his abilities, not to mention all of the buses. She's spent years watching him, knowing that she had brought a terrifying monster into the world, a super villain that could crush buildings and bridges with a thought.
But, a tiny voice whispers, he never has. Oh, sure, he's threatened to. She's always thought it was because the heroes got to him just in time. It's not like he hides what he's doing. But just last night she'd seen those very same heroes willingly do what he told them to, and grinning as if they're involved in the biggest prank ever.
A rap on the door makes her look up and tighten the belt of her robe. She opens the door a second later. Max stands there with a box in his hands. "Sorry, did I wake you? Our new delivery guy got donuts. I thought I'd offer you some," he says, holding it out to her.
"New delivery guy?" she asks, not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, Nico poached the pizza guy," he says with a little grin. "The apartment has to be careful about fast food delivery, since they don't want them to get fried."
"Then why don't th
ey just go out and get it?" she asks as she takes the donuts. She hesitates for a moment before saying, "You can come in."
"That's too logical," he says, hesitating for a second before following her. "Besides, whenever one of them gets food, everybody else decides they want it, as well, including the dorm kids--well, everyone except Vinny, that is. By the time that's over, they would need a van to carry all of the food. I think Nico built the new guy one last night."
"Why doesn't Vinny want it?" she asks.
"Vinny doesn't eat fast food, he's a gourmet," Max says.
"What... um, what ability does Vinny have?" she asks as he sits at the bar.
"He turns into a living flame," Max says. "He's the South Branch's Fire Hazard."
"I see," she says. "I should wake the others up--I don't want the donuts getting stale."
"Isn't today Layne's game? She needs the sleep, right?" he says. "I thought now might be the time to change our approach at getting to know one another," he adds, looking just the tiniest bit shy. "If we treat it like two strangers just meeting, maybe it'll be easier?"
"I... I guess that's one way of doing it," she says. "But as a stranger, you're still THE Maximum who's held up a Super Bowl and terrorized almost all of America at one time or another."
He just looks at her before a wicked little grin crosses his face. "I owe every single branch leader in the Hall because of that," he admits.
"I'm shocked," she says.
"Really? You don't sound that way."
"I mean that you asked permission," she says.
"I always follow the rules," he says. "I've walked the villain straight and narrow ever since I started. Not even one bruised norm in all of my jobs, at least not the official ones. There was a lot of bruising when I dealt with the cars, but it wasn't because of me," he admits.
"Then why are you a villain at all?" she asks. "You're the son of Mastermental, you obviously have the respect of your peers. Why aren't you trying to be a hero?"
"I like being a villain," he says. "Without a villain, a hero is just a guy in tights. Without an EXCELLENT villain, a good hero will never even get a fan following. Once a hero debuts against me, they instantly get a position in their local Hall. Whether they deserve it or not, well, they'll have to prove as they go along. I'm making Kid Liberty one of the biggest names in the world--well, Jack and I are, to the point where he won't be under his parents' shadows. Do you have any idea how hard it'd be to get out from under the shadows of America's Son and Star Spangled?"
"So... you're working to make the heroes shine?" she asks, stunned.
"It doesn't hurt that I regularly get to do dramatic mic drops," he says.
"Mic drops?"
"Mic drops," he agrees, grinning at her.
She shakes her head, fighting a strange desire to laugh. "It's all about the mic, isn't it?"
"I've still got the best mic, regardless of what the others claim," he brags, only to yawn. "I guess I should get going. It's... nice, not fighting with you, Wendy," he says, standing and holding out a hand.
"Why don't you worry about getting Jack out of their shadows?" she asks.
"Because he's a villain," he says. "Villains are made to lurk in the shadows."
"Is that why you're really a villain?" she asks. "Are you resigned to being in your father's shadow for the rest of your life?"
His eyes go cold as he looks at her, and she feels a little bit lighter for a second before his hands unclench. "I can't be in his shadow, no one even knows we're related. Sort of like you and me, now isn't it? But at least Dad doesn't hide it from those closest to him."
He walks out of the room before she can come up with a reply. She lets out a sigh, heading for the box of donuts that he left on the bar. Eating when frustrated is such a bad habit. Right now she doesn't care. She REALLY needs something chocolate.
***
I'm so freaking angry right now that everything not bolted down is rattling slightly as I head down the stairs. If something falls and breaks, I'll probably get a look from Nico, but I can't seem to stop it. Who does she think she is, going off and psycho-analyzing me like that? She doesn't know me! She has no right to say that I'm hung up on being Dad's kid! I'm PROUD that I'm the son of Mastermental! He's an amazing man that's changed the world for the better! He's a brilliant strategist and someone that knows how to properly lead!
He's everything I've been trained to be, basically.
Maybe I am in his shadow. I let out a sigh, sitting down on the stairs. The phrase "big shoes to fill" is trying to come up, but I ruthlessly shove it down. So what if I'm in his shadow? There are things that Dad's done that I would never do. There are things in his life that I would never wish to have. But at the same time, there are a ton of things that I admire about him, as well. I just...
When I have kids I'm definitely not going to coop them up, even in a mansion with as many computers and games as they want. They won't have tutors instead of school, either. I'm going to make sure she has every chance to make friends. Sure, she probably won't make them until she's old enough for Cape High--I mean, I'm still a realist. I've seen her, she's going to be a bit strange and hard to deal with. I know exactly where she gets it from, too, I think, groaning and leaning back on the stairs. I can hear everyone in the building if I actually listen. They're all getting ready for their day--
Taurus comes down the stairs, and I hold up a hand to catch his foot, stopping him from stepping on me. "Sorry," I say as he moves the tablet he was reading and looks down in surprise, "not the best place to have a mini melt-down, huh?"
He moves his foot from my hand, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Rough day?" he asks.
"Yeah," I admit, getting to my feet. "You probably already know, though, right?"
"If you're willing to admit to it, then yeah, I know," he says, reaching out and dropping a hand on my shoulder. "We all have... parent issues, Max. My dad never even joined the game and I still don't know if I'll ever do as much good as he has."
"Your dad is pretty impressive," I have to admit, smiling slightly as he starts to laugh. "What about your mom?" I ask him, my curiosity kicking in. "Is she like us?"
"Mom is an African hero. After she and Dad broke up about twenty years ago, she moved back. She's not very big on... well, people in general, honestly," he admits. "She specializes in animal protection, a lot like Panther does. She's got the skills of any animal she's been in contact with before."
"Really? So how did she and your dad get together?"
"Dad's a shifter," he says. "Those type of powers are automatically drawn to one another. He met her on a vacation and they... fell in love," he shrugs, "but sometimes even love isn't enough to tame one of our kind."
"Do you miss her?" I ask. No wonder Taurus is so powerful.
"I call her weekly," he says. "I've only gotten her once or twice in the past few years. She's too busy to hang out near a phone."
I go silent for a moment, thinking about it. "I can get you a vacation," I offer after a second. "When this is over, you, Liz, and the girls can go over and visit if you want."
"I'll think about it," he says, looking at me curiously. "But I've REALLY been trying to get them to the islands. Think you could get us time for a cruise?"
"I never said I was going to go on all of your vacations!" Liz calls from above.
"She never said she wouldn't, either!" Emily says, teleporting directly onto Taurus's back. "Let's go to Hawaii!"
"I'd rather go to Jamaica," Liz says, giving in far easier than I thought she would. "I've been to Hawaii."
"I'm aiming to get Boombastic's island for a week or two. Maybe it'd work for you, too," Nico says, walking down the stairs. Liz, much like her foster daughter did to Taurus, jumps on his back, hooking her arms around his neck.
"I've wanted to do this for months," she says happily. "What's so special about Boombastic's island?"
"It's actually a series of isles, each with secret bases built in," he says. "The entire family wi
ll have something to play with." He doesn't even bother to hook his arms under her legs, he just takes another drink of coffee. You don't really need to worry about a super falling off your back. "Max," he says, looking me in the eye.
"Nico," I say.
"I went villain, too," he says simply, and I stare at him, stunned. "Now go get some sleep, you've got a little time before your sister's basketball game."
I nod, still focused on that comment. Nico is probably the most amazing cape I know, and he just admitted to having the same problem I do. "You know, Nico," I say after a second, "in a lot of ways you're more amazing than your dad ever was."
He gives me a little grin. "Thanks. I'd say that applies to both of us."
I head out, the anger from earlier slipping away as those words repeat in my head. "I can do this," I say quietly as I step out into the light. "I can absolutely pull this off."
The words are quiet, but they linger in my ears. I can only hope they're the truth.
***
"Max!"
I jerk, almost falling out of my bed at the loud call. "What--what's wrong? Where's the fire?" I ask, looking around the room--and straight at my little sister's face. She's on the screen of every computer monitor in my bedroom.
"We need to leave for the basketball game. And your hair looks stupid," she says. "It's completely flat on one side."
"Thanks," I drawl, getting out of my bed and heading across my room.
"Did you sleep in your clothes?" she asks.
"It saves time," I call over my shoulder before disappearing into my bathroom. One shower and shave later, I step out again in my best civvies--a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. That wasn't enough sleep. I'm dangerously close to being loopy, but I made a promise and I'm going to keep it. Doesn't stop me from yawning as I step onto the balcony and take to the air. I just need to get them to the basketball game, make sure nothing happens, and get them back to the apartments. After that I can crash for a few more hours before I go back to working on my master plan.
