by R. J. Ross
I head for Dad's office, only to stop at the sight of Zoe sitting at the desk, talking to a few black suits. "We're going to need security here, here, and here," she says, showing them blueprints of the Hall in hologram form. "This might officially be a takeover by villains, but no one should risk the chance of norms getting hurt. Max!" she says as she sees me, smiling brilliantly. "You're awake!"
"Have you been taking over my job?" I ask, heading to her. "You realize they could dock my grade or something if I don't do it myself."
"If they try I'll take full responsibility," she says. "You needed sleep. Now you go do the next video--we need a shot of you brainwashing Ken, right? I'm just here to make sure your orders get in and the booths are set up like you designed. I really like the limited Liberty set, by the way," she adds.
"Aren't you supposed to be setting up the schools?" I ask. I feel guilty about making her do grunt work, but she's got it set in her mind and I really doubt I could stop her.
"I got that in hand days ago. The construction crews have already gone in to build the foundations of the newer ones. Right now I'm just waiting for the Hall leaders to report back on what retired heroes they're going to recruit as teachers."
"Wait--that means you won, doesn't it?" I say, stunned.
"I won't brag too much," she says. "I'm modest like that."
"Isn't your kid in high school?" I hear one of the black suits whisper to the other. "Would you expect him to pull stuff like this off?"
"Are you kidding? I can't even get him to mow the lawn," the other whispers back. "I knew that Cape High was tough, but really--"
"We're not just any students," Zoe tells them, getting up and coming to me.
"Actually Nico said he plans to make everyone going into the photo-op game do one," I say. "I'm looking forward to seeing the Liberty boys do theirs."
"Really? I think Vinny's should be pretty good, as well," Zoe says. "I wonder if Carla and Rocco have to do two, since they're bi-Hall."
"Bi-Hall?" I repeat, snorting. "That's a new one. But I need to get going."
"If you're planning on going to the cells, say hello to your dad for me, okay?" she says, leaning up and kissing me on the cheek.
"Dad?"
"He's set up shop down there, right next to Massteria's cell. I think he's there to make sure you don't do anything stupid," she whispers.
"I'll try to restrain myself," I say. "Thank you, Zoe."
"I'm just being nosy again."
"You definitely are, but I don't care as long as you don't get caught," I say as I head out the door. "If I screw up too much, they might make me do ANOTHER gig after this one."
"I'll try not to," she says. "You guys can't say anything, got it?" she says to the black suits.
"Won't say a word," they swear. She's totally going to get caught, isn't she? Oh well, I think cheerfully as I head down the hall, that means I won't have to graduate yet, after all. Besides, I always have the Super Bowl. If that's not a viral gig, I don't know what is.
I hesitate as I get to the elevator, wondering if I should check in on Dad. If I do, I'll see Massteria. If I see Massteria, I'll be far too tempted to do something I shouldn't. I push the button for the ground floor and slip out of the back of the building, calling Ken on my phone and then texting Jennifer. This shouldn't take too long, I hope. Ken is a decent actor.
Something nudges at the back of my mind, but I shove it aside. There are only a few days left. I need to focus.
***
*Belladonna Springs*
The screams echo through the room, lingering for a moment after the director calls cut. This is followed by a few nervous chuckles and sudden business as the crew and other cast members try to pretend they weren't scared. "Genius," the director says, stunned. "That was... that was amazing, Phoebe. You are definitely one of the best I've ever worked with."
"Thank you, sir, but really it's a group effort," she says, shoving her hair out of her face and looking at the blood on her hands with a strange little smile. "'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts', right? Aristotle said that."
"Yes, he did," the director says, looking away from her eyes abruptly. "Where's my coffee?" he snaps at his assistant.
"Oh, right, yes, sorry, sir, I was just--I'll go get it now," the assistant says.
Phoebe heads off, keeping her head up and smiling at everyone she passes by as she goes into the makeup stall to get the blood removed. Tomorrow, she thinks, tomorrow she'll head up to Kansas City to go to the convention. It's been three days since her father disappeared. There's been no mention of him on television or online, which means there's only one place he could be. The Hall caught him again.
"It's the strangest thing," she hears one of the makeup artists whisper to another. "Two of the wigs went missing the other day, but the next thing I knew, they were there again. I thought I was going to get fired."
"Which wigs?"
"The blonde female and the brown male."
"Maybe someone felt like playing a prank or something. If they showed back up, I wouldn't even worry about it. Hey, did you hear about that Hero Con up in KC? I am SO tempted to go."
"You still do cosplay, don't you? I saw that Firefly outfit you made, it was amazing."
"I dabble," the girl says modestly. "I tried to get a job as one of the costume makers for the Liberty movie, but then this came up--I'm a huge fan of Phoebe Woods."
"She's right over there. Why don't you go get an autograph?"
"I can't do that, it's unprofessional!" It's yelped, just loud enough for Phoebe to smile just a little in satisfaction before turning.
"Is there a problem?" she asks.
"No--I--"
"We're just huge fans," one says. "Can we by any chance get your autograph?"
"I would be happy to!" Phoebe says as the makeup artist working on her finishes his work. "I admire your work so much," she says as she gets to her feet. "Like I'm always saying, a horror movie is nothing without skilled makeup artists. I'm surprised we got so many, considering how many super hero movies there are being made right now."
"Well, um, super hero movies don't have you," the fangirl says, blushing brightly. "I'm your biggest fan."
"Thank you," Phoebe says. "I won't lie, though; I've had a few fantasies about doing a super hero movie, myself."
"Re--really? Who would you want to play?"
"Firefly," Phoebe says, "I LOVE Firefly so much. I mean, she's strong and spunky and just amazing. I wonder if she's going to show up at the Hero Con in KC. It's a three-day thing, right? I would love to go..." She sighs, looking depressed. "But I can't, of course. I mean, I don't want to cause a huge commotion."
"That's true..."
"What if--what if you don't go as you?" the fangirl asks. "What if we make you up to look like a cosplayer? No one will think a thing about a cosplayer going to a convention! And, I mean, it's not the same as playing her in a movie, but Susie has a cosplay outfit--oh, I shouldn't have offered your work--"
"No! It's perfect!" Susie says. "I've also got Star Spangled and Lady Rose. I mean, if you wouldn't mind us going with you?"
"Would you?" Phoebe asks, looking excited. "That sounds like so much fun!"
"YES!" the two women say, excitedly. "Then it's a date! Oh, but we're going to have to get up really early--then again, that's not unusual in this work, is it?"
"Do either of you have a car?" Phoebe asks.
"We can get one!" they say enthusiastically.
"Then I will see you tomorrow morning, early," she says, hiding the maliciously triumphant smile that keeps trying to escape. This is it. This is her chance to get revenge.
***
*Kansas City*
It's the first day of the convention. In theory, it's a three-day thing, but honestly the plan is to have the Hall captured by tomorrow morning. Right now, though, I'm strolling through the convention dressed as a teenager with too much time on his hands. The rest of the school is doing the same, scattered throu
gh the crowd and pretending--no, Carla is honestly buying stuff from the various stalls. I watch her for a second as she hauls yet another huge bag of presents through the place with the air of a professional shopper.
"She's got five brothers and sisters, remember?" Zoe says from beside me. "She's got to get presents for everyone."
"Yeah, but aren't they coming?" I ask. Trust me, I remember very well that she has siblings. It's hard to forget.
"I don't know, I didn't get the time to ask her," she admits. "I'm betting they'll come for the parade, though. I think Dad was looking forward to checking up on them again."
"Checking up?" I ask.
"He's been keeping an eye on them, he thinks there's a good chance they'll develop powers like Carla's," she explains.
"Six... speedsters," I whisper, stunned. "That's terrifying."
"Isn't it?" she asks with a laugh. "I'm looking forward to it. Carla's adorable."
I give her a little grin, reaching down and taking her hand. "You really like her, huh?"
"I like all of our classmates," she protests. "Well, other than Jack."
"Even the more troublesome ones?" I ask. The Jack comment doesn't surprise me at all. "How about Ward? Ward can get annoying."
"Ever since he went on the road with Jack he's gotten better. Not that I want to say it's Jack's influence that helped. I think Brandon is more likely the one that did that."
"You're never going to like Jack, are you?" I ask.
"Never," she says.
"I'm hurt," Jack says from behind us. Zoe jumps slightly before turning on him with a glare that makes me worry about laser vision. He's wearing his illusion watch, and carrying a ton of bags that I'm almost positive belong to Aubrey.
"And sneaking up on people just makes it worse," she accuses him. "Should you two be seen together at this stage?" she asks me.
"It's no big deal, we're in disguise," Jack says. "Plus, all of the attention is on them," he says, motioning upwards, where all of the capes in the Hall are floating overhead. Once in a while they land, interacting with the crowd for a bit before taking to the air again and joking among themselves. Only Taurus and Lady Rose are land-bound, but Taurus is actually perched on a large speaker, so he's easy to find, and Lady Rose grew a massive tree to the side and is perched in the branches like it's her throne.
"Yoooo," Sunny says, jumping on my back and tugging his baseball hat down lower, hiding his bangs. "Carry me, man, this place makes me sleepy." He sticks his leg between Zoe and me and I fight the urge to throw him off for that.
"At least try not to kick your sister, Sunny!" I complain. He snores in my ear, but I'm pretty sure he's faking it. At least, I'm reasonably sure. "How can a massive crowd make you sleepy, anyway?"
"Everything makes him sleepy," Jack says. He looks up as someone laughs and we see Trent hanging out in the air with the rest of the capes. I look around for Emily, finding her posing with some kids a few seconds later.
"Aubrey, what are you buying now?" Zoe calls out as she catches sight of Aubrey with a huge bag.
"I got the limited edition Cold Steel toy," she says, hugging the bag happily. "It's so cute."
"It's not meant to be cute," Jack says irritably. "It's supposed to be awesome. I had no clue they were making it, though."
"And yet you claim to be Cold Steel's biggest fan, huh?" I say, since we're surrounded by norms.
"I'm not nearly as big a fan of Cold Steel as you are of Maximum," he says. "You've got freaking murals on your walls of him. That's seriously stupid, man."
"I don't have a mural!" I protest. "But now that you mention it, that would be pretty awesome. How much do you think Ace would charge for something like that?"
"Max, you are NOT getting a Maximum mural painted on your wall," Zoe says.
"Not even a small one?"
"Not even a small one," she says. "But me, on the other hand, I can get one!"
"So unfair," I complain, trying not to laugh. "Do you see how mean she is to me?"
"So you two are back together? Already?" Ace asks from behind us. I turn, moving slightly so he can join the group. "I was seriously hoping to have a chance with Zoe before it happened. That sucks."
"Where's Morgan?" I ask as Zoe blows his comment off with a laugh. I'm not about to tell her that he was serious.
"Over by the food stands with half of the zoo kids," he answers without even blinking. "Not that I was paying attention to where MORGAN was, just--I mean--I saw them," he tries to cover quickly. "You know, in passing." Sunny snorts right next to my ear.
"You're awake, aren't you?" I say.
"No!" he says quickly, only to burst out laughing.
"You're awake and laughing at Ace, aren't you?" I say dryly.
"YES!" he says, roaring with laughter. "Dude, just 'fess up and tell her you like her," he says. "Sure you'll get shot down, but wouldn't that be easier?"
"That was mean, Sunny," Zoe says. "It isn't easy liking someone."
"It was easy enough for you," Jack says. "Hey, so when does the next part of this thing start? I've had at least three different supers come down and force me to take a picture with them. Two of them were my parents," he adds under his breath.
"Who was the third?" I ask.
"Lady Rose."
"Seriously? You got a picture with our--" Sunny stops quickly before fixing himself, "with THE Lady Rose?"
"Yeah, she dragged me into it," he says.
"I haven't been dragged into any pictures," Zoe says, sounding a little depressed.
"I'll do it later," I promise under my breath.
"I don't want to be in a picture with the villain," she says silently before looking up. "Where's Firefly, anyway?" she asks.
"You want a picture with Firefly?" I ask. "Actually I'm sort of surprised," I admit, looking around. "I would have thought she'd be--" I stop as I finally see her. "She's over there dragging Ni--Technico around and making him take pictures with her," I say.
As a group we turn, watching the siblings for a moment. "I feel sorry for Taurus," Jack says finally.
"She does have a bit of a... brother obsession," Aubrey says with a sigh. "But she really does like Taurus, I promise."
"I'm just glad I don't have to wear a uniform," Sunny says. "Can you imagine how annoying it must be to be one of them right now? You probably owe them big time, Max!"
"I don't know, Mega seems to be enjoying himself," I have to point out, motioning to the massive crowd of women near the cape in question. "Annnnd he's got Ward again," I add. "That poor kid."
"I'm going to save him," Jack declares, shoving the bags into my arms.
"No you don't," I say, shoving them right back. "We can't draw attention to ourselves, remember? Besides, Ward IS his... well, you know," I add under my breath.
"Do we know?" Sunny asks. "I mean, we've been dancing around the subject for forever. Is Ward really Rob's kid?"
"Dad's never told," Zoe says, watching them curiously. Ward is tucked under Mega's arm and blushing slightly as the women surround them. "I bet he is, though. I mean, they look alike when you take the mask off."
"That poor kid," I repeat.
"Hey, now, Rob's not that bad out of uniform," Jack says. "I mean, sure, he's egotistical, but once you get past that he's a decent uncle. He probably wouldn't be a terrible dad if he got the chance. You know, as long as he isn't being a prat."
"Aww, Jack, I'm so proud of you, standing up for your uncle like that!" Aubrey says.
"That makes Ward your cousin, right?" Sunny says.
"Cousin," Jack repeats, looking thoughtful. "Yeah, yeah it does!" he decides, breaking into a grin. "I'm going to totally use that!"
"Hey, Sunny, where's Adanna?" Zoe asks.
"Standing in line for the Panther plushie," he says. "It's really, really long."
"Are you a moron?" I demand, shoving him off of me. "She's going to be surrounded by guys before you know it!"
"She won't hurt them unless they do something they shou
ldn't," he says with a shrug.
"I meant they'll be flirting with her," I say.
"So did I," he says. "But Cubby's with her, so it'd be hard to do. He's a bit picky--"
"Cubby's here?" I say, turning and heading for the line in question. I'm actually a bit surprised when the rest of the group follows along. I'm not surprised, though, when the crowd unconsciously moves out of our way. "They're picking up on it," I say quietly.
"Of course they're picking up on it--with a group like this, how could they not?" Zoe replies softly.
"Should we split up?" Aubrey asks worriedly.
"I... I suppose," Zoe says, looking downright depressed. "I miss hanging out like this, though." Her hand tightens on mine.
"After this is over," I say, "why don't we go over to my place? We'll have a movie marathon or something, just the old crew." I stop at the sight of several teenage guys standing several feet away from Adanna, trying to be discreet about staring. They're failing terribly, I think as Sunny pushes past me.
"SUNNY!" Cubby says, pulling away from Adanna's hand and racing for him. "Where'd you go?" he demands.
"Hey, buddy," Sunny says, picking him up and tossing him several feet into the air. Cubby starts laughing wildly as he's caught, and perched on Sunny's shoulders. He turns to the rest of us and then points at me with two fingers, in his traditional "I'm watching you" salute. I return the motion.
"Hey," Sunny says, joining Adanna. "Max thinks you can't handle guys flirting with you."
"Why would anyone flirt with me?" she asks, looking honestly confused.
"Because you're beautiful," Zoe says, moving to her other side and pulling her into a hug. I was totally abandoned for a girl, wasn't I? Oh well, I think, grinning slightly. Before I can blink, though, Cubby is jumping off of Sunny's shoulders and jumping into my arms. It's a four foot distance between the two of us, I think as I automatically grab him. He gives me an impish grin before scrambling onto my shoulders and covering my eyes with his hands.
"Cubby! I can't see!" I say as he kicks me lightly with his heels. "And I can't do that here, we're surrounded by people," I add quietly, grabbing his ankles.
