Mic Drop (Cape High Series Book 16)

by R. J. Ross

  "YOU are beautiful," Adanna says to Zoe, "even if you are a little blind."

  "Hey, where's my greeting, huh?" Jack demands of Cubby. I hear Cubby blow a raspberry at him. Ace starts laughing.

  "Mikey!" Cubby says, pulling one hand away from my eyes and pointing at Ace demandingly.

  "Sorry kiddo, I can't here," Ace says. He caves a second later and says, in the cartoon character's voice, "I really can't, bro!"

  Cubby cheers. "You three are spoiling him," Adanna accuses us. "What happened during that summer camp?"

  "We're not spoiling him!" I protest. "It's not our fault that your little brother is awesome." And he covers my eye up again with his hand. "Well, other than blinding me in a crowd of people, that is." I gently tap into his mind again, and I feel him squirm a little.

  "That tickles," he says.

  "Well if I can't see with my eyes, I've got to see with yours," I tell him logically. I realize a second later that I'm picking up on even more than sight. "Wow, he's got super hearing already," I say, stunned.

  "On the level of your own?" Adanna asks.

  "Maybe a little better," I admit.

  "It'll get even better as he grows," she says as we follow her moving forward in the line unconsciously. Cubby is looking around curiously, catching onto details that even I wouldn't notice. He's got an idea of where each of the capes in the entire building are--by either sight, sound, or smell. I never would have thought a four-year-old would notice this, but he does it almost unconsciously. This kid... I was half joking about him being awesome, but he really IS, I realize with a bit of shock.

  "Cubby, find Skye, would you?" I say quietly. He turns his head, looking straight at the woman in question. She's hanging out near a door, eating a gigantic turkey leg. He likes Skye, so he raises a hand, waving at her happily. "Okay, where's Nico?" I ask him.

  "There!" he says, pointing at Nico.

  "Where's Mastermental?" I ask him.

  He looks around, and then frowns. "Not here," he says after a second of searching. "Somewhere, though," he adds thoughtfully, sniffing the air.

  "He's downstairs," Adanna says quietly. "Good job," she adds, praising her little brother.

  "Better than good," I say, still stunned. "Cubby, you are really amazing," I say, making him laugh. "Now I want to see what your sister can see--"

  "Don't even think about it," Adanna says quickly. "I should be complaining about Cubby. You had better not be looking for family secrets."

  "I'm just borrowing his senses, I swear," I say, holding up both hands. "He knows where every cape in the room is," I add quietly. "Even the ones not in uniform."

  "Seriously?" Ace asks, sounding stunned.

  "Yeah. Hey, Cubby, where's Rocco?"

  He looks around, but when he sees Rocco, he only looks for a second before moving on. "Wait," I say, realizing, "you don't know who Rocco is, do you?" I feel him get depressed and I quickly tug him off of my shoulders, slipping him onto my hip. "Hey, hey, it's not your fault you don't know," I tell him softly. "We'll introduce you to everyone soon, okay? That way you'll know."

  He still looks worried, so I hug him. "You can come to school and meet everyone, okay?"

  "You're surprisingly good with kids, Max," Aubrey says.

  "No I'm not," I say. "But me and Cubby, we've got a lot in common. When I was little I was a bit like you are now," I tell him. "I was amazing, too."

  "Wow, that's not egotistical at all," Jack drawls, reaching up and messing up my hair. He pulls his hand away and stares at it. "What in the hell do you put in your hair, man?" he asks.

  "Your hand left an imprint on it!" Ace says, bursting out laughing.

  "I'm afraid to touch anything, my hand might stick," Jack says, looking around. "Where's a bathroom--think they've got some Easy Green in there?"

  "There might be a bit of toxic ooze in the mixture," I say shamelessly, lying... I hope.

  "You're sick, man," Jack complains.

  "Says the guy with his own personal buffer, besides, you're the one that ruined my hairdo," I complain.

  "I'm going to have to change Cubby's clothes, aren't I?" Adanna says as she looks at us again. "Good job, Max," she adds darkly. "Now his shirt is going to stick to things."

  "Not everyone can have naturally spiky hair in any circumstance!" I protest, trying not to laugh. Cubby is now touching his shirt and laughing as the shirt sticks to his hand. I'm going to have to change my hair gel, aren't I? That sucks. "I really liked that brand, too," I complain. "Okay, c'mon, Cubby, let's go find a bathroom, we'll get you cleaned up and fix my hair," I say as I take him from his sister. "Don't worry, we'll be back soon," I promise as I leave the group.

  "I'm coming with you," Jack says. I look over, seeing a strange expression on his face.

  "What's up?" I ask.

  "Other than the sticky hand?" he asks. "I keep getting the feeling we're being watched," he says, even though he makes no move to look around. "But hey, I ain't the one born a cape, so maybe it's just paranoia."

  I look at him. "Sometimes I really forget that fact," I admit.

  "What fact?"

  "That you weren't born like us."

  "You of all people should know I wasn't," he says, looking surprised. "I mean, you're part of the reason I became what I did--not that I really want to talk about that. I was such a freakin' idiot that it's embarrassing."

  "But it hasn't turned out that bad, has it?" I say.

  "No, it hasn't," he says. "Not at all." He reaches up, patting Cubby on the afro. "Mom and Dad are talkin' about adopting someone else, y'know?"

  "Yeah, I heard."

  He looks at me, a little smile on his face. "I want her as my little sister," he says, simply. "If she keeps hiding like she is, I might have to drag her out, though."

  "Are you sure?" I ask. "Right now you've got it pretty good."

  "I'm sure," he says.

  "She's got a lot of... issues."

  "I know. So did I."

  "Hey, hey, take a picture with me!" I hear someone say.

  "We're just cosplayers, though," I hear a woman say with a laugh. "The real ones are taking pictures with people already, right?"

  "You might be cosplayers, but you look awesome!" the guy says.

  Cubby turns, looking at the people talking with a strange expression before he tugs on my shirt and points. I follow his finger, taking in three women dressed as Lady Rose, Firefly and Star Spangled. "Yeah? You want to take a picture with them?" I ask him, a bit confused. I know for a fact that he could get a picture from any of the three by simply waving at them.

  "She's a super," he whispers.

  "What?"

  "Super," he repeats, looking at me urgently. "Is she Rocco?"

  "No, Rocco's a guy," I say, but I'm staring at the three. Two are easy to read. The third, though, the one dressed as Firefly--

  I let out a curse and head for the bathrooms as quickly as I can with such a big crowd. "What's going on?" Jack asks, following behind me.

  "That was Phoebe Woods," I say over my shoulder.

  "Who?"

  "Massteria's daughter, she's here."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  "So what do you want to do?" Ken asks me two minutes later. We're in the private section of the Hall, which means we won't be seen chatting--but I still have Cubby. I need to take him back to his sister or she's going to hunt me down. At least the black suits are cleaning him up while we talk, I think as I glance over at them.

  "I don't know," I admit. "If she causes a problem, we could have some serious havoc on our hands. But if she finds out that I know she's here, she might run."

  "And you don't want her to run?"

  "I want to catch her," I say. "I'd like to expose her as a hidden cape, if I can."

  "She's a psychic, though. It's very difficult to expose a psychic type, especially when they've gained full control of their powers." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Does she know that we have her father?"

  "There's a goo
d chance," I admit. "She probably thinks he's either here or I have him tied up somewhere."

  "Then I suggest we keep the schedule. We don't want her realizing we know she's here. When she makes a move to search for her father, we'll get proof that she's intruding on super affairs, and go from there. Also, your hair looks ridiculous."

  "Blame it on your son," I say, reaching up and trying to fix it without a mirror.

  "It's okay, Cubby," I hear Jack say. "They aren't going to do anything to you."

  I look over, only now noticing that Cubby's trying to climb him like a tree to get away from the black suits. "Did they at least get the hair gel off of him?" I ask.

  "They washed his arms and put him in a Cold Steel shirt, instead," Jack says. "I got to pick," he adds with a grin. "Are we ready for the big announcement, or are we going to capture that one chick first?"

  I look at them, and see only trust in their eyes. "There's a chance she'll cause a riot," I say slowly, "So--"

  "Do you know what she looks like? Did she come as herself or dressed as someone else?" I turn, watching as Nico walks into the room with a cotton candy in his hand. "Don't ask," he says as he sees me looking at it.

  "She's cosplaying as your sister," I say.

  "Which one?"

  "Liz."

  "That should stand out," he says a bit sarcastically. "There are at least a hundred Firefly cosplayers out there at the moment."

  "She's the only one that looks like a doppelganger," I say. "She's with two other cosplayers, one dressed like Lady Rose, the other is dressed like Star Spangled. If we keep an eye on them, maybe we can go ahead with the next part of the plan."

  "Got it, we'll set the invisible drone on them," Nico says.

  "Isn't that Hero TV's?" Ken asks.

  "I'll get permission," Nico says, blandly. "Now you three need to get ready for the big show, right?"

  I nod. "Can you take Cubby back to his sister?" I ask him. "I don't think he'd trust the black suits to do it."

  "Sure," Nico says, holding his arms out. Cubby jumps across the room, landing in his arms. "Let's go, kiddo," he says.

  "We can fly?" Cubby asks eagerly.

  "I'm already in uniform, so why not?" Nico says. "Max, go fix your hair," he adds as they head out of the room.

  "You can pull this off, right?" I say to Ken.

  "Pretending to be brainwashed? Sure, it sounds like fun!" he says, grinning widely. "I have to say, this is probably one of the more interesting plots I've been involved with. Do you plan on doing more?"

  "I probably will, if I can pull this off," I say. "Now I need to fix my hair and get into uniform. Jack, you ready?"

  He taps his watch and his illusion disappears, revealing he's in full uniform, save for his trademark trench coat. It's handed to him by one of the black suits, who's trying not to smile. "Thanks," Jack says as he shrugs it on. He waves a hand and his surf board comes into the room.

  "Rocco, Ace, Pan, we're about to enter phase two," I say, tapping my earbud. "Go ahead and change. We're go in ten. Rocco, when Carla makes her appearance, make sure everyone notices."

  I head for the restroom, going to the mirror and fixing my hair before changing into my 'good guy' uniform. I slap my mask on, staring my reflection in the eye for a moment. I'm about to announce to the world that I'm Mastermental's son. After this is over, a lot of people might question if it's true or not, but it'll still be in their minds.

  Even if I'll still be a villain, people will expect me to live up to his standards. Can I do it? Can I really be a cape deserving the name of "Mastermental"? It'll be associated with me from now on.

  "You ready?" Jack asks from behind me.

  I look in the mirror, meeting his eyes. "Do you still feel awkward when people call you a Liberty?" I ask him.

  He looks away and I wonder if he's not going to answer, but then he says, "Every freaking day of my life."

  "Yeah, I think I can sort of understand that," I say.

  "You'll never understand it," he says, but he doesn't sound angry. "You really are his kid. You have his powers. You'll do fine. I'm a bit surprised people haven't figured it out already, honestly. Now quit being a chicken, Dad's about to make his announcement."

  "Got it," I say, heading out. "Let's take over the Hall."

  ***

  "So I'm supposed to be in uniform now, right? I mean, I am, but I can change if I need to," Carla says over her earbud as she stares up at the Hall building. Taking her bags back to the school hadn't taken but a few seconds, and it got them out of the way of the big fight. Now she's about to step into the biggest job of her life.

  "You're supposed to be in uniform," Zoe says over the com-link. "You're going to be the one that's obviously confused by what's going on."

  "I still think it should be you," Carla admits. "This is Superior's birthday--the hero of the day should be his granddaughter, right? Or Sunny! Sunny would be a good hero for the day--"

  "Carla." She stops, shocked to hear Superior on the line. "Do you really think today's my birthday?"

  "It doesn't matter if it is, it's what we're celebrating!" she says, still just standing there. She feels wrong. This shouldn't be her role. "Why did they choose me?"

  "Because Max can't brainwash you," Superior says.

  "What?"

  "It's physically impossible. Your brain is wired differently--you were built to process information quickly and move on. To a degree, all capes have that, but as a speedster, you're even more extreme," he says. "Max knows that, that's why he picked you to break his father free. And sure, my grandkids have that ability as well, but they aren't going to go into the fighting game, remember? So don't feel guilty that you're representing me. I would have picked you, as well."

  "So he couldn't really do this in real life?" she asks. "Since all capes have it to a degree?"

  "It would be a lot more difficult than you're playing it off to be," Superior says.

  "Would you, um, would you really have chosen me?" she asks shyly. "There are a lot of supers that could--"

  "For this job?" he says, "I believe I would have, yes. It shows good leadership skills, picking the right person for the job, but I expected that of Frank's only son."

  "It has nothing to do with, um, me being a girl?" she asks.

  "What does you being a female have to do with anything?" he asks. "Two of my three children are female, and if you ask either my son or me, we would tell you who we prefer."

  It startles a laugh out of her. "Okay, then I'm going in!" she says. "I'll make you proud, sir!"

  "I look forward to it," he says.

  She steps into the Hall for the second time, just in time to see Ken float over everyone's heads with a microphone in his hand. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we would like to thank you for coming today. Not only are we celebrating the birth of the greatest hero we ever knew, we're also celebrating our brand new Hall leader!" Behind them there's a giant television screen, showing a close-up of his face.

  The world around her goes still, and a murmur starts to rise. "Did Mastermental quit?" "Why haven't I heard anything about this? I've got the pay-per-view!" And various other statements along those lines echo all around her.

  "I would like to introduce you to the third, and final Central Hall Leader," Ken says, his voice going monotone. He turns as Maximum comes down from the rafters, "the one and only son of Mastermental, Maximum."

  The world goes still as Max gives everyone a blinding smile and takes the mic from Ken. "You can sit, now, America's Son," he says. Ken promptly drops to the floor and sits down in the middle of the crowd. "Yes, yes, you can cheer now," Max says arrogantly. "I would say 'take me to your leader,' but guess what? I AM YOUR NEW HALL LEADER!" he roars.

  People start looking around, searching for the other heroes to step up, but they merely stand straight where they're floating and salute Max with the same blank looks on their faces as Ken had. There's a mix of fear and excitement in the air, and it grows as various villains step out of the
shadows. Jack flies overhead, grinning and waving at everyone, while Ace brings out a few small dragons to fly through the room.

  "Now calm down, calm down," Max says. "I'm here to explain the difference between my regime and my father's. In my Hall there are no villains, and there are no heroes. We're all just super," he says, almost purring the last word. "So this is just a happy celebration! My brothers, my sisters, we are finally one big, happy family!" he tells the supers. "Say 'Yes Maximum,'" he prompts.

  "YES MAXIMUM!" all of the capes say, except the villains. The villains just look smug. Carla looks around as music starts playing, and sees Rocco standing at a booth to the side.

  "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Rocco roars as a fast-paced song blares through the air. Carla looks at the norms, seeing their expressions. Before she can blink, though, Rocco grabs her hand, pulling her into a spinning dance in the middle of the convention hall.

  "Nightstep! What are you doing?" she demands as the crowd turns to watch them, automatically moving so they have some "stage space."

  "It's a party, Hy-Bo," he says, grinning at her as he prompts others to join the dance. A few the norms start to join in, laughing a bit too loudly. "We're no longer hero and villain," he says, pulling her closer. "We can get to know each other, now," he says wickedly. It's SO NOT FAIR, she inwardly wails. He's absolutely taking advantage of the crush she told him she was already over! She glances up, seeing them on the large screen overhead. HTV is televising this, she realizes.

  She jerks free of his hold. "What have you all done?" she asks, looking at the supers still floating obediently in the air. "Technico? Firefly? America's Son?" she calls, but no one responds.

  Lights start flashing over the crowd and she looks straight up, seeing Ace wave his hands and create a gigantic light display overhead. Rocco grabs her again. "Don't fight it, Hy-Bo. We're in charge of the Hall, now," he says, looking her straight in the eye. She knows her face is bright red.

  "Oh my gosh, they're so cute together!" she hears someone whisper.

  "No!" Carla says, jerking out of his hold again. "This is wrong!"

  "What's wrong?" Maximum asks from right behind her. She jerks, and he grabs her hand, pulling her into a loose hug. "Tell me what's wrong, little Hy-Bo, and I'll make everything okay," he says. He cups her chin, looking her deep in the eye. 'This is where I'm supposed to try to brainwash you,' he says in her mind, sounding like he's close to laughing. 'Great touch with Rocco, there.'