by R. J. Ross
'He totally caught me off guard!' she complains. 'That wasn't fair at all, I'm still not quite over that stupid--' She stops, even more embarrassed as he lets out a little evil chuckle. 'What should I do?'
'Pretend that you're pretending I brainwashed you, okay?' he says.
'Got it!' She blinks a few times before looking around a bit worriedly. "Um, yes, Maximum," she says, saluting him. "Whatever you say, Maximum!" she repeats.
"Good girl," he says, patting her on the head. "Isn't she cute?" he asks the crowd, turning away from Carla. She takes the moment to make a face at him, and the crowd laughs. "That wasn't meant to be a joke," Max says, as if he has no clue what she's doing. He turns, looking at her, and she gives him her most innocent expression. "Why don't you go back to playing with Nightstep," he says, pushing her gently towards Rocco. "He seems to have a bit of a crush."
"I--I--I--" she stammers as Rocco gives her a brilliant grin and holds out his arms.
"Come to the dark side, Hy-Bo," he says. "It's just a little dance."
She steps forward and he takes her hands, pulling her into the dance again. "Sorry," he mouths. "We need them to notice you." She takes a tiny step closer, her heart pounding against her chest. They're both just acting, she tells herself. There are people taking photos from all around, showing that the crowd has fully embraced this new plot line, and are enjoying it. For a moment, she guiltily lets herself enjoy it as well, dancing with the guy that turned her down--well, sort of turned her down. She's supposed to be brainwashed right now, right? So what's the harm in playing along for a bit?
The song comes to a halt and he grabs her hand, spinning her into his arms. She stares into his eyes, seeing a grin on his face, and realizes that she had been even more of a liar than she'd thought. She hasn't gotten over her crush on him--in fact, the moment he started paying attention to her earlier, she'd fallen even harder. The thin line between acting and reality is threatening to break the longer she stays here, she realizes. He might figure out that she still likes him--REALLY likes him.
"No," she says, jerking out of his hold. "I mean--I need to--I--" She looks at the crowd. "I can't do this," she says, starting for the crowd. They part and she makes a run for it.
"Hy-Bo!" he yells after her. "Boss, I don't think she's completely under--" he says to Max, only to stop.
"Don't yell at me, just go FIND her," Max says.
***
Brilliant, I think, trying not to laugh. "I thought he said he wasn't going to flirt with her," Ace says over the com-link. We had Nico set us up a villains-only line a long time ago. He never turned it off.
"I don't remember him ever saying that," I say away from the mic, trying to look irritated for the crowd. "That right there is going to make him famous."
"What do you mean?" Jack asks.
"He's going to forever be known as the villain that keeps trying to seduce Hypersonic Rainbow over to the dark side," I say, barely moving my lips as I look over the crowd. "There will be fans and haters, but he's definitely going to have people watching him."
"I was just trying to get her noticed," Rocco says. "I wasn't trying to flirt--"
Even Pan starts laughing at that.
"I KNEW it! You've got a crush on Carla!" Skye declares happily.
"You didn't know it," Doris says. "You had no clue."
"I totally knew it! I knew it before HE knew it!" Skye says.
"Sure you did," Doris drawls, giving up. "You know all about love matters."
"That's why sooner or later Justin will realize that he and I are perfect together!" Skye says.
"Never happen."
"Nope."
"Isn't he dating Malina?"
"Aren't YOU dating Century?"
"I will NEVER date Century!" she says. "I don't like Century at ALL! And I can't believe YOU were the one that said that, Ariel!"
"But he's always bringing us presents that you like," Ariel says sweetly. I'm almost positive she's doing it to torture Skye, but she sounds so innocent while she's doing it. They definitely make for an interesting girl group. I look forward to seeing them step onto the stage.
"As entertaining as this is," Pan says, "should we be doing something now?"
"We only have half an hour before the con closes for the day," I say, glancing at my com-bracelet. "We're going to finish this up with the party, and tomorrow we'll do the big parade. Nico, has Phoebe Woods done anything?" I ask.
"Not yet," Nico says. "Don't worry, we're keeping an eye on her."
"Where is she?" Pan asks.
"She's dressed up as Firefly with two other cosplayers," I tell him, a strange thought crossing my mind. "One is dressed like Lady Rose, the other is Star Spangled. Pan, can you see them from where you are?"
"I can see them," he says.
"But if she's the lady we found at the hotel, she's not with that group," Skye finishes for him.
I jerk, cursing loudly. "Then where is she?" I ask, uncaring at the norms are looking at me curiously. They probably think I'm talking about Carla, if the smiles on their faces are an indicator. I wish I was.
"Ummm... outside," Skye says, looking a bit confused. "She's leaving."
"What?" I say, blankly. "But--she didn't do anything..."
"Maybe she just wanted to go to the convention?"
***
"Soooo," Phoebe says, leaning into the nicely dressed man driving. "What's it like, being one of the infamous 'black suits'?"
He has a faintly confused expression on his face, so she pours just a bit more of her power into the hypnotism. He's hard to handle--not because of the usual reasons, either. This man is extremely focused, he's just had more interactions with psychics than most. On some level, he probably realizes what she's doing and is fighting it. That won't last long.
"I love my job," he says. "I'm in training for--" he stops.
"Training?" she prompts.
"They're going to... assign..." He shakes his head, visibly fighting the desire to talk. She reaches over and grabs his hand, lacing her fingers through his, and he looks at her, startled.
"Tell me," she whispers.
"I'm learning how to operate the special power blocker system that Technico is developing," he says, the words pouring out of his mouth. "It's connected to the satellites and can target anyone. That way if there's a rogue cape running around like Deathblow, we can shut him down within seconds."
"That sounds like a very big responsibility," she croons, her heart pounding heavily against her chest and her hands getting sweaty. "You must be very important."
"Nah, I wouldn't say that," he says, grinning slightly. "I'm just a really good aim."
"Of course you should be with a job that huge," she says. "Is it up and operating?"
"Yeah--well, only on a small scale," he admits. "We've only set it up for Central so far, but we're in negotiations for the other branches. Um... where was I taking you, again?" He looks confused again, but she merely smiles and leans up, kissing him on the cheek.
"Your place would be nice," she purrs.
***
"Keep the drones on the chase scene," Andre says, once again standing in the small control bus. "I have to say, this gig is providing an excellent amount of drama."
"Hypersonic Rainbow is great, isn't she?" one of his cameramen says as he operates the drone. "The camera loves her."
"It's how animated she is," Andre agrees. "Nico, I know I gave you the invisible drone for the party, but why aren't you recording?" he asks over his earbud as he sees a side monitor change.
"I'm checking the footage," Nico says. "She traded costumes with someone before she left. Why did she do it? None of this makes any sense. If she had a clear-cut way onto Hall property, why didn't she take advantage of it?"
"And what would she be looking for?"
"Her father, Massteria, it's the only explanation for her coming. She must know already that we know she's a cape."
"Where is her father?"
"In the cell
right next to Mastermental's."
"Then is there really anything to worry about?"
"In my experience, if there's not a clear explanation it's usually someone up to no good," Nico says.
"True. Well if we find anything in our recordings, we'll be sure to tell you."
"Thanks, Andre."
"And I'd like to invite you and your family to dinner tomorrow night, with the family," Andre adds.
"You actually talked my sister into that?" Nico asks, amused.
"I can be very persuasive."
"Sure, I'll see if everyone can come. Right now I want to know why our intruder left and where she went."
"Can you do that when you're supposedly being controlled by Max?"
"He left the room shouting 'Find her,' so I can take a bit of liberty, don't you think?"
"Sounds good to me!" Andre hears his son say. "I'm getting bored with just standing here."
"Then everyone spread out and 'find her,'" Nico says. On the screens all of the capes suddenly leap into motion, spreading out to search for someone. The stalls start closing and the visitors turn to the big screen expectantly, waiting to see the final part of today's show.
"Tomorrow morning is the parade, right?" Andre asks. "I look forward to it." Then he stops. "Focus on camera five," he says. "The chase between Hy-Bo and Nightstep just got more interesting."
"Got it."
***
"Why are you chasing me?" Carla demands as Rocco steps out of the wall in front of her. "We're no longer hero and villain, right?"
"Why are you running?" he asks. There are drones floating around their heads, but neither of them look up. "I just want to be friends. Can you really hold that against me?"
"Really?" she asks. "You want to be my friend?"
"I really want to be your friend," he says, stepping closer, a little smile on his face. "It'll be fun! I can travel through shadows; you can go faster than the speed of light. We could do all sorts of interesting stuff!"
"Well, not exactly that fast, but my principal says I might be able to when I'm older," she admits, a bit shyly.
"Why don't we go back to the party?" he asks.
"Was it true?" she asks.
"Was what true?"
"Is Maximum really Mastermental's son? You seem to know him--weren't you working with him a while back?"
"You noticed?" he asks with a broad smile. "I was working for Maximum before I became a villain in my own right. But yeah, he's Mastermental's real son. They never see eye to eye, though. That's why he--" he stops, jerking slightly and looking around.
"What did he do?" Carla asks, moving closer. "What did Maximum do to Mastermental, Nightstep?" she asks, grabbing his face with both hands and forcing him to look her in the eye.
"He--ah--" he says. "Come on, Hy-Bo, don't you want to dance some more?" he asks, a bit desperately. "Or we could go shopping! It'll be fun!"
"What did Maximum do to Mastermental?" she repeats. "We're on the same side now, right? That means no secrets."
"Well..." he says, looking around a bit. "You didn't hear this from me, but--"
"Nightstep," Max snaps from behind him. "What are you doing?"
"Boss, I just--" Rocco says, the perfect picture of guilt.
"Are you that easily distracted by a pretty face?" Max demands. Carla's face turns bright red, and she promptly reminds herself that Rocco doesn't actually like her like that, he's just playing a part. Why they chose THIS way to do it, she's got no idea, and she's going to yell at both of them as soon as they're no longer on camera! "Well, she IS pretty," Max says, giving her a wicked grin. "Hy-Bo," he says. "Go with Nightstep back to the party."
She snaps a salute like she saw the adults do earlier, remembering that she's supposed to be brainwashed. "Yes, Maximum," she says.
"Good girl," Max says, patting her on the back. "Nightstep," he says, his tone sharpening. "If you start talking again, I might have to have a little 'talk' with you, as well."
"You--yeah, got it," Rocco says, his expression falling. "You don't have to do that," he adds quietly.
"I don't want to," Max agrees. "You're one of my favorites," he adds cheerfully. "Soon you'll be one of the biggest names around, well, next to mine."
"Thanks, Boss," Rocco says a bit dryly. Max walks away, leaving the two just standing there.
"He sort of looks like him," Carla says after a moment.
"Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" Rocco says, grabbing her hand. "Come on, we need to get back to the party."
"Nightstep? Where is Mastermental?" she asks.
He looks downward, only to look even guiltier. "I don't have a clue," he says. "Isn't he overseas again?"
She looks down as well, her mind racing. He just told her where Mastermental is, which is cool and all, but she still needs to come up with a believable way to get him to let go of her. "You know," she says, daringly, "I would like to be friends with you, too!" Which isn't a lie, right? They really ARE good friends! "We could go shopping and go to theme parks together! I've got a free pass to TWO of the Hall theme parks, you know," she brags.
"That does sound like fun," he says. "Do you want to go next weekend?"
"Definitely!" she says, pulling the hand that's holding hers up between them. "We can ride all of the rides!"
"Then it's a date," he says.
"It's going to be so much fun!" she agrees with a brilliant smile, tugging him towards the way they came from. "We can ride the rides and eat the food, and maybe we can bring some friends with us--oh--" she stops as they pass a restroom. "Can you excuse me for a little bit?" she asks. "I'll be right back, I promise," she tells him. He lets go of her hand and she makes a break for it, racing at top speed for the stairs leading to the lower floor.
She hears him groan from behind her and she fights back the urge to laugh. That had been fun! Oh, but now everyone will have the wrong idea about them, right? They'll think he was flirting with her, which is clearly impossible.
***
"Think she took you seriously?" I ask over the earbud. He's been through a lot when it comes to Carla! The poor guy is constantly ten steps behind. He needs all the encouraging he can get.
"Not a chance," Rocco says dryly. "She probably thinks I'm just playing it up for the cameras. I bet I get a lecture on how I made 'her Hypersonic Rainbow' look like a flirt, or something. But that's fine. I decided I don't have time for a girlfriend right now."
"Yeah, right," Ace scoffs. "You can keep telling yourself that."
"Why haven't you gotten a girl yet, Ace?" Rocco asks.
"I don't have time for a girlfriend right now," Ace says promptly. The entire villain com channel bursts out laughing.
"Don't do that, man, I'm being recorded right now!" Jack says, his laughter muffled. They hear a click and the channel changes to the school line and he speaks, again, "Screen is going black, black suits are escorting the audience out... Annnnd... the con is clear, I repeat, the con is clear. They're heading home now."
"Got it," Zoe says. "Dad, have you found her?"
"Working on it."
"I can find her!" Skye says, and I hear her moving around for a bit. I think she's doing her finding dance again. "She's... somewhere in Kansas," she declares. "Can you DO anything in Kansas?"
"Why would she be going to Kansas?" I ask blankly. Now don't get me wrong, Kansas City straddles the border, so it's not really that big of a deal jumping from one state to the next, but why would she go? If she was just here to enjoy the convention (which I seriously doubt) she would have gone back home--
"It's a three-day thing," Nico says. "She'll be back tomorrow."
"Well... put more guards on Massteria's cell," I say, grimly. "If she tries to sneak back in during the night, we'll catch her."
'That's another thing,' Dad says in my mind, making me jerk slightly. 'Max, have you ever considered how Massteria got Layne? You placed black suits around the entire building. It was a standard operation, one that they've been trained for since b
efore they came to work for us. And yet, Massteria just walks right in and grabs her.'
'What? I mean... yeah, you're right. But I just assumed that he used a form of low-level hypnotism. It was a crowd of strangers, missing one rather... normal looking cape in civilian clothing isn't that hard. Let's face it, Massteria doesn't have the type of face you plaster on a box of cereal, after all.'
'But another psychic would notice the level of power one would have to use for that,' he says. 'If, however, they used a bit of visual trickery--'
'They wouldn't even have to hypnotize them--or if they did, it would be just a tiny bit,' I say, stunned. 'She's a professional actress. She spends her days pretending to be someone else. She understands body language and has open access to props and specialized makeup. It's so obvious, why didn't I think of that sooner?'
'Because when you found your sister, she was nowhere to be seen, and you assumed it was all him,' Dad says. 'We know that she came in wearing a Firefly costume. She's not your regular villain, Max. She lives and thinks like a norm.'
'So you're saying you think she helped Massteria kidnap my little sister,' I say.
'Yes, I believe she did.'
'And that I need to start thinking like a norm--or at least less like a show-boating hero.'
'Exactly.'
***
"I'm going to get you out of there," Carla says to Mastermental, looking around the room for the "off" button. She has to move quickly. That very thought makes her fight back a laugh. That was what she was made for! But if she moves too quickly, it might make for a less dramatic breakout. There has to be that moment where they risk being caught, and escape! That's what makes for good hero-work. Superior entrusted this job to her, and she's going to pull it off perfectly!
