Mic Drop (Cape High Series Book 16)

by R. J. Ross

  "You do--it's a group date," I say. "We're going under the pretense of letting Rocco go out with Carla. I figured it'd be me and Zoe, you and Morgan, and Rocco and Carla."

  "So it's... not really a date," he says, falling back on his bed and yawning.

  "It's a group date. Why is everything you own black?" I complain as I lift his pile of clothes and float them through the room to try and find something acceptable. "This will have to do," I say, tossing an outfit on his bed. "Go get showered and changed. We need to drag Rocco out of bed, next."

  The dragon painted on his wall starts to move, and I look over, watching as its head comes down and he pats it. "Morning," he says to the dragon before getting to his feet. "I'm taking a shower," he says, heading into his bathroom. I stare at the dragon, who's turned its head to look at me. It opens its mouth, showing massive teeth and a forked tongue.

  "Ace? You left your dragon on," I call over my shoulder. He laughs. "Okay... nice to meet you," I say, reaching up to try and pet it. It snaps at me and I pull my hand back. "Ace, here I get you a date with the girl of your dreams and you sic a dragon on me," I complain, walking around the dragon and heading for the turtles again. "At least you guys are cute," I say, tapping on the glass.

  "I used to have one when I was a kid," Ace says, stepping back into the room fully dressed. "So tell me again what we're doing?"

  "It's a group date. Morgan's coming to support Carla, and you, my friend, are coming to get closer to Morgan," I say. "So we're going to need to do this up right."

  "Does Rocco know we're doing this?"

  "Nope, so put the dragon up and let's go." He reaches up and pats the dragon again before it disappears. "That's an awesome trick, by the way. You ever think of getting a tattoo?"

  "Of what?"

  "I dunno, My Little Pony?" I offer sarcastically. "A dragon! You could pull it out of your skin like the dragon that comes out of your wall. The visual appeal would be huge."

  "Yeah, but where would I put it? If I put it on my arm it'll be too small to do anything, and if I put it on my chest, I'd have to strip every time I want to use it," he says as we take to the air, heading for school.

  "Leave it for a 'once in a while' thing," I suggest. "Like, the fight gets violent or your clothes get ripped, and they can pretty easily since you've got a thing for netting--then you pull out your dragon--" He starts laughing. "Your TATTOO dragon," I drawl, "and start throwing dragons at them. It'd be awesome."

  "I could see that," he says with a moment of thought. "It sounds pretty cool, huh?"

  We land in front of Death Canyon, heading inside. "Oye! Where's Rocco?" I call out to Lance, who's swimming in the pool as a dolphin. All I get in return is a bit of squeaking. "I'll... ask someone else, then," I say. He makes another sound and I swear he's laughing. "Hey! Where's Rocco?" I call out, seeing Freddy climbing the dorm wall.

  "Still asleep," he says.

  "Thanks, Freddy," I say. "Also, I'm interested in hearing about what Hall you want to join, so call me sometime, okay?"

  "Yeah, yeah. I'm thinking of going HTV, though."

  I head inside, shaking my head slightly as I head for Rocco's dorm. "Hey, can you do gigantic spiders?" I ask Ace.

  "Yeah, why?"

  I open Rocco's door, grinning evilly. A few seconds later Rocco races past us in a pair of boxers and a tank top, screaming his head off. "SPIDER! THERE'S A--" he pulls to a stop, turning and glaring at us. "That was NOT funny."

  "How can we allow a guy that specializes in shadows be afraid of spiders?" I ask. "It's called shock therapy. We do this because we love you!" His look says he's not buying it. "Go take a shower, though, I can smell you from here."

  "Hey, has anyone told Carla about this?" Ace whispers to me as Rocco reluctantly heads back in his room.

  "Can we get rid of the three-foot-tall spider?" Rocco yells back at us. "Thank you."

  "It was only a foot tall," Ace says.

  "I... need to go find Carla. You make sure he doesn't run," I say, heading back into the mess of dorm kids.

  "Why do I feel I got the short end of the stick?" he asks dryly.

  "Because you did," I say cheerfully. "Hey, where's Carla?" I ask Malina as she walks by.

  "In the cafeteria. It's breakfast time."

  "I want breakfast!" Ace says. "At least get me a coffee!"

  "Got it," I say, since I AM giving him the short end of the stick. I head for the cafeteria, seeing a line in front of Jimmi, who's standing at the counter.

  "No shoving!" she calls out, holding a ladle up in a threatening manner. "That means you, Ward and Brandon, don't think I can't see you, Brandon," she adds. It shocks the kid so much that he comes out of invisibility.

  "You can see me?" he asks.

  "Yes, I can see you," she says. "You've got an energy signal, I can see you. You're a trouble maker," she adds, giving him a grin.

  "Brandon's the best kid we've got," Vinny says from the kitchen. "Order up!"

  "Mmmhmm," she says, grabbing the plates and handing them to the kids. The dorm kids are suddenly extremely interested, and every eye in the room is glued on Jimmi.

  "What's he do when we can't see him?" Carla asks eagerly. There's my target! But I don't want to interrupt, because this is interesting. Oh, sure, I can find Brandon if I look for his thoughts, but most of the time I don't, I'm too busy blocking out the rest of the world.

  "Noooothing," Jimmi sing-songs.

  "Come on, tell us!" the group chimes up, eagerly.

  "Go eat your breakfast," she says, laughing. I get in line, looking over at Carla, who's got a very heavy plate of food in her hands. That makes sense. She goes through a lot of calories with her speedster abilities. But... I check out the plates of each kid, realizing something else. Each kid's plate has the same basic thing on it, but each has a different amount, or more of this, or more of that--which would make more sense if they actually ORDERED their portions. Instead, they step up to the counter and Jimmi tells Vinny who it is.

  It might be because he already knows their likes and dislikes, but I don't think that's it. I step up to the counter, and Jimmi looks me over for a long moment, thoughtfully. "You need more fruits and vegetables," she tells me. "Give me a stack of pancakes, topped in extra fruit, and a side of sausage," she says to Vinny. "And a glass of... milk," she decides.

  "I was just going to get coffee for Ace--" I start out.

  "Make it a double," she says.

  "How do you know what I need?" I ask as Vinny goes to work.

  "It's just a little trick," she says with a shrug. "Everyone has an optimal performance level, and what you put into your body affects how well you run. With supers, it's not that big of a deal, but it doesn't hurt! The proper amount of calories, though, IS important, especially for ones like Carla. The healers helped me at first, though," She hands a tray to me with two plates of food, two glasses of milk, and two mugs of coffee on it. "Now go get Ace," she says, waving me off.

  "He'll show up sooner or later," I say, seeing Carla sitting down and heading for her table. "Hi, Carla," I say. "Can I sit here?"

  "Sure," she says, glancing at the clock on the wall before scarfing down her food. "All done!"

  "Wait--" I say, since she's already racing away. She's gone.

  "You don't try to have a conversation with Carla on Saturday morning," Morgan says, sitting down next to me with her tray. "It's My Little Pony day."

  I groan. I'm supposed to be a genius, right? So why didn't I think of that? Oh, right, because I'm not a Saturday morning cartoon guy. This... might not work as smoothly as I planned. But all is not lost! The movies don't start until four, at earliest. I was just hoping to get a lunch in, first, make a day of it and all that...

  I look over as Ace and Rocco walk in. "Ace, I've got your breakfast," I call over to them. "Jimmi insisted."

  "Where's mine?" Rocco asks.

  "Hasn't been made yet."

  "Figures." He heads over to the line as Ace walks over, taking th
e second plate off of the tray.

  "Milk?"

  "I've drank enough milk lately to float a cow," I say, grabbing my glass. "I think the universe is trying to tell me I need to get taller." He laughs as he digs in.

  "Did you talk to Carla?" he asks.

  "It's cartoon day," I say.

  "Good morning, Ace," Morgan says a bit pointedly.

  "Oh, ah, yeah, morning," Ace says, as if just now realizing she's sitting there. He grabs his coffee mug as if it's a lifeline. "You, ah, you're coming to the movies with us, right?" he asks.

  "Yeah," she says. "Max invited me." The tone suggests that it's all my fault if he's not happy with that fact. When did these two get so tense around one another?

  I finish off my food rather than get into that, and stand. "Well, I'm going to go find Carla," I say. "She's the only one we haven't asked yet."

  "Wait until you get to a commercial," Morgan advises me. "Otherwise you might get yelled at." I head for the front room, stopping at the sight of a small group of kids on the couch, watching the show on the wall. Carla is right in the middle. I can't get close enough to ask her to a movie--if I ask her now, I'll wind up inviting all of the kids around her. I learned that one from Justin's little date episode. So I need to figure out a way to lure her away from the group.

  I sit down on the edge of the couch, and I wait. And wait... and wait...

  Seriously, how many episodes are they planning on showing? I yawn, barely covering my mouth with my hand, and find myself starting to fall asleep. I almost fall off the chair when they all suddenly get up. "Is it over?" I ask, waking up quickly.

  "Now I'm going to watch all of the Equestria Girls movies!" Carla declares.

  "Wait, wait, wait--" I say, holding out a hand. "I need to talk to you!"

  "Huh?" she asks.

  "Want to go to the movies?"

  "Didn't you and Zoe get back together?" she asks, pulling out her phone and tapping on it.

  "It's a group thing!" I say. "Look, I'm trying to..." I move closer, whispering in her ear, "try and get Ace a chance at a date with Morgan. But unless we convince them it's just a group thing, they might bail out, you know? So I figured you'd be the perfect way to convince them of it."

  "Oh!" she says, her eyes widening for a second before she grins widely. "Okay! I can watch the movies later," she declares, getting to her feet. "I need to change!" She disappears and reappears a second later, dressed in the same babydoll outfit that Zoe got her for her birthday. "Let's go!"

  "Okay, we just need to get the others," I say, getting up and heading for the cafeteria. The sight of Ace and Morgan glaring at one another catches me off guard, completely. "You guys ready?" I ask.

  "They're arguing over him running off on the mission," Rocco says, coming over to me with a cup of coffee in his hand. "I get the feeling he's been trying to avoid her since then."

  "Seriously? That was a while back!" I say.

  "Which is why she's so mad," Vinny says, sauntering over with his own coffee. "So what's going on?"

  "We were trying to get a group together to go to the movies," I say dryly. "At this rate we might get to go next month."

  "If we're lucky," Rocco adds dryly, glancing over at Carla. "Are your shows over?" he asks. She blushes a little.

  "Yep! They're reruns, but they're still good!" she says.

  "You're just going to make me do it, aren't you," I say, looking at Vinny.

  "What movie were you planning on going to?" he asks, answering my question by NOT answering it.

  I sigh and head forward to where Morgan and Ace are arguing. "You were in the middle of work!" she says as I get there, "and you ran off to spend the day with Freddy and--and what's her name!"

  "Jennifer," he says. "Her name is Jennifer. And it was an important trip! I was wrapping up stuff for my old life!"

  "You kept sneaking out in the middle of the night, too," she says, glaring at him. "Who were you going to see, then?"

  "I just got hot in the RV so I slept on the roof," he says. "You can't say that Jimmi didn't turn the heat up too high!"

  "It felt fine to me," she says.

  "Morgan, Ace," I say, stepping between them, "is this really the time or place? If we don't leave soon, we won't get to go to lunch before the movie."

  Morgan gives me a dark look before taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Fine, let's go," she says, walking away.

  Ace watches her go, groaning as soon as she seems out of hearing distance. "I don't get her," he says.

  "That was definitely a jealous fit," I say.

  "Yeah, right," he scoffs.

  "Let me guess," I say after a second of thinking and just a brief glimpse into his mind, "you missed your sleeping partner, didn't you." He turns bright red.

  "Sleeping partner?" Vinny asks, sounding surprised.

  "Mmhmm, Ace has a--" I stop as Ace's hand covers my mouth.

  "Don't put it that way, moron!" he says.

  "Ace has a girlfriend?" Carla asks, shocked.

  "I don't have a girlfriend!" Ace says. "I've got--" He glares at me, as if this is my fault. I tug his hand away from my face.

  "It's sort of like... sleeping with a stuffed toy, in a way, isn't it?" I tease him.

  "Max, I swear if you don't shut up--"

  "Just tell us already!" the entire dorm shouts. It seems we've gotten an audience.

  "I..." Ace says, glaring at me for a moment before sighing and bringing out his arms. The dragon painting appears behind him on the wall. "I've got this guy on my walls," he says reluctantly as the head comes down from the ceiling, as it had in his room. "Well, more like... coming OUT of my walls. He gets a little grouchy if I leave him in my paint field all the time. Thank you so much, Max, for making them think I sleep with a stuffed animal."

  "So you sneaked out to sleep with your dragon?" Morgan asks from the door, looks like she came back.

  "He wouldn't fit in the RV," Ace says, looking a bit embarrassed.

  "You could have just TOLD us that!" Morgan complains.

  "I knew," Jimmi says. "The tail always dropped down over my window."

  "You could have mentioned something," Morgan says to her.

  "I liked it," Jimmi says. "I slept better without the light coming through."

  Morgan lets out a sigh, looking torn. A bit hesitantly she walks over, looking up at the dragon. "Can I pet it?" she asks.

  "You--ah, yeah, sure," Ace says. "Why not?"

  Soon the dragon is surrounded by kids, and I'm giving up on lunch. Maybe we'll just stay here and eat whatever Vinny makes. I look up as Zoe walks in, looking a bit irritated.

  "Are we going?" she asks.

  "After they finish petting Ace's dragon," I say a bit tongue-in-cheek. She looks over.

  "This is going to take a while, isn't it," she says after a moment.

  "Yes, yes it is," I agree.

  Phone Calls

  "So I've decided what I'm going to do when I grow up!" Chet says over the phone.

  "Yeah?" I ask. "What are you planning? Lawyer or doctor?"

  "Neither," he says. "I'm going to be a black suit!"

  I stare at him, my jaw dropping open slightly. "I... see..." I say. "Have you told your mom that?"

  "No, but Dad knows!"

  "Okay, well..." I have no idea how to tell him the requirements for black suits. But then again, he WAS healed by Aubrey, so he could pull it off, physically... "Chet, you realize that the majority of our black suits are military veterans, right? That means you'd have to go into the army and serve the country for a few years before you could join."

  "Are there any other ways to get in?" he asks. "I mean, I don't mind going that route, but..."

  "It's dangerous," I finish for him. "Well, we do have our lawyers and doctors. They're the only exception to the vet rule, but we actually prefer if they have some sort of background with the military, as well. Don't go thinking that you can skip all of this and get a position because you're my brother, either," I warn h
im.

  "So..." he says. "I need to go into the military, and then... get a degree as a doctor or a lawyer?" he says.

  "No, you can get the degree first and then enter the military," I say. "Honestly, if that's what you're thinking of doing, you need to do some research. It takes a lot of work just to get the medical degree."

  "Huh," he says, looking thoughtful. "So why do they become black suits instead of just going to work as doctors?" he asks me.

  "Well, for one, we pay well, and for another..." I go silent as I think of the other aspect of the job. "The black suit program includes assistance from the supers, in any way that might help them that doesn't violate norm or super laws. There's a form to fill out, but if a black suit is patient, he or she can request help from any super in the five Halls, even my Dad. Some people go through all of the things you're thinking about right now, just for that. Sure, it's regulated--they can only make one request per year, at most, but sometimes that's all you need. And honestly, if something big happens, the supers are likely to step in and help without the requests. We value our black suits."

  "Then if I go through all that I can eventually ask Technico to make me a jetpack?" he asks, his smile almost blinding.

  "You would spend a major portion of your life training just to get a jetpack?" I ask.

  "Heck yeah!"

  "Well... then, I guess?" I say. "I mean, you'll have to check the laws on where you can use it and--"

  "But I can HAVE a jetpack," he says.

  "I guess so," I say, giving up. "If you still want a jetpack when you're in your late twenties or thirties," I have to add.

  "Who WOULDN'T want a jetpack?"

  "Good question," I say. "But Chet, it's time for me to get back to class. I'm going to have to let you go, okay?"

  "Okay! I've got some googling to do, anyway," he says, hanging up on me. Before I can even stand up, though, the phone rings again.

  "Hey, Max!" Layne says, appearing on the screen. "What's it take to become a black suit?"

  I groan.

  Christmas is Coming

  Nico leans back in his chair, his feet crossed at the ankles on his desk, a random toy floating in front of him. It keeps building itself, coming apart, and being rebuilt into something else. Classes are almost over. Once they're over, he'll go out and oversee the second training hour--